SEASON-BEST 8TH FOR FENATI AT Moto3™ SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX

Romano Fenati fights for Husqvarna Motorcycles among the leading group in the first Italian Motogp™ double header and is less than one second from the win

The flat and curvy Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli welcomed MotoGP for the first of two consecutive races and this week. The track had been resurfaced for the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini but still featured some bumpy sections that caused teams to work diligently on race set-up.

The Sterilgarda Max Racing Team headed to their home event and the seventh round of fifteen in 2020 MotoGP with expectations of challenging for the top ten and hopeful of a decent haul of FIM World Championship points.

On Saturday Romano Fenati, a previous race winner at Misano in Moto3, used his FR 250 GP to obtain 5^th place on the grid and occupy a slot in the middle of the second row. Alonso Lopez pushed his bike onto the sixth row.

The warm sunshine that had graced two days of the Grand Prix so far continued into Sunday. Moto3 consisted of 23 laps and the leading group was formed of a dozen riders as the pack circulated in close quarters. Fenati bounced around the top ten and kept jostling for room. Through a hectic last lap he managed to elbow his way to 8^th and was less than a second away from winner John McPhee at the line. Lopez was hunting for positions in the top fifteen when he tangled with Ayumu Sasaki at Turn 8 and crashed, putting the Spaniard out of action with 16 laps still remaining.

The team will have to wait only a matter of days before their second attempt to conquer Misano. The Gran Premio TISSOT dell'Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini will begin this coming Friday. MotoGP will then quickly move to Barcelona and the Circuit de Barcelona-Cataluyna for the third Grand Prix in a row.

Romano Fenati: “A very good race for us, even if the start was not great. In the end the race was decent. We need to improve a little bit on the straights because we lose a little there but overall I’m happy with the feeling on the bike. We have a clear idea for the next race.”

Alonso Lopez: “I’m sad about what happened in the race because we’d worked very well this weekend. We made a good step but we still have a few small things to work on to be competitive. I have to say sorry to Sasaki because I clipped him accidentally. We’ll have another opportunity here next weekend.”

Max Biaggi, Team Principal: “Overall we saw an improvement this weekend. Both riders performed better during practice on Friday and Saturday. Alonso crashed today but he was fighting in the points and looked a lot more confident. Romano was always fighting around the top five-seven and finished close to the winner. For us this is a more positive message and a more positive feeling. We can be optimistic for the next races. This is like a ‘restart’ for us and let’s hope we can collect more results like this and better.”

Results – 2020 Moto3 FIM World Championship, Round 7

1. John McPhee (Honda) 39:48.952, 2. Ai Ogura (Honda) +0.037, 3. Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) +0.232, 8. Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) +0.928, DNF. Alonso Lopez (Husqvarna)

Championship standings – After round 7

1. Albert Arenas (KTM) 106pts; 2. Ai Ogura (Honda) 101; 3. John McPhee (Honda) 92; 15. Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) 22; 23. Alonso Lopez (Husqvarna) 5