Fab Fabio and the Holy Moly Marc
Result Result
Report:
FZal Cursetji
inally, MotoGP returns. the wait has been arduous, but the racing is finally back. how would the newbies and surprises of last year fare in this tumultuous season? would we see Marquez continue where he left off? would the young Frenchman have his day finally? what about the Dovi Ducati or Ducati Miller? a Doctor, maybe, or his superfast spanish teammate? how would little brother Marquez fare? espargaro is to be watched? rins. have we forgotten him? Questions like these needed answers and were they answered!
MotoGP
at the start, it was Maverick Viñales on the Monster energy yamaha MotoGP bike that took the lead. he was closely followed by the reigning world champion, Marc Marquez, on the repsol honda team machine. Marc soon took the lead and did show signs of better pace than the rest of the pack. however, his gamble did not pay off and Marc found himself surfing through the gravel, but on two wheels. the spaniard re-joined at the far end of the
MotoGP
POS. RIDER
TIMING pack in 17th position. the lead now went to Viñales who had Jack Miller of Pramac racing and Fabio Quartararo on the Petronas yamaha srt bike on his tail.
soon, the Frenchman started to make his move. First to fall was Miller and soon thereafter he took the lead from the yamaha ahead of him. Fabio then continued to ride a calm and collected race to the finish-line. however, unknown to these riders, the world champion was riding at a faster pace than any of them dared. shortly thereafter, Marquez had Miller and Viñales in his foreground. Marquez rode a race of a champion and dispatched every single competitor with ease. with five laps to go, he was on the tail of Viñales and an attack was imminent. the cameras caught up with the action to see Marc Marquez highside his motorcycle at 150 km/h which threw him up into the air before knocking him down on the ground. the heroic ride came to a sad end.
however, the day belonged to the Frenchman, Fabio Quartararo, who claimed his first MotoGP victory ever. the elated 21-year-old rode a tremendous race, winning by a fair margin from Maverick Viñales, who came in second. Miller lost out to Ducati team rider andrea Dovizioso, who, at the press conference after the race, was quite vocal about how hard the race had been in Jerez. Dovi made up the podium at the first MotoGP race of the season.
there is bad news, though, for the reigning world champion, Marc Marquez, has indeed fractured his hand and will have surgery in Barcelona. we wish him a speedy recovery and cannot wait to see this genius back on the grid.
Moto2
at the lights, it was Jorge Martin on the red Bull KtM ajo that got to a great start. he was followed by luca Marini of sky racing team Vr46 and the red Bull KtM ajo teammate, tetsuta nagashima. the three led the way slowly, opening up a small lead from the pack.
however, soon the pace of the italian and Japanese men got the better of Martin and he slipped into third. the remainder of the race saw luca Marini ride to a commanding and comfortable win. nagashima came in second in an equally comfortable manner, with Jorge Martin completing the podium. Marini had Vr46 himself run up to the winners’ pit to congratulate his rider and friend. next up, Jerez again for the andalusia GP.
Moto3
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TIMING
Moto2
POS. RIDER
Moto3
TIMING
Moto3 saw albert arenas on the Gaviota aspar team Moto3 KtM extend his lead in the world championships with a second win in Jerez. the young spaniard rode a tough race in the usual no-holdsbarred racing of Moto3. the biggest unfortunate loser was Petronas sprinta racing’s englishman, John McPhee, who crashed out on the last lap, losing his podium position.
second place went to the Japanese rider, ai ogura, on the honda team asia bike with the final podium spot being taken by tony arbolino of the rivacold snipers team. next up the racing heads to andalusia in a week’s time. racing is back and we can’t be happier.
Report: Zal Cursetji
With the First race at Jerez completed in tough conditions, the riders readied themselves up for the andalucía GP at the same venue. however, three riders would be returning to the grid: alex rins on the team suzuki ecstar bike, cal crutchlow on the lcr honda castrol, and Marc Marquez on his repsol honda. here we go.
MotoGP
on race day, word came from repsol honda that Marc Marquez had decided to sit out the andalusian GP. a good decision for the current world champion who underwent a surgery on his broken arm a few days ago. this gave the rest of the top contenders a chance to open up a further lead on the spanish rider who would now score zero points from two races.
like clockwork, the two young yamaha riders, Fabio Quartararo on the Petronas yamaha srt and Maverick Viñales on the Monster energy yamaha MotoGP team bike, qualified on top and as the race got under way, the two led the pack into turn one. then two things happened. First, Maverick Viñales got a bit of a shocker when his struggling Monster energy yamaha MotoGP teammate and legend, Valentino rossi, charged through to take second position. the second thing was that Fabio Quartararo made sure that the world would notice the talent of the young Frenchman as he calmly continued to steadily open up a lead from the entire pack all the way until
MotoGP
POS. RIDER
Moto2
at the lights, it was enea Bastianini on the italtrans racing team bike that got the hole-shot, taking the lead of the Moto2 andalucía GP. the italian was followed by two more italians of the sky racing team Vr46, luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi. Marini rode lap one in third place but soon passed his teammate and was hot on the heels of Bastianini in the lead. Bastianini and Marini’s championship rival, tetsuta nagashima of red Bull KtM ajo team, had a terrible qualifying which meant he would have his work cut out for him if
Moto2
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Moto3
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TIMING
TIMING he wanted to curb Marini and Bastianini. the Japanese rider ended up finishing in position 11, which would have indeed caused him some heartache.
at the front, it was still Bastianini leading Marini, who seemed to be gaining on his compatriot. however, every time Marini made himself felt, Bastianini found a little extra pace. Both the riders had their fair share of drama as Marini was the cause of Bastianini’s poor fortune in last year’s season due to the former crashing into the latter and injuring him. in the end, it was Bastianini who claimed a well-deserved victory. second on the podium was Marini with Bezzecchi occupying the final spot. thus, an all-italian podium was seen after a long time in the shortcircuit racing of Moto2. a proud day for italy indeed. we shall now head to Brno for the czech GP.