San Marino MotoGP Results: Morbidelli’s win, Quartararo crashes

Franco Morbidelli has taken his maiden MotoGP World Championship victory at Misano with a faultless lights-to-flag performance, but there was disappointment for his title contending team-mate Fabio Quartararo after he crashed twice.

Starting second among a Yamaha 1-2-3-4, Morbidelli got a superb start from the green light to get the hole-shot into turn one and never looked back, the Italian shaking off the initial attention of Valentino Rossi before cruising across the line.

His win makes him the fifth different winner in just six races this season, not to mention the fourth first-time race winner following on from Quartararo, Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira.

However, despite winning with Morbidelli, there was broadly disappointment for Yamaha from its privileged position after Quartararo - having been bottled up behind a ponderous Maverick Vinales for the first six laps - crashed from fourth position, dropping to the back of the field. To make matters worse, he pitted, rejoined and promptly crashed again the very next lap.

Up at the front, with Morbidelli easing home, Rossi found himself in a fierce battle to retain second place, which he lost with seven laps remaining with an inspired Pecco Bagnaia - still using a crutch off the bike as he recovers from a broken leg - scything through, the Italian going on to notch up his maiden podium finish.

Nonetheless, Rossi looked on course for third - giving him a 200th GP podium - only to be mugged on the final lap by a brilliant pass from Joan Mir, who’d only grabbed fourth moments earlier from Alex Rins. 

Vinales was a distant sixth as his gamble of a hard tyre failed to reap dividends, while Andrea Dovizioso came home seventh to - bizarrely - score the points he needed to move into the 2020 MotoGP lead for the first time. 

Overall, Dovizioso leads Quartararo by six points, with Miller - who finished ninth - 13 points behind in third and Mir now a brilliant fourth just 16 points shy of the lead.

Takaaki Nakagami maintained his record of being the only rider to finish every race inside the top ten with a charge to eighth, while Pol Espargaro completed the top ten as the best of the KTM riders.

2020 San Marino MotoGP, Misano - Race Results