When it rains, there is no wisdom that can save you. You soldier on and take what fate has in store. Running in rain is necessary but rider experience and machine testing for that condition are weak minority partners.As bikes came to the grid for the 2015 Italian Grand Prix at Misano a sprinkle of rain appeared. Lorenzo who now defines good starts, promptly led through lap 6 at which point rain was calling for a bike change. Most riders changed on lap 7 after which Jorge Lorenzo climbed back to lead for laps 10 to 15.
Smith on the Tech 3 Yamaha stayed on slicks, leading lap 8 while the others were leaping from bike to bike. He then sank miserably to 21st as his slicks slithered and spun. Bradley has remarked how well his bike handles, so presumably he had the confidence to handle this lack of grip. About lap 17, as a dry line was appearing and the others were musing privately over if it was time to pit again, Smith began to move up smartly no waiting!
Marquez Marc was handling the changes in a standard way, getting his rain bike on lap 7, switching to dry on lap 18 and pressing on.After Lorenzo led laps 10 to 15, Valentino Rossi led laps 16-20, changing bikes on lap 21, which dropped him to 5th. Lorenzo, going out after his bike change on “cold” tires used more grip than in fact existed and was out.
Redding Scott was deep in the doldrums 23rd on laps 7 and 8 but after lap 16 he had moved up fast to 4th on lap 21. Redding had crashed and remounted just as everyone else was heading in for new bikes. Then he forged on into 3rd and Baz Loris, who spent last year on a Kawasaki factory Superbike, likewise advanced from downfield, moving up fast from lap 16 to finish 4th.
RESULTS: 2015 GRAND PRIX OF SAN MARINO
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Time/Gap |
| 1 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | SPA | 25 | Repsol Honda Team | 48’23.819 |
| 2 | SMITH Bradley | 38 | GBR | 20 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | +7.288 |
| 3 | REDDING Scott | 45 | GBR | 16 | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | +18.793 |
| 4 | BAZ Loris | 76 | FRA | 13 | Athina Forward Racing | +26.427 |
| 5 | ROSSI Valentino | 46 | ITA | 11 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | +33.196 |
| 6 | PETRUCCI Danilo | 9 | ITA | 10 | Pramac Racing | +35.087 |
| 7 | IANNONE Andrea | 29 | ITA | 9 | Ducati Team | +36.527 |
| 8 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | 4 | ITA | 8 | Ducati Team | +37.434 |
| 9 | PEDROSA Dani | 26 | SPA | 7 | Repsol Honda Team | +39.516 |
| 10 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | SPA | 6 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | +39.692 |
| 11 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | 35 | GBR | 5 | LCR Honda | +41.995 |
| 12 | MILLER Jack | 43 | AUS | 4 | LCR Honda | +46.075 |
| 13 | DI MEGLIO Mike | 63 | FRA | 3 | Avintia Racing | +48.381 |
| 14 | VINALES Maverick | 25 | SPA | 2 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | +52.325 |
| 15 | BAUTISTA Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 1 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | +53.348 |
| 16 | BRADL Stefan | 6 | GER | 0 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | +58.828 |
| 17 | HAYDEN Nicky | 69 | USA | 0 | Aspar MotoGP Team | +1’02.649 |
| 18 | BARBERA Hector | 8 | SPA | 0 | Avintia Racing | +1’04.768 |
| 19 | LAVERTY Eugene | 50 | IRE | 0 | Aspar MotoGP Team | +1’05.677 |
| 20 | CORTI Claudio | 71 | ITA | 0 | Yamaha Forward Racing | 1 Lap |
| 21 | ABRAHAM Karel | 17 | CZE | 0 | AB Motoracing | 1 Lap |
Original published at "cycleworld" website.
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