Europe 1 with AFP 3:48 p.m., September 4, 2022

Fourth consecutive Grand Prix victory in MotoGP for Francesco Bagnaia.

The Italian is closing in on championship leader Fabio Quartararo who finished fifth on the line at the Misano circuit.

Bagnaia started from the second row on his Ducati and got off to a flying start, taking advantage of an error by teammate Jack Miller.

Italian Francesco Bagnaia won his fourth consecutive MotoGP Grand Prix on Sunday, at the San Marino round, to close in on championship leader Fabio Quartararo, fifth on the line at the Misano circuit.

"Pecco" Bagnaia (Ducati) confirms that he will be Quartararo's No.1 rival to retain his world crown won last year.

With this victory on the favorite Ducati track, the Italian climbs to second place in the championship ahead of Aleix Espargaro, sixth in San Marino, and is 30 points behind the French leader, six rounds from the end (i.e. 150 points to be taken as much as possible).

A hot start for Bagnaia

Starting only from the second row due to a penalty received during free practice on Friday, Bagnaia made a great start.

He then took advantage of an error by his teammate Jack Miller, who started on pole, to quickly take control and keep them until the end despite the return of his compatriot Enea Bastianini (Ducati-Gresini), second by a hair.

Taking advantage of the current unchallenged domination of the Ducati, the Italian "Pecco" won his sixth success of the season, his fourth in a row.

Since his first victory in the premier class a year ago, he has even won ten of the last twenty races in MotoGP, enough to give him confidence for the final mano a mano with Quartararo.

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The Frenchman, who started on the third row after difficult qualifying on Saturday due to the raindrops that fell on Misano, limited the breakage on the handlebars of his Yamaha by finishing fifth.

As he feared on the tortuous Italian circuit, "El Diablo" did not find space to climb back to the podium but was able to leave Aleix Espargaro behind him, now third in the championship 33 pts behind the Frenchman.

The Grand Prix of the other Frenchman, Johann Zarco, only lasted a few seconds: starting sixth on the grid, he bit the dust at the first corner, along with two other drivers, Pol Espargaro and Michele Pirro.