MotoGP heads to Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix

Misano in September. The air’s still warm, the tifosi are loud, and by mid-month the MotoGP title fight tends to start showing its teeth. Round 14 of 22 lands at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on 12 September, and if the season’s done its job, there’ll be plenty riding on every point.

The Misano circuit is a proper rider’s track — tight and technical in the first sector, then opening up enough to reward corner speed and brave braking. It’s never just a power circuit, which means set-up matters, tyre management matters, and the bloke who gets his head down on Sunday morning warm-up can easily gate-crash the front row conversation. Watch the opening laps closely — positions change fast here and they don’t always change back.

At this point in the season, the gap at the top of the standings is either comfortable or deeply fragile depending on your rider. Either way, the midfield is usually where Misano gets interesting. This is a circuit that tends to produce genuine racing rather than a lonely procession, and with the satellite teams having closed the gap to the factories over recent seasons, there’s rarely a dull moment from fifth place backwards.

If you’re not making the trip across to Italy — and it’s absolutely worth considering, the Rimini coast in September is hardly a hardship — the race will be live on BT Sport and streamed through the MotoGP VideoPass. Full details, session times, and tickets if you fancy it, are over at motogp.com.

Eyes up. Head down.