The fairytale ending of Valentino Rossi taking his 200th premier class podium came crashing down on the final lap with an inch-perfect pass from Suzuki’s Joan Mir.

Rossi made a bright start, charging from fourth to second on the run into the opening three corners. The 41-year-old Italian looked racey but struggled to find his way passed his protégé, Franco Morbidelli.

The Italian duo gradually opened a gap over Jack Miller, who quickly lost pace and freed Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Rins who chased down ‘The Doctor’ in a number of laps.

Despite making his Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP machine as wide as possible, Rossi lost out to second protégé, Bagnaia before losing the final podium position to Suzukis Joan Mir, halfway around the final 2.6-mile lap.

Rossi missed out on a podium finish by just +0.353, but says he is “happy with the race”.

The Doctor showed blistering pace, although not being able to lap under the 1:33 barrier, The Yamaha rider completed 26 out of the 27 laps in the 1:33.0 and the 1:33.5 window. The consistency showed from the nine-time world champion showed his experience and his vast knowledge of the tight and twisty Misano circuit.

Rossi was the only rider in the top six not to complete a single lap in the 1:32’s, however, his consistency aided him to a near podium finish at his home circuit.

Valentino Rossi – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP: P4

It‘s a great shame because the podium is always special, here in Misano even more so. Also, to share the podium with Franco and Pecco would have been like a race at the ranch. I made a small mistake and Mir was very strong in that moment, he did very good lap times in the last part of the race. At the end he was able to beat me, which is a shame with just 2km to go. On the other hand, it was still a good race, a good weekend, because I rode well. We had a very good pace and I feel good with the bike. So, even without a podium, I enjoyed it. It was a good weekend for our team and for me, because we were always competitive. This is so important. I think that we can improve three or four things for next week, when we‘ll have another chance. This makes me even more happy, because we can try again.

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider will join his MotoGP counterparts on track with the official test on Tuesday before the second race weekend in Misano gets underway on Friday morning, with free practice one at 09:55 local time.