One of the four most highly attended rounds of the season, held in an area that has produced numerous Grand Prix racers.
The Misano circuit was built in 1972 and hosted its first MotoGP Grand Prix in 1980.
Since then, it has been the scene of a World Championship round on 20 occasions: 10 between 1980 and 1993, and uninterruptedly since 2007.
The Grands Prix hosted in Misano have been run under four different names:
– GP of Nations (in 1980, 1982, 1984, 1989 and 1990)
– Italian GP (in 1991 and 1993)
– San Marino GP (between 1985 and 1987, and in 2007 and 2008)
– From 2009 to the present day, the official name of the event is the Grand Prix of San Marino and the Riviera of Rimini
The Republic of San Marino, located about 25 kilometers west of the circuit, is one of the smallest European countries and the oldest sovereign state in the world: Officially, the city was founded on September 3rd, 301 and the earliest documented existence of the Republic is in the 10th century.
Together with Vatican City, San Marino is the only European country completely surrounded by another (Italy) and although it does not belong to the EU, it has adopted the euro as its official currency.
The Riviera of Rimini is a coastal area of 860 km2 that includes 27 municipalities of the region of Emilia Romagna, 40 kilometers of beaches and extends around 60 kilometers inland.
The San Marino GP was also held at Imola in (1981 and 1983) and Mugello (1982, 1984, 1991 and 1993).
In 1993, after a crash by 500cc World Champion Waine Rainey left him paralysed, the circuit disappeared from the calendar until 2007, when it returned to the World Championship after several modifications.
One of the measures taken to improve the facilities and safety was to reverse the direction of the race, which now runs counterclockwise. Other circuits run in this direction are the Circuit of the Americas, Valencia, MotorLand Aragon, Sachsenring and Phillip Island.
In 2012, the circuit was renamed the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, in honor of the Italian rider who died in the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. He was born in Cattolica, a town located just 5 kilometres from the track.
Like Simoncelli, numerous World Championship riders hail from the region: Niccolo Antonelli and Andrea Migno, currently competing in Moto3, were also born in the Adriatic. From Rimini, just 20 kilometres away, are Mattia Pasini, Enea Bastianini, Stefano Manzi and Marco Bezzechi. Manuel Poggiali and Alex De Angelis are from San Marino, 26 kilometres away, and Valentino Rossi and his brother Luca Marini were born in Urbino, 42 kilometres away, although they live in Tavullia, just 14 kilometres from the circuit.
The region’s passion for motorsport is also evident with the existence of 4 karting tracks within 10 kilometres of the circuit -one indoor.
Just 50 kilometres from the circuit, in Faenza, is the headquarters of the Formula 1 team Toro Rosso (formerly Minardi).
The circuit is located in what is called the “Motor Valley”, an area of the Emiglia Romagna region, which includes manufacturing plants for Ducati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Dallara and Pagani, 8 museums, more than 20 private collections, 4 circuits and headquarters for a multitude of teams.
The Repsol Honda riders topped the podium in 2010: Dani Pedrosa in MotoGP and Marc Márquez in 125cc. On that day, Shoya Tomizawa lost his life, during the Moto2 race won by Toni Elías.
The circuit is located on Daijiro Kato Street, in memory of the 250cc World Champion who died in 2003.
In 2007, when the track rejoined the World Championship calendar, heavy rains flooded part of the track, run-off areas and pits, and forced the cancellation of four practice sessions on the Friday. To recover that time, on Saturday the action began an hour ahead of schedule and a two hour Free Practice session was given to the MotoGP riders.
Along with Valencia, Assen and Mugello, Misano is one of the four circuits that last season gathered more than 100,000 spectators on the day of the race.
During the year it hosts more than 300 days of activity and all kinds of competitions, including classic races and the European Truck Championships.
