MotoGP: Jerez, Le Mans
We give you the lowdown on what went down in Jerez in this year’s MotoGP world championship
All the action from the first Spanish round of MotoGP and the French GP where weather plays spoil sport
WiTh YAMAhA dominance running amok during this year’s MotoGP season, other manufacturers are working overtime to stay in the fray. Team Suzuki Ecstar riders Alex Rins and current world champion Joan Mir have made a shaky start to the season and the story remains the same with the two honda teams. Ducati, however, have had an up-anddown start, with satellite team Pramac Ducati and Johann Zarco standing close to the top of the leader board. Ducati lenovo Team rider’s Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia have also had proud and forgettable races. catch all the MotoGP coverage on Eurosport India and Discovery Plus, where you can view the beloved sport live.
MotoGP
Jerez, a favoured track to the corner speed inclined Yamahas and Suzukis, was pipped to be a showdown between the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider Fabio Quartararo and the current world champion, Joan Mir, on the Team Suzuki Ecstar motorcycle. Quartararo lived up to the billing, grabbing pole-position on Saturday. At the lights, however, the inevitable once again appeared as Quartararo was swamped by the Ducati lenovo Team boys of Jack Miller and Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia.
however, Jerez is one of Fabio’s favourite tracks and soon the Frenchman made his merry way up to the rear wheels of the motorbikes ahead, passed them, and started to open up a commanding lead. Though Fabio’s lead seemed comfortable, a short distance away a dogged Ducati seemed to tag along relentlessly. This was Aussie Jack Miller who held Quartararo in sight, hoping for the young Frenchman to falter. in the dying stages of the race, the heavens opened up to Miller, as Fabio suddenly seemed to lose pace. This loss of speed, though, was unfortunately due to Fabio Quartararo suffering terribly from the dreaded arm-pump. Arm-pump is the stiffening of muscles in the arm and a common yet serious threat to a rider in MotoGP. We do wish Fabio Quartararo the very best in his recovery from the terrible condition, hoping to see him back to his very best at the earliest.
With Quartararo falling back in the grid, it was now Jack Miller who took the lead, heading for his first dry victory in MotoGP. The much-liked Aussie was being hunted down by his Ducati teammate, Pecco Bagnaia, who seemed to have found blistering pace late in the race. For a moment, it looked like Pecco might even catch Miller, but the Aussie rode a stellar race to take a much-awaited victory for him and Ducati lenovo Team at Jerez. Bagnaia finished in second, making it a factory Ducati one-two, breaking a decade and a half period of no Ducati victories in Jerez.
The fight for third would be between two riders, Franco Morbidelli of Petronas SRT Yamaha and Takaaki nakagami on the idemitsu honda. Taka found great pace in the second half of the race chasing down the leaders, but was a little too late in the end and finished fourth. Morbidelli, who has been struggling with the previous-gen Yamaha MotoGP machine, showed great pace to take the final spot on the podium. The italian has been quite vocal about his unhappiness to be on a “dated” machine, with this performance continuing to showcase Franco’s worth.