With one lap to go, it looked like a dream come true for Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and the young riders he mentored at his ranch, Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati). The three Italians were at their home track in Misano, and it was shaping up to be the legendary mentor and his students sweeping the podium positions. Joan Mir (Suzuki) had a different idea, however.
Mir, in his second season as a MotoGP rider, had great pace near the end of the race. Having just overtaken his teammate, Alex Rins, Mir dove under Rossi in a sweeping corner on the final lap with inch-perfect precision, robbing Rossi of the final podium position. Take a look at the video below posted by Mir to his Instagram, and note that Mir almost caught Bagnaia at the flag for second place.
And on a Suzuki no less!! Also rans to podium, top 5-7. 2020 is a trip.
You mean Joan passed Valentino? Sounds like a scene from “Thelma & Louise.”
“You better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone, for the (lap) times they are a changing.”
(Bob Dylan, team Triumph rider) C’mon Rossi, not time yet for the teacher to become the student.
Really was a beautiful pass and held those lines perfectly.
I chalk up some of that success to the Suzuki being nicer to the tires than the Yamaha and Ducati. While the leaders were working hard on staying upright as their tires got worse and worse, lap times increasing, Mir was able to keep his pace more consistent and worked his way through to almost 2nd.
I have to wonder if the tire eating problem is a consequence of traction control intervening too much. Not an issue on street bikes because we aren’t going at 100% all the time so it only comes on when absolutely necessary. But these racers are using it all the time. And perhaps the Suzuki just has better mechanical grip, needing it less.
Watched it live, great pass by Mir. Held his line perfectly, no need to push Rossi wide. text book.
great day for the kids of MotoGP.
Don’t know that it warrants mention but also heads up riding by Rossi to anticipate he’d find his way in there. There have been two crashes recently where the rider on the inside has been blamed for the rider on the outside’s (Zarco and Espargaro, if I remember), lack of awareness.
Mir also demonstrated that the Suzuki has superior corner speed and stability to the Yamaha. He could simply take a line that nobody else could that late in the race.
What happens when you race at 99.9 percent instead of 100 percent. The finish line shows no mercy.
Let me apply a little butter to slip on by…