MotoGP in Jerez - Miller's win, Ducati 1-2 and Quartararo's arm problem
Spanish Grand Prix leaves us with many emotions - happiness or sadness. It looked like it was Fabio Quartararo's weekend; it was until mid-race.
The last time we were in Jerez, it was summer in its full force and track temperatures were astonishingly high. This year, conditions were milder, but something had not changed: the Yamaha's rider shape when coming to this track.
After Friday action, in FP1 and FP2, Bagnaia was on top of the timesheets with last year's winner right behind him - the Frenchman was struggling with rear tyre grip.
"We have great pace, that's important. But struggling with use tire that actually is something strange, because last year with hot condition and I felt zero drop the rear tyre, and today I felt quite a big drop." he said in MotoGP interview.
Otherwise, Yamahas and Ducatis were looking strong.
It was, of course, also the weekend after the return of Marc Marquez. He said that he would be aiming for overtakes this time out, because in Portugal he could’t overtake anyone. The eight-time champion wants to be back in the game, and wants to take it step by step. Unfortunately, Marquez had a big fall in FP3 at turn 7 - the crash was once again frightening but the Spanish rider seemed alright, only to be taken to hospital for checks after he reported to be feeling dizzy.
Brad Binder also crashed - this time at turn 5. The session was surprisingly topped by Takaaki Nakagami, after Morbidelli's time was canceled due to track limits infringements.
During FP4, another Repsol Honda rider was involved in an accident at turn 7: this time it was Pol Espargaro, who fortunately quickly stood on his feet.
Both took part in qualifying - which once again was topped by Fabio Quartararo. Since his debut, the French rider had always secured pole positions in Jerez, and this was no exception: Quartararo claimed pole for his fourth time in the Spanish GP and was joined by Franco Morbidelli and Jack Miller on the front row.
Marc Marquez had his worst qualifying of his MotoGP career: he was down to 14th place, but no one surely expected the Honda rider to top qualifying immediately after such a comeback. His team was happy with the result and he tried his best.
The MotoGP warm-up was delayed after Celestino Vietti's crash at turn 7 in Moto2 - a very similar one to Marquez and Espargaro’s incidents. While the marshals were working on a lengthy barrier repair, the Moto E schedule was also impacted, with its race being moved to 3:50 PM.
When the Moto2 session was resumed, Jake Dixon also fell at turn 7 and was taken to the medical centre.
As a consequence, the MotoGP warm-up started 20 minutes later. Unfortunately, there was more drama for Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez, who both crashed again. The No.44 rider was off at turn 10, while #93 at turn 4.
At the race start, Jack Miller was extremely fast to take first with a great start, followed by his teammate Francesco Bagnaia and by Franco Morbidelli. Quartararo was blocked at the start, only to take third place on the last corner of the second lap - he repeated this move twice and started to build a gap from the lead over the two Ducatis.
'El Diablo's plan was working well until around the mid-race mark, when he started losing pace - drastically. He was quickly caught by Miller, then Bagnaia and Morbidelli: in the end, he would drop to P13. At first thought, the issue seemed caused by tyre wear, but after the race we found out that the Frenchman was also suffering from the arm pump. These two weeks thus turned his good performances at the Spanish GP into something to forget.
Jack Miller was extremely happy with his win, after weeks of comments implying that he was not good enough for the works team - "It's out of this world" he said. He and Francesco Bagnaia brought home a 1-2 for Ducati, and Italian became the new world championship leader, even though he is just two points clear of Fabio Quartararo, who will be fully focused and ready to strike back.
"I could hold Jack for two-one second and during four laps, but yes, just no more power and no more feeling on the arm." - said the Yamaha rider after the race. MotoGP action never disappoints - the next step will be the French GP at Le Mans, on May
MotoGP action never disappoints - the next step will be the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, on May.
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