Tag Archives: Francesco Bagnaia

Quotes from every single rider in the MotoGP field at Misano

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship
Round 14 – Misano


Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“It was another perfect weekend! It wasn’t an easy race at all: Quartararo was really strong towards the end, but I tried to stay consistent as much as possible. To get another win was important, and to do it here at my home track, in front of so many fans and those who love me, was even more special. Now we won’t have much time to celebrate: Tuesday and Wednesday, we’ll be back on track for two days of testing, but for now, I want to enjoy this success”.

Realistically it will be one of these two men that will win the championship, but the Frenchman still enjoys a significant 48-point advantage but there are 100-points still up for grabs
Fabio Quartararo – P2

“I was thinking about overtaking Pecco on the last lap, but he did an amazing race. I tried everything. To be honest, today I even forgot mostly about the championship. I had some moments with the front, it was close to being a zero today, but in the end a score of 20 here in Misano is very positive. I can’t wait to be back the day after tomorrow for the test. We have some interesting things to do. I have nearly a two-race-wins advantage with four races to go. I think that’s quite nice. I’m so happy about that, and you can imagine how happy I am that it stayed dry. I feel so good. Last year, my weak point was that I was thinking too much about the championship, but today it was the opposite: I didn’t think about it enough. I was super on the limit and I’m happy. My dad said after the finish that I rode like a champion today, which I really appreciated. Let’s see what we can do in Misano 2. I think that will be fun, because this was one of the most fun races I ever did. My pace was so strong, and I came so close. I will give it another try in Misano 2.”

Fabio Quartararo though was again on fire to minimise the damage and rode a calculating but aggressive enough race to secure second place and to limit Bagnaia’s gain over him to only five-points. The difference now is still a huge 48-points, thus Quartararo will have to endure a bad run of form or luck to be beaten to the Title. But it’s never over until it’s over and 100 points are still up for grabs.
Enea Bastianini – P3

“It was an unexpected result, but since this morning I thought it was possible because I saw that I could do good lap times easily. We were able to find a good set-up on the bike and I was able to enjoy. In the middle of the race I felt really good and when I overtook Miller, I kept setting my pace. I knew I had Quartararo and Bagnaia in front of me and I wanted to try to attack them, but I was already pretty much at the limit. I’m very happy with this 3rd position and it was great to get this podium in Misano.”

Bastianini came from 12th on the grid to blast his way up through the field
Marc Marquez – P4

“I am really happy with our performance today because honestly speaking I was not expecting this result today! At the start I was calm and honestly not riding very fast, but step by step we went faster and our feeling improved. The key point was staying calm in the first laps and pushing at the end, I’m quite proud about the last part of the race because I brought Mir with me. In practice it was a little different, I was following him, but in the race, he was following me and we caught Jack. In the last lap I didn’t feel like I could fight, but Mir and Miller went wide and I saw my opportunity! It was nice and now we get ready for a really important two-day test here.”

Marc Marquez took 13-points after what had been a frustrating weekend for the Spaniard. The demands of Misano had seen the Spaniard clutching at his shoulder numerous times during practice and also caused him to fall twice during the weekend and that fourth place result was better than he had expected.
Jack Miller – P5

“Fifth for the second time in a week, some decent points here in Misano … but to be honest there’s not a lot to be happy about after that. I got off to a decent start, had Fabio (Quartararo) behind me after a little fight on the first lap and I sat about a second behind my team-mate Pecco (Bagnaia) for the first seven laps, and then … it ended up as just one of those days. 

Jack Miller

“I ran wide on lap 8 and Fabio did too behind me, but by about lap 14 when he got past me I was already hanging on with the rear tyre. From then on my fight was with the guys behind me really, and I had Marc (Marquez) and (Joan) Mir all over me in the last few laps. I started the last lap fourth, both of them came past so I finished sixth, then Mir had to drop a position for track limits so there I was in fifth again. My final lap was half a second slower than anything I did all race, I didn’t have a lot of edge grip there by the end. 

Fabio Quartararo leads Miller

“Pecco chose the hard front/soft rear tyres like I did and he won the race, so I don’t think it was the combination or the choice of tyres for me that was the problem. Massive congratulations to Pecco, he did a good job for sure. I was struggling with some vibrations from the middle of the race and that was pretty much it, really. I was comfortable and confident in the beginning but after I had that bit of a moment, it was a struggle. This track is particularly hard on the left side of the tyre, so I’ve said my piece about the tyre and we’ll have to analyse it, find the issue and get on top of it. 

Miller had the pace early on

“I’ve always qualified well here but one way or another, I’ve never really finished that great. It was the third time I’d been P2 here on Saturday and the other two times I didn’t even score a point – I fell off and then finished outside the points three years ago and last year we had that bizarre thing when the tear-off from Fabio ended up in my air box and I had to pull in to retire. Speed has never been the issue here, I’ve been really fast at this place in the past but haven’t been able to bring it home. Jerez had been like that for me as well before this year, and we turned things around there … but it wasn’t to be for me today. 

“We’re at that time of the year now when you look more at the championship standings to see what’s possible, and for us the teams’ championship is within reach, for sure. We’re creeping closer and closer to the factory Yamaha boys. Last year we helped Ducati get the constructors’ title and that was fantastic, so get the teams’ one this time would be massive for us. 

Jack Miller’s 11-point score edge the Ducati Lenovo Team closer towards the Team’s Title as the Factory Ducati Team are now only three-points behind the Monster Energery Yamaha Team.

“For me, seventh is the best I’ve done over a season before now so I’d love to get myself on the rostrum, inside the top three, and I reckon that’s possible. I’m only a point off (Johann) Zarco in fourth now and 27 behind Mir in third, so there’s a bit of work to do with four races to go, but it’s achievable so I need to keep chipping away at it. It’s definitely not out of the question for Pecco to win the whole thing too, so I’m happy to help out with whichever way I can. If I can see an opportunity to try and help Pecco, I’ll definitely try and do that. 

“It feels like we’re going to be here at Misano forever because we have a two-day test here this week, and then we’re back here for another race in late October after we go to America for the next one. It seems like so long since we last went to Austin because it is – it’s been two-and-a-half years! I was on the podium there last time in 2019, my first dry podium, so it’s been a while. A lot has changed since then, that’s for sure. It’ll definitely be good to get back to Texas because it’s a track that I like.”

Jack Miller
Joan Mir – P6

“Honestly I expected things to be different today – I was struggling a lot and that was quite a surprise. At the beginning my feeling wasn’t very good, but it got much better as the race went on, although by then it was too late to really challenge. Our potential is much higher than this, and I really want to demonstrate that in the next races. I actually really enjoyed the last laps, overtaking Marc and fighting with Jack; it was tough but it was fun. We all swapped places many times and unfortunately I was just over the track limits on the last lap which meant I had to move back one place to sixth. It could be worse, and I will keep my head up and look to the next rounds. Texas is an exciting circuit and I’m keen to get there.”

Joan Mir
Pol Espargaro – P7

“At the end of the day I am surprised with the rhythm we had in the race because during the weekend I was struggling to get under the 33.0 time, but we did the race under this every lap. We were also able to finish just three seconds behind my teammate, of course the position is not what we are aiming for but this is a better situation than I was expecting. We started in the second row and finished seventh, a little off the top four and we should be happy with this result. We’ll carry the positive vibe into the Tuesday and Wednesday test and keep working. Of course there are still some things to work on and it will be a busy test but I feel like we have made a step and there’s more to come.”

Pol Espargaro #44
Aleix Espargaro – P8

“I’m not disappointed with the end result. I stayed with the group that was battling for fourth basically throughout the entire race. The reality is that it was very difficult to take the RS-GP to the limit here. We were lacking stability. Because of this, I made several mistakes that cost me positions. Historically, Misano makes life difficult for us. It will be important for us to try some things during the tests in anticipation of the second race on this circuit. I have a few ideas that I’ll be discussing with the technicians.”

Aleix Espargaro
Brad Binder – P9

“I gave my max today from lap one until the end. I feel we made an improvement from yesterday to today and that was clear from the morning and warm-up. We finished 9th when I struggled to break through the top 17 all weekend, so hats off to the boys, they are working hard. We need to keep grafting. We have the test coming up so we need some more understanding and then we’ll be back to where we need to be.”

Brad Binder
Takaaki Nakagami – P10

“It was a tough race from P13, but we managed to finish in the top 10 in the team’s home GP. We found some improvement during the race which is good, so that will help us make another step forward in the next race in Austin. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we have a two-day test here in Misano, so we’ll keep trying to improve the bike and improve our pace and potential. These two days of testing will be really important for us and hopefully we can find more improvement for our base set-up. I want to thank my team and all the sponsors who came here to Misano.”

Takaaki Nakagami
Michele Pirro – P11

“As I am not riding in MotoGP full time, I lacked a bit of pace today. I used a tyre that was too soft in the race, and when it started to drop, I was forced to slow down after taking a few risks. Anyway, I had a lot of fun, and I am really happy for Bagnaia! Our package proved to work well! I hope to get a better result when I race here again in October in the Emilia Romagna and Made in Italy GP. I want to thank Ducati and the Ducati Test Team for their support this weekend”.

Michele Pirro
Johann Zarco – P12

“Not the result I had hoped for. I didn’t start well and immediately lost a couple of positions. As soon as I was able to regain a good race pace, I made a mistake in T1, and was given a long lap penalty. After this, it was impossible to comeback and stay with the leading group.”

Maverick Vinales – P13

“Another 27 laps to get to know the RS-GP – a race where I also tried different movements in the saddle and different trajectories to figure out how to get the most out of this bike. I expected a bit more, to be honest. I lost a lot of ground at the start and in general I had to battle with the bike more than expected. We are well aware that we need time. We can’t expect a spike in performance from one day to the next, but we’ve reduced the gap and there are positive aspects in any case, like the ease of overtaking or the good tyre management with the Aprilia.”

Maverick Vinales
Stefan Bradl – P14

“I am pleased with what we have been able to do this weekend, to score points again was the objective. Of course, as a racer I would have liked to have finished higher, but this result is acceptable. We were able to help Honda HRC this weekend, show our speed and ultimately finish ahead of some very strong riders. It is good to be able to reward the Test Team with a result like this after a busy time testing to show our speed overall.”

Álex Márquez – P15

“The good thing is we finished the race and have one point, but we were slow from the beginning, had no feeling with the rear tyre and it was difficult to get grip. All weekend I had felt ok from that point and in the warm-up today I felt good with the used tyre and was able to do some 33-zeros. In the race I don’t know what happened, but from the beginning I struggled to get grip and traction, so we need to analyse what the problem was. I don’t want to make a conclusion too early, but we now have an important test here so we’ll try to understand things and improve.”

Danilo Petrucci – P16

“It was a really difficult race. We managed to have a better pace compared to practice. I didn’t expect to be faster and consistent like this, to be honest. I struggled a lot but I tried my best to at least score one point. in the last four laps, I was pretty much done with myself and fought with the bike. In the end, we finished the race and we have a test coming up, in which we will try to work on our weaknesses.”

Danilo Petrucci
Valentino Rossi – P17

“The crash yesterday meant that I started the race today from 23rd, which was a problem. In the first corner I was able to recover some positions, but then in Turn 4 there was some contact and I had to go off track, which put me last. After that I tried to push, my pace was decent and I was able to complete some overtakes. It’s a shame that it wasn’t enough to earn some points. After the flag it was really nice with the fans, a really emotional moment for me, and I enjoyed being able to do a lap of honour. We have a test this week, so we will try the tyres and see what we can improve with the setting. After that we go to Austin, which was a great race for me last time, and we will see what our potential can be there.”

No points for Rossi but the fans were still out in force
Franco Morbidelli – P18

“It was tough, but anyway it was nice to get back to racing. I had a good start, and it was nice to stay in the pack for a few laps. I enjoyed it and it was the right thing to do. This morning I wasn’t thinking that it was possible to face this race because I was struggling a little bit with the leg. But with some pain killers and adrenaline, I managed to do the whole race and also be quite consistent. I understood a few things about the bike, so this is positive, and I’m really happy to be back. It will be very important to keep improving the setting of the bike, my feeling on the bike, and try some new items as well, so the Misano test will be really important. It’s great, and I’m happy to do it.”

Franco Morbidelli
Luca Marini – P19

“I didn’t have a bad start, but from the beginning I didn’t have enough speed to overtake riders in my group like Pirro, Binder or Nakagami. In the slipstream, the temperature of the front tyre went up and that’s something I have to work on, because I’m still not used to managing it to the maximum. I went long at Turn 1, then I tried to lose time to let other riders pass me, but I still got a long lap penalty that pushed me back to the last positions. I struggled to recover, I suffered a lot with the front tyre and, with seven laps to go, the left side of the rear tyre was badly damaged. We have to work, we are at a standstill and the two days of testing this week will be very important.”

Luca Marini #10
Miguel Oliveira – P20

“In the third corner I tangled with Iker and it broke my left wing. It was tough after that because the bike was unbalanced but I guess that’s’ what can happen when we qualify down the grid. We need to find some more speed to qualify better; that’s the immediate goal now. We had made a step with the bike in the right direction in the morning and the race looked promising until the incident with the wing. I didn’t have the tools then to do anything better than we did. We’ll now split the work at the test between what we might need for the rest for the season and for next year.”

Miguel Oliveira – You can see the broken aero on the LHS
 Andrea Dovizioso – P21

“It was a really strange experience to start the race from 24th, but it was good because we wanted to be consistent throughout the race and learn, which is what we did. Unfortunately I had to do a long lap penalty and I lost the group, but after that I was able to play a little and understand more things. I’m happy with that and also that my best lap of the race was towards the end, plus it wasn’t a bad lap time. I felt a lot of good things from the bike at this point, but we need to work together to analyse why it happened then to make sure I can feel that at the beginning of a race as well. I’m happy that I will get two days of testing this week and I hope that the weather will be good for it.”

Andrea Dovizioso #04
Alex Rins – DNF

“I’m OK after the crash, just disappointed because I was doing a good race with nice pace. I was pretty consistent across all the laps, and I felt confident. I was riding very hard and I was trying to follow Bastianini, but he was super strong all race and he was braking harder than me. I lost a lot of time at the beginning of the race trying to make up places, and I was pushing to the limit to stay with Bastianini and get the best position possible, then I went down. I was pushing, but not more than normal, so we need to look at the data to realise exactly what happened. It’s disappointing but I’m glad that I’m uninjured, and now I’ll focus on the test days we have here. Then I’ll be looking forward to arriving in Austin in a couple of weeks.”

Alex Rins #42 was in the mix early on
Jorge Martín – DNF

“It’s a shame; I was riding well. I was in the leading group and could have fought for the podium. I made a mistake and slipped. I then tried to restart but the bike was moving too much; I didn’t want take further risks.”

Iker Lecuona – DNF

“We changed the bike a lot during the weekend. This morning in the Warm Up we tried a different base. For the race, we tried another base but somehow nothing was working. In the first ten laps I was in the mid-group of the race, fighting close to the top 10. Finally, I lost the rear in Turn 4. We don’t understand why. We will see if we can improve something during the test as we have another race here in Misano.”

Iker Lecuona

MotoGP Team Managers

Luigi Dall’Igna – General Manager of Ducati Corse

“Pecco did another great race. It wasn’t easy, especially towards the end when the tyres started to drop, but he rode impeccably. It’s a shame for Jack that had some issues that hindered his performance. Enea also had a sensational race! I’m thrilled, and I congratulate them both and all the guys at Ducati Corse”.

Bagnaia embraced by Luigi Dall’Igna – General Manager of Ducati Corse – after an important victory at Misano
Claudio Domenicali – CEO of Ducati Motor Holding

“It was really an awesome weekend. We are in the heart of the Motor Valley, and Ducati is at home here in Misano, so winning with an Italian rider and an Italian bike is a great emotion. Yesterday in qualifying, we were first and second with Pecco and Jack, and today we have two of our bikes on the podium. Bagnaia was incredible: he built up the race from the first laps and didn’t make any mistakes. He also reacted by setting his second fastest lap in the race with a few laps to go. Enea was also amazing! He made a great comeback and got his first podium in MotoGP! We got two victories in just two weeks, so we can only be happy”.

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“Fabio did an amazing job, as always. Unfortunately, he lost some metres at the start, but our calculations showed that the soft rear, which our rivals used, would drop with 10 laps to go. That was exactly what happened. Fabio kept the pressure on, but in the end the gap was just a bit too big for him to close. But his performance was still incredibly impressive. Franky enjoyed his first race after a long period away. To do 27 laps in his condition after the surgery and the recovery process is really hard. I think he did a very good job. He‘s not at 100% fitness yet, so naturally it‘s a building process. He will just keep improving as his knee heals and he makes more kilometres with the Factory M1. We end the San Marino GP feeling satisfied with the work we’ve done. We look forward to the second round here, but first we have an important test before we make our way to the next round at COTA.”

Fabio Quartararo is single-handedly keeping Yamaha’s Constructor’s hopes alive as his fellow Yamaha riders again failed to score any points.
Shinichi Sahara – Suzuki Project Leader and Team Director

“We knew that Joan and Alex’s race pace was strong despite yesterday’s qualifying results, so I had confidence and expected them to recover positions quite quickly. But Joan struggled a bit to do good lap times in the first half of the race, maybe because of our tyre choice or the track conditions, then the feeling became better towards the end and he started to catch up with the front guys. I think he did his maximum today and believe he can fight for the top positions for the rest of season. It was pity for Alex today with the crash because his pace was good enough to fight for a podium, but we should learn a lot from this race. We will check and investigate all the data to come back stronger and on the podium in the next races.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“We had good pace with the race tyres, in FP4 and this morning in Warm-Up, but in the race we couldn’t fight for the podium. Alex and Joan both fought during the race, Joan felt stronger as the laps went on and he was in a good battle at the end but he could only get sixth after the penalty. This isn’t a really bad result, but also we had hoped for more. Alex started the race well and he was pushing but then he had an unfortunate crash. It was a difficult day for us, but we have another race here in a few weeks and we will try again to get much better results.”

Suzuki Pits
Razlan Razali – Petronas SRT Team Principal

“Unfortunately it was not the home Grand Prix that Rossi expected, but he did the best that he could. He was still able to continue celebrating his career with the fans and we hope that the second Misano race next month will be better for him. Andrea Dovizioso has joined the team and today was his first MotoGP race in nearly ten months, plus it’s the first time that he’s been on a Yamaha YZR-M1 since 2012. He has shown some good potential on the bike and his times during the race were credible. I think it’s only a matter of time before he gets up to speed.”

No points for Rossi but the fans were still out in force
Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Race Manager

“A top ten is not a bad result and we were close to 8th today. It was another tough start for us at this GP with the wet sessions. As a group we are not satisfied with 9th but we have to be realistic and the competitiveness of this category means that if everything is not 100% then it is hard to fight for anything more. Miguel was unlucky to have some contact on the first corner and broke part of the fairing that meant it was horrible for him to ride. It was as shame because he was feeling good after warm-up and had a good feeling [for the race]. We cannot really judge this result today. The team worked well and worked hard. We have a two-day test ahead now with some ideas for next year and I hope we’ll have a few features that might also help us for these last four races.”

Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 KTM Team Manager

“It was a tough race for the Tech3 KTM Factory Racing Team. Honestly, we were expecting better. The last round was quite a good one for us, but here we struggled quite a lot more – for whatever reason. We were still quite confident to show a better race pace than what we did on a fast flying lap. But to celebrate something, you have to finish the race.”

“Iker had a great start, some strong maneuvers in the first part of the race like last weekend in Aragón. We were right behind Brad (Binder), which is always a reference point and I think when Iker and Brad are together, this is a fantastic show and this is where we should be. But then we started to drop positions, to make mistakes, to lose time and that ended up in a crash, which is very unfortunate and sad. It was a big shame for Iker, because we know Iker is getting a better and better MotoGP rider, which he is showing every weekend and we would have loved to see him finishing that race.”

“Danilo pushed hard. His pace was really good, steady. He managed to keep the home hero behind, which I know they were fighting for. I think he did a good race. I want to thank him and congratulate him for pushing until the very last lap. Unfortunately, he ended up 16th, which is the first position without any point. But we are pretty happy to see Danilo pushing and trying to do the best he can.”

“Now it’s time to fly to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and start another adventure in COTA, Texas.”


MotoGP Misano 2021 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 41m48.305
2 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha +0.364
3 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati +4.789
4 Marc MARQUEZ Honda +10.245
5 Jack MILLER Ducati +10.469
6 Joan MIR Suzuki +10.325
7 Pol ESPARGARO Honda +13.234
8 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +15.698
9 Brad BINDER KTM +16.129
10 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +18.519
11 Michele PIRRO Ducati +20.373
12 Johann ZARCO Ducati +21.066
13 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia +21.258
14 Stefan BRADL Honda +28.142
15 Alex MARQUEZ Honda +30.686
16 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM +32.654
17 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +33.853
18 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha +36.272
19 Luca MARINI Ducati +36.839
20 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +37.202
21 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Yamaha +42.587
Not Classified
DNF Alex RINS Suzuki 10 Laps
DNF Iker LECUONA KTM 13 Laps
DNF Jorge MARTIN Ducati 17 Laps

2021 MotoGP Standings

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha FRA 234
2 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati ITA 186
3 Joan MIR Suzuki SPA 167
4 Johann ZARCO Ducati FRA 141
5 Jack MILLER Ducati AUS 140
6 Brad BINDER KTM RSA 124
7 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA 104
8 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia SPA 98
9 Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA 92
10 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM POR 87
11 Jorge MARTIN Ducati SPA 71
12 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda JPN 70
13 Alex RINS Suzuki SPA 68
14 Pol ESPARGARO Honda SPA 64
15 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati ITA 61
16 Alex MARQUEZ Honda SPA 50
17 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha ITA 40
18 Iker LECUONA KTM SPA 38
19 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM ITA 37
20 Luca MARINI Ducati ITA 28
21 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 28
22 Stefan BRADL Honda GER 13
23 Michele PIRRO Ducati ITA 8
24 Dani PEDROSA KTM SPA 6
25 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia ITA 4
26 Tito RABAT Ducati SPA 1
Constructor Standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 DUCATI 275
2 YAMAHA 262
3 SUZUKI 184
4 KTM 178
5 HONDA 148
6 APRILIA 105
Team Points
Team Standings
Pos Team Points
1 MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP  329
2 DUCATI LENOVO TEAM 326
3 TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 235
4 PRAMAC RACING 216
5 RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 211
6 REPSOL HONDA TEAM 163
7 LCR HONDA 120
8 APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI 111
9 ESPONSORAMA RACING 89

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar

Round Date Location
Round 1 Mar-28 Qatar, Losail (night race)
Round 2 Apr-04 Doha, Losail (night race)
Round 3 Apr-18 Portugal, Portimao
Round 4 May-02 Spain, Jerez
Round 5 May-16 France, Le Mans
Round 6 May-30 Italy- Mugello
Round 7 Jun-06 Catalunya, Barcelona
Round 8 Jun-20 Germany, Sachsenring
Round 9 Jun-27 Netherlands, Assen
Round 10 Aug-8 Styria, Red Bull Ring
Round 11 Aug-15 Austria, Red Bull Ring
Round 12 Aug-29 Great Britain, Silverstone
Round 13 Sep-12 Aragon, Motorland Aragon
Round 14 Sep-19 San Marino, Misano
Round 15 Oct-03 Americas, Circuit of the Americas
Round 16 Oct-24 Italy e dell’Emilia Romagna, Misano
Round 17 Nov-7 Portugal, Algarve
Round 18 Nov-14 Valencia, Circuit Ricardo Tormo

Source: MCNews.com.au

Title contenders battle to the flag at Misano

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship
Round 14 – Misano


Francesco Bagnaia took a very important victory overnight to keep his chances of claiming the 2021 MotoGP World Championship alive, and in-turn extend Ducati’s lead in the Constructor’s Championship to 13-points over Yamaha.

Bagnaia embraced by Luigi Dall’Igna – General Manager of Ducati Corse – after an important victory at Misano

Fabio Quartararo though was again on fire to minimise the damage and rode a calculating but aggressive enough race to secure second place and to limit Bagnaia’s gain over him to only five-points. The difference now is still a huge 48-points, thus Quartararo will have to endure a bad run of form or luck to be beaten to the Title. But it’s never over until it’s over and 100 points are still up for grabs.

This year though Quartararo appears to be mentally significantly stronger than last season, has been the most impressive rider of the season thus far and shows no signs of falling apart. He is also single-handedly keeping Yamaha’s Constructor’s hopes alive as his fellow Yamaha riders again failed to score any points.

Realistically it will be one of these two men that will win the championship, but the Frenchman still enjoys a significant 48-point advantage but there are 100-points still up for grabs

Enea Bastianini took a brilliant first MotoGP podium after riding strongly from the start. The 23-year-old started from 12th on the grid but steadily worked his way through the field before moving past Jack Miller to take third place with eight-laps remaining, he then pulled away from the Australian to take a clear third place.

Enea Bastianini’s stocks continue to rise after his best performance to date.

Marc Marquez, Jack Miller and Joan Mir engaged in battle over fourth place during the final laps but ultimately it was Marquez that took the 13-points after what had been a frustrating weekend for the Spaniard. The demands of Misano had seen the Spaniard clutching at his shoulder numerous times during practice and also caused him to fall twice during the weekend and that result was better than he had expected.

Jack Miller’s 11-point score edge the Ducati Lenovo Team closer towards the Team’s Title as the Factory Ducati Team are now only three-points behind the Monster Energery Yamaha Team.

Defending champion Mir took sixth and is third in the championship chase. The only other riders with a mathematical chance of taking the title are Johann Zarco and Jack Miller, but those two are not in the game unless the three riders in front of them fail to score any more points this season. In reality only Bagnaia is in with a decent chance of winning the championship if Quartararo falters drastically, and Mir only a slim outsider.

Next stop Texas…. Can he keep the wins going and pile the pressure on Quartararo?

Bagnaia has two wins in succession to buoy him with confidence as MotoGP now heads to Texas where MotoGP will regroup for the next points scoring opportunity on October 3. There is then a three-week break before MotoGP reconvenes at Misano once again.  The rollercoaster that is the magnificient Portimao will then host the penultimate round on November 7 before the finale unfolds the following weekend at Valencia.


Misano MotoGP Race Report


Bagnaia on pole

Bagnaia took the holeshot from pole and immediately put his head down as team-mate Jack Miller stayed second and the two gained some early breathing space.

Bagnaia started strongly while Miller did his best to keep the throng at bay

Quartararo initally duelled Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) for third just behind, before the Spaniard then fell early at Turn 14.

Jorge Martin battled Quartararo early on but the Ducati man ended up on the deck

Bagnaia, Miller, Quartararo then remained in an evenly-spaced top three, with Marc Marquez fighting Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) just behind.

Bastianin came from 12th on the grid to blast his way up through the field

Enea Bastianini had something to say about that though, the Italian rookie blasting through to pass first the Aprilia and then home in on the Honda. And he made his first move stick, taking fourth but as the podium fight pulled away into the distance… for now.

Bastianini chased down and made short work of Marc Marquez

As Bagnaia pushed on at the front, Quartararo was homing in on Miller, aided a little as the Aussie headed slightly wide at Turn 13. With 14 laps to go the Frenchman was on the scene and sliced past Miller, with the gap to Bagnaia up to 2.7 and Miller remaining on his rear wheel. However, it didn’t take long for the Yamaha to pull away and Bastianini to close down Miller, the rookie gaining over two and a half seconds on the #43 to take over in third.

Quartararo chased down Bagnaia

Lap by lap, Quartararo was able to home in on Bagnaia as in turn Bastianini pulled away from Miller. Marc Marquez had Aleix Espargaro and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) for company in the fight for fifth too, but Miller held firm in fourth for the moment.

Bastianini worked his way past Mir and Marquez

As the laps ticked down, the gap between Bagnaia and Quartararo did too and there was a frisson of tension for the race leader on the horizon: by four to go, El Diablo got within eight tenths and then half a second, making it game on.

Quartararo was relentless in the chase

The Yamaha kept pushing and pushing, gaining here and there and really tagging onto the back of the Ducati as the final few kilometres dawned. It was just over a tenth as the two crossed the line to start the last lap, with Quartararo setting his sights on victory. But he couldn’t make the move early and Pecco was impeccable through Curvone, stretching the gap back out and laying down the gauntlet with one final push. Could Quartararo go for a lunge? Not in the end, Bagnaia once again proving impervious under pressure, painting Misano red and taking his second win in a week.

Bagnaia held on under pressure once again to take a great victory

Behind that duel, it was beauty from the ‘Beast’. Bastianini kept his stunning pace to the end, taking a comfortable third place. Comfortable is an understatement, however, as the rookie put together a truly stunning race on best lap record pace to take his first premier class podium, and on home turf to boot.

2021 Misano I MotoGP Podium
1 Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team – Ducati – 41:48.305
2 Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +0.364
3 Enea Bastianini – Avintia Esponsorama – Ducati – +4.789

The fight for fourth became Miller vs Marquez vs Mir and it was a last gasp thriller. The reigning Champion attacked the number 93 first to move through onto the back of Miller, and the Suzuki then punched his way through on the Ducati at Turn 14. But both went wide and Marquez swept through into fourth. They stayed glued together but out the penultimate corner, Marquez just kept it in but Mir touched the green. So the eight-time World Champion keeps fourth, and Mir crossed the line fifth but is classified as sixth as Miller gains back that P5.

Behind that shuffle, Aleix Espargaro lost some ground and also lost out to brother Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) after a tougher last few laps for the former, with the 44 in seventh and the 41 in eighth. Ninth was another Sunday charge from Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) as the South African shot through from P17 on the grid, only four tenths off the Aprilia ahead by the flag.

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) completed the top ten ahead of Michele Pirro wildcarding for Ducati in P11, and he had Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) close behind after the Frenchman also did a Long Lap for having shortcutted Turns 1 and 2.

Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) scored some points in P13 and close behind the number 5, with HRC test rider Stefan Bradl and Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) completing those points.

Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) had crashed out with 10 to go while Martin retired after trying to finish the race after his early fall while duelling with Quartararo. Iker Lecuona also failed to finish.

MotoGP Misano 2021 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 41m48.305
2 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha +0.364
3 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati +4.789
4 Marc MARQUEZ Honda +10.245
5 Jack MILLER Ducati +10.469
6 Joan MIR Suzuki +10.325
7 Pol ESPARGARO Honda +13.234
8 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +15.698
9 Brad BINDER KTM +16.129
10 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +18.519
11 Michele PIRRO Ducati +20.373
12 Johann ZARCO Ducati +21.066
13 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia +21.258
14 Stefan BRADL Honda +28.142
15 Alex MARQUEZ Honda +30.686
16 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM +32.654
17 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +33.853
18 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha +36.272
19 Luca MARINI Ducati +36.839
20 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +37.202
21 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Yamaha +42.587
Not Classified
DNF Alex RINS Suzuki 10 Laps
DNF Iker LECUONA KTM 13 Laps
DNF Jorge MARTIN Ducati 17 Laps

2021 MotoGP Standings

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha FRA 234
2 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati ITA 186
3 Joan MIR Suzuki SPA 167
4 Johann ZARCO Ducati FRA 141
5 Jack MILLER Ducati AUS 140
6 Brad BINDER KTM RSA 124
7 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA 104
8 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia SPA 98
9 Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA 92
10 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM POR 87
11 Jorge MARTIN Ducati SPA 71
12 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda JPN 70
13 Alex RINS Suzuki SPA 68
14 Pol ESPARGARO Honda SPA 64
15 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati ITA 61
16 Alex MARQUEZ Honda SPA 50
17 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha ITA 40
18 Iker LECUONA KTM SPA 38
19 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM ITA 37
20 Luca MARINI Ducati ITA 28
21 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 28
22 Stefan BRADL Honda GER 13
23 Michele PIRRO Ducati ITA 8
24 Dani PEDROSA KTM SPA 6
25 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia ITA 4
26 Tito RABAT Ducati SPA 1
Constructor Standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 DUCATI 275
2 YAMAHA 262
3 SUZUKI 184
4 KTM 178
5 HONDA 148
6 APRILIA 105
Team Points
Team Standings
Pos Team Points
1 MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP  329
2 DUCATI LENOVO TEAM 326
3 TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 235
4 PRAMAC RACING 216
5 RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 211
6 REPSOL HONDA TEAM 163
7 LCR HONDA 120
8 APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI 111
9 ESPONSORAMA RACING 89

Moto2

Moto2 race was a thriller, particularly over the final laps when the riders really started to struggle for rear grip

Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) put in another stunner at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, taking his sixth win of the season and securing Rookie of the Year. But it was a pretty close run affair, with teammate and Championship leader Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) taking second and four tenths off, hindered by a moment on a last lap charge for victory. Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team) fought at the front throughout too, coming home well in sight of the win and taking third for another podium in 2021.

Any hopes Raul Fernandez had of an instant breakaway win after taking the holeshot were quickly dashed, going wide at Turn 9 as he tried to fight off a challenge from Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), but the Brit nudged ahead and led at the end of the first lap. There were also strong starts from Canet, Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) as they occupied the top five spots, with Gardner and front row starter Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) dropping a little further down the field.

After four laps, the race lost Simone Corsi (MV Augusta Forward Racing) after an incident with Jorge Navarro, which earned the +Ego Speed Up rider a Long Lap penalty. But back at the front, Canet got the gloves off as he moved ahead of Raul Fernandez and set a race lap record in the process, while he soon had Lowes’ number to boot. A mistake from the Brit then let the number 44 through for the lead and Lowes dropped to third, with Gardner working his way back into the top four.

As the laps were chalked off, the front four formed a breakaway group and the Red Bull KTM Ajos began to find some pace, with Raul Fernandez eating away at Canet’s advantage until he eventually made what would prove the race winning overtake on Lap 15 at Turn 1. That prompted Championship leader Gardner to take action, the Aussie making his move on the outside of Lowes at the same corner.

Some small specks of rain threatened but it didn’t affect the on-track action, with Raul Fernandez soon responding to pressure from Canet with the first ever 1:36 lap around Misano. Despite his impressive speed, he couldn’t shake off the close attention of the men in P2 and P3 though.

In the closing laps, the number 25 looked like he’d finally pulled the pin and he extended his lead to nearly a second, but Gardner wasn’t done. Disposing of Canet on the penultimate lap, the Australian then began taking huge chunks out of his teammate’s time and we were set for a grandstand finish. The gap was down to less than half a second, and with a track limits warning not helping matters for Raul Fernandez it was game on.

Gardner was pushing to the absolute limit and setting up a move, but the decisive moment came at Turn 11. A wobble – at the scene of a crash last year – forced him from attack to defence, but he clung onto P2 and 20 crucial Championship points. Canet was forced to settle for third but took another podium, with Lowes fading slightly to fourth as Raul Fernandez took his incredible sixth win of the season.

Raul Fernandez – P1

Another really difficult race. I didn’t sleep well Saturday night so I’m really happy with this. The track was different to yesterday and I didn’t have much grip. I want to thank the team for an incredible bike and also the Clinica Mobile because the hand was still not good. I don’t know how I could ride or brake but we did it today.”

Remy Gardner – P2

I definitely had my heart in my mouth on the last lap! I had to come back from a long way. I was pushing hard and I honestly felt that I wouldn’t win it today but on the last lap a bit of hope came back and I pushed so hard to close the gap. I was lucky to save the bike through the fast kink. There have been worst days! I’m pretty happy and onto the next one.”

Home hero Bezzecchi, on his fabulous pink-liveried machine, headed what had been a hard-fought group, the Italian holding off front row starter Augusto Fernandez as the number 37 was forced to settle for sixth. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) got right in that mix fighting for fifth and ultimately took seventh.

Vierge was a little further back in P8, but had some seriously close company from Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) as the two crossed the line split by less than a tenth. Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) made some good progress up to tenth on Sunday.

Tom Lüthi (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team), Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP), Navarro, who served that Long Lap, Marcos Ramirez (American Racing) and Tony Arbolino (Liqui Moly Intact GP) completed the points.

2021 Misano I Moto2 Podium
1 Raul Fernandez – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex – 40’40.563
2 Remy Gardner – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex – +0.402
3 Aron Canet – Inde Aspar Team – Boscoscuro – +0.569

Moto2 Misano 2021 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Remy GARDNER Kalex AUS 271
2 Raul FERNANDEZ Kalex SPA 237
3 Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex ITA 190
4 Sam LOWES Kalex GBR 140
5 Aron CANET Boscoscuro SPA 119
6 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex SPA 118
7 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Kalex ITA 108
8 Ai OGURA Kalex JPN 104
9 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex GER 84
10 Xavi VIERGE Kalex SPA 75
11 Jorge NAVARRO Boscoscuro SPA 74
12 Joe ROBERTS Kalex USA 59
13 Celestino VIETTI Kalex ITA 53
14 Tony ARBOLINO Kalex ITA 41
15 Bo BENDSNEYDER Kalex NED 40
16 Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex THA 35
17 Cameron BEAUBIER Kalex USA 28
18 Albert ARENAS Boscoscuro SPA 23
19 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex SPA 22
20 Jake DIXON Kalex GBR 21
21 Thomas LUTHI Kalex SWI 21
22 Stefano MANZI Kalex ITA 20
23 Fermín ALDEGUER Boscoscuro SPA 13
24 Simone CORSI MV Agusta ITA 13
25 Hector GARZO Kalex SPA 12
26 Nicolò BULEGA Kalex ITA 12
27 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex ITA 10
28 Hafizh SYAHRIN NTS MAL 8
29 Alonso LOPEZ Boscoscuro SPA 4
30 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI MV Agusta ITA 3
31 Barry BALTUS NTS BEL 2

2021 Moto2 Standings

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Raul FERNANDEZ Kalex 40m40.563
2 Remy GARDNER Kalex +0.402
3 Aron CANET Boscoscuro +0.569
4 Sam LOWES Kalex +1.578
5 Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex +4.92
6 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex +5.361
7 Ai OGURA Kalex +6.236
8 Xavi VIERGE Kalex +7.468
9 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Kalex +7.562
10 Celestino VIETTI Kalex +13.23
11 Thomas LUTHI Kalex +15.596
12 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex +16.172
13 Jorge NAVARRO Boscoscuro +20.234
14 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex +22.819
15 Tony ARBOLINO Kalex +23.015
16 Stefano MANZI Kalex +26.152
17 Nicolò BULEGA Kalex +26.987
18 Hafizh SYAHRIN NTS +27.231
19 Jake DIXON Kalex +28.15
20 Hector GARZO Kalex +28.526
21 Cameron BEAUBIER Kalex +29.864
22 Albert ARENAS Boscoscuro +33.14
23 Joe ROBERTS Kalex +36.098
24 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI MV Agusta +43.861
25 Bo BENDSNEYDER Kalex +47.329
Not Classified
DNF Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex 3 Laps
DNF Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex 6 Laps
DNF Barry BALTUS NTS 13 Laps
DNF Yari MONTELLA Boscoscuro 13 Laps
DNF Simone CORSI MV Agusta 23 Laps

Moto3

Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) remains the man with the momentum in Moto3 as the Italian took another home win, this time in the Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini as he made up yet more ground in the Championship fight. Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia VR46) took another impressive second place, with Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) completing an all-Italian podium on the Riviera di Rimini. It was nearly an Italian 1-2-3-4 too as Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) had looked on for victory as the Italian disappeared in the lead, but a heartbreaker of a crash ended his chances of a near-certain win.

Fenati took the holeshot from pole, off like a shot with Antonelli in second and Migno duelling Foggia just behind, a reshuffled Italian armada at the front with Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) shadowing early on.

Fenati had the hammer down at the front though, setting a new best race lap with a few ticked off, and Antonelli was the rider on the chase as the two kept some clean air between themselves and the chasing group. But the number 55 was stretching his legs and his lead, with fellow Championship players Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) and Foggia all stuck in the second group.

Bit by bit though, Acosta was losing some ground and by 15 to go, the Spaniard was in the fringes of the top ten as Migno, Foggia, Masia, Garcia and Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) bolted on the chase behind Fenati and Antonelli. The latter then headed wide soon after though, slotting back into the group and leaving Fenati with a sizeable – by Moto3 standards – gap at the front.

With 10 to go though, heartbreak struck. Fenati suddenly went down out the lead, the Italian sliding off into the gravel and rider ok, but a near-certain win gone from his grasp. That left Foggia at the front of what was now a fight for victory, and the Leopard rider took over in the task of trying to break away.

Six riders were fighting for three places on the podium, and for two it was also chance to gain huge ground on Acosta as the Spaniard fought it out for seventh in the second group. By a handful to go, Foggia had got it done and pulled out a small gap back to Migno, Antonelli, Garcia and Masia, with Binder having dropped off the back into a lonelier ride for sixth.

Onto the final lap, Foggia was in free air and just needed to keep it clean to take another victory, and a very different one to Aragon. Antonelli had got past Migno and only had to keep the hammer down and the door closed there too, and that they all did. Foggia crossed the line half a second clear for his fourth win of the season, taking back more ground in the title fight and tasting the top step on home turf once again. The tricolore delight continued as Antonelli held off Migno but both were back on the podium, making it an Italian 1-2-3.

2021 Misano I Moto3 Podium
1 Dennis Foggia – Leopard Racing – Honda – 39’17.002
2 Niccolo Antonelli – Avtina VR46 Academy – KTM – +0.565
3 Andrea Migno – Rivacold Snipers Team – Honda – +0.817

The fight for fourth had some elbows further out, with Garcia and Masia nearly side-by-side over the line to start the final lap and the number 11 heading through. As Masia tried to hang in there there was a touch of contact, leaving him back in fifth and with no time left to get back on terms with Garcia. So the GASGAS rider took P4, Masia completed the top five, and Binder took P6.

Acosta managed to take seventh and limit the damage, with Carlos Tatay (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3), Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride) and Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3) completing the top ten in a big group fight, Riccardo Rossi (BOE Owlride) in touch with them in P11. Just behind, another group of Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team), John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) and Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) completed the points.

Moto3 Misano 2021 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Dennis FOGGIA Honda 39m17.002
2 Niccolò ANTONELLI KTM +0.565
3 Andrea MIGNO Honda +0.817
4 Sergio GARCIA GASGAS +2.14
5 Jaume MASIA KTM +3.098
6 Darryn BINDER Honda +7.633
7 Pedro ACOSTA KTM +9.991
8 Carlos TATAY KTM +10.184
9 Stefano NEPA KTM +10.341
10 Ayumu SASAKI KTM +10.344
11 Riccardo ROSSI KTM +10.36
12 Izan GUEVARA GASGAS +14.626
13 John MCPHEE Honda +14.898
14 Kaito TOBA KTM +15.019
15 Tatsuki SUZUKI Honda +15.072
16 Jeremy ALCOBA Honda +18.859
17 Ryusei YAMANAKA KTM +18.874
18 Matteo BERTELLE KTM +18.921
19 Lorenzo FELLON Honda +19.303
20 Adrian FERNANDEZ Husqvarna +21.363
21 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM +26.962
22 Maximilian KOFLER KTM +30.466
23 Alberto SURRA Honda +46.656
24 Andi Farid IZDIHAR Honda +53.47
Not Classified
DNF Filip SALAC KTM 6 Laps
DNF Xavier ARTIGAS Honda 9 Laps
DNF Romano FENATI Husqvarna 10 Laps
DNF Elia BARTOLINI KTM 22 Laps

2021 Moto3 Standings

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Pedro ACOSTA KTM SPA 210
2 Dennis FOGGIA Honda ITA 168
3 Sergio GARCIA GASGAS SPA 168
4 Romano FENATI Husqvarna ITA 134
5 Jaume MASIA KTM SPA 122
6 Niccolò ANTONELLI KTM ITA 118
7 Darryn BINDER Honda RSA 114
8 Ayumu SASAKI KTM JPN 93
9 Andrea MIGNO Honda ITA 84
10 Izan GUEVARA GASGAS SPA 76
11 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM TUR 73
12 Kaito TOBA KTM JPN 64
13 Tatsuki SUZUKI Honda JPN 62
14 Jeremy ALCOBA Honda SPA 60
15 Gabriel RODRIGO Honda ARG 60
16 John MCPHEE Honda GBR 56
17 Filip SALAC KTM CZE 46
18 Ryusei YAMANAKA KTM JPN 42
19 Stefano NEPA KTM ITA 37
20 Xavier ARTIGAS Honda SPA 30
21 Riccardo ROSSI KTM ITA 29
22 Carlos TATAY KTM SPA 28
23 Jason DUPASQUIER KTM SWI 27
24 Adrian FERNANDEZ Husqvarna SPA 20
25 Yuki KUNII Honda JPN 15
26 Maximilian KOFLER KTM AUT 10
27 Elia BARTOLINI KTM ITA 7
28 Syarifuddin AZMAN Honda MAL 3
29 Andi Farid IZDIHAR Honda INA 3
30 Daniel HOLGADO KTM SPA 1

MotoE

The final race of the 2021 FIM Enel MotoE World Cup had everything on the line. On the way in, Jordi Torres (HP Pons 40) had eight points in hand over Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP), and the two at the top in the standings would also prove the key protagonists in the drama. After an almighty duel between the duo, with the crown on the line, the contest ended in contact as Aegerter dived up the inside. Torres fell, although he remounted, and in parc ferme the verdict from the Stewards was in: Aegerter was given a Ride Through penalty, or the equivalent time, which was 38 seconds. That put him just ahead of Torres after the Spaniard made it to the line.. which wasn’t enough for the Swiss rider. So it’s #TwoTimeTorres at Misano.

That drama also decided the podium, with what had been a fight for third becoming the fight for victory. And it was King of Misano Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) who came out on top, winning the last race of the season to get back on the podium for the first time in 2021 – and extending his record at Misano to 5 wins from 7 races. Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) took second after more impressive speed, the only rider on the rostrum in both races at the season finale, with Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) rounding out the year in third.

It was Casadei who got the holeshot going into the first corner, with Aegerter attacking Eric Granado (ONE Energy Racing) and Ferrari taking the long way around the outside to jump both and slot into third. He duelled Aegerter briefly, with Granado just behind, as Torres took the lead and then took off in the lead too.

On the second lap, the race leader had begun to open up a considerable gap, jolting Aegerter into action and the Swiss rider moving past Ferrari into P2. He then got the hammer down, and was able to close back up on his race-leading rival.

From there, a duel for the ages erupted as Aegerter threw the kitchen sink at trying to take over at the front, and it was spectacular as the two exchanged the lead. Torres wasn’t backing down and Aegerter was putting it all on the line. But with just a handful of corners to go, it hit boiling point. Aegerter lunged for it, the two made contact, and Torres found himself on the floor… leaving Aegerter free in the lead to cross the line first. The Spaniard managed to remount and finish in P13, but it seemed the Cup was decided.

The incident was immediately put under investigation, however. After a tense wait in parc ferme, a penalty was announced and 38 seconds were added to Aegerter’s race time for irresponsible riding. That’s the equivalent of a ride through penalty in MotoE as Misano as per the regulations, and it dropped him to 12th – just ahead of Torres. The Spaniard had, therefore, taken the crown after all.

2021 MotoE Misano Race 2 Podium
1 Matteo Ferrari – Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE – Energica – 13’54.140
2 Mattia Casadei – Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse – Energica – +0.348
3 Miquel Pons – LCR E-Team – Energica – +1.038

Behind all that drama for the overall Cup, there was a race to be decided too. The trio who’d been locked in their own battle for much of the race; Ferrari, Casadei and Pons, were on the podium. The Gresini rider was back on top, just ahead of Casadei, with Pons a few more tenths back but the rookie fast once again.

Fourth went to the absolute wire, with Kevin Zannoni (LCR E-Team) putting in a stunner but only just, just, holding off the final electric samba of the season from Granado. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) was next up, with Fermín Aldeguer (Openbank Aspar Team), Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), Andrea Mantovani (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE) and Corentin Perolari (Tech 3 E-Racing) completing the top ten.

Aegerter was P12 and Torres P13, and with a helping hand from his teammate. Jasper Iwema saw the Spaniard had crashed, waited for him, and followed him home. Every point can count.

Torres v Aegerter was the scenes of the season

In the end, it was a one-point swing as the dust settles, with Torres ending the season seven clear of Aegerter. Ferrari leapfrogged Granado by just two points to take third overall, with Alessandro Zaccone (Octo Pramac MotoE) ending the year in fifth overall after his Race 1 crash and sitting Sunday out. And that’s a wrap on a dramatic, thrilling and truly electric season. We hope you enjoyed it… now recharge for 2022!

Matteo Ferrari – P1

“l’m really happy. During the race I didn’t expect this result because I started very well and at the first corner I was third, but every rider today pushed a lot in the first laps so fortunately I maintained the position and continued ti improve ap by lap. With the used tyre I was comfortable so I did a very good lap mid-race and fortunately closed all the corners, compare to last year where Domi passed me. Happy to be here, and to finish third in the standings.”

Jordi Torres – MotoE Champion
Jordi Torres – MotoE Champion

I never could imagine that I could win again this year. Maybe last year, our win had some luck, calculating very well how our points were, but this year we’re more concentrating on our way, in the sense of improving the bike and trying to be as calm-minded as possible in the races to avoid mistakes. But arriving in the last two races with many options to win the title is a lot of satisfaction for our team, but to arrive here with these options it means we continued to push and be aggressive, very fast, during all the season. But we know that doing many races we tried to save points, coming fifth or seventh, but if we were able to do a great race we tried do. And we tried all season to not make a mistake and in these last two races we tried to be aggressive, fast, at the beginning of the weekend, in any condition, and put all the cards on the table and show how the performance is in the last two races.

“Trying to do all races at this pace and as aggressive as today, in some races we would fall. All season we tried to be at 90 or 95%, but for sure this weekend, and not just me, four or five guys tried to do 100% to stay on top, it’s the one chance to win the title. And that’s what we did, to fight for victory.

“I knew Domi needed to overtake me and win the race to win the title, he’s also a great racer and did a great championship, able to win it. But I knew that if you try to overtake under these conditions – when I’m trying to brake late – and he saw two or three times that it was difficult to overtake me like that because he went wide. I knew on the last lap he’d try everything but in this condition he wasn’t able to do it well, we crossed lines and I couldn’t enter the corner, I tried to pick the bike up as fast as possible. But he hit me, I hit the ground and I went to my bike, tried to run and get to the end because you never know if you take one or two points it could be necessary in the title. And I saw Jasper Iwema waited for me to give me some help, if I took one point more it could have been needed. I want to say thanks to him.

“When I saw the result and the flag I started to cry, I felt down, I felt like I was a loser and lost the title. I tried to squeeze the maximum in this race and focus 100% to do my pace, and when Domi tried to overtake me I tried to be calm to not make a mistake and manage well the situation. But all this work I did, and the work my team did all this year to arrive here, it’s like well.. all this in the rubbish and start again! I cried and arrived to my people, when I entered the pits they all said ‘ok take a break, don’t worry, we’ll see what happens’. I was still crying, and then when I saw the result from Race Direction it became happy tears, a rollercoaster of emotion, and I’m tired now after that! But we’re happy for this happy ending, and we make a lot of notes for next season to continue in this direction; fast, aggressive, great results, but we know where we need to change to be safer in that performance.”

MotoE Misano 2021 Race Two Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Matteo FERRARI Energica 13m54.140
2 Mattia CASADEI Energica +0.348
3 Miquel PONS Energica +1.038
4 Kevin ZANNONI Energica +3.402
5 Eric GRANADO Energica +3.484
6 Hikari OKUBO Energica +3.899
7 Fermín ALDEGUER Energica +7.274
8 Xavi CARDELUS Energica +11.109
9 Andrea MANTOVANI Energica +10.779
10 Corentin PEROLARI Energica +15.25
11 Maria HERRERA Energica +15.428
12 Dominique AEGERTER Energica +37.83
13 Jordi TORRES Energica +45.57
14 Jasper IWEMA Energica +46.449
15 Lukas TULOVIC Energica +56.267
Not Classified
DNF Yonny HERNANDEZ Energica 4 Laps

2021 MotoE Final Standings

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Jordi TORRES Energica SPA 97
2 Dominique AEGERTER Energica SWI 89
3 Alessandro ZACCONE Energica ITA 80
4 Eric GRANADO Energica BRA 73
5 Lukas TULOVIC Energica GER 61
6 Matteo FERRARI Energica ITA 61
7 Mattia CASADEI Energica ITA 59
8 Miquel PONS Energica SPA 57
9 Yonny HERNANDEZ Energica COL 47
10 Fermín ALDEGUER Energica SPA 42
11 Hikari OKUBO Energica JPN 35
12 Kevin ZANNONI Energica ITA 31
13 Corentin PEROLARI Energica FRA 25
14 Andrea MANTOVANI Energica ITA 22
15 Maria HERRERA Energica SPA 22
16 Xavi CARDELUS Energica AND 13
17 Andre PIRES Energica POR 12
18 Jasper IWEMA Energica NED 11
19 Stefano VALTULINI Energica ITA 1
19 Stefano VALTULINI Energica ITA 1

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar

Round Date Location
Round 1 Mar-28 Qatar, Losail (night race)
Round 2 Apr-04 Doha, Losail (night race)
Round 3 Apr-18 Portugal, Portimao
Round 4 May-02 Spain, Jerez
Round 5 May-16 France, Le Mans
Round 6 May-30 Italy- Mugello
Round 7 Jun-06 Catalunya, Barcelona
Round 8 Jun-20 Germany, Sachsenring
Round 9 Jun-27 Netherlands, Assen
Round 10 Aug-8 Styria, Red Bull Ring
Round 11 Aug-15 Austria, Red Bull Ring
Round 12 Aug-29 Great Britain, Silverstone
Round 13 Sep-12 Aragon, Motorland Aragon
Round 14 Sep-19 San Marino, Misano
Round 15 Oct-03 Americas, Circuit of the Americas
Round 16 Oct-24 Italy e dell’Emilia Romagna, Misano
Round 17 Nov-7 Portugal, Algarve
Round 18 Nov-14 Valencia, Circuit Ricardo Tormo

Source: MCNews.com.au

MotoGP Riders and Team Managers reflect on the Aragon GP

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship
Round 13 – Aragon

Pecco Bagnaia and Gigi Dall’Igna

Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“Today’s victory was really incredible. We knew we were strong, but also that Marc Márquez is particularly fast on this track. When I took the lead, I tried to push right away because I knew he was behind. The last four laps were tough, and I couldn’t wait for the race to finish because he kept passing me. In the end, we did it, and it is an indescribable emotion. Today’s win was not taken for granted: I came here with lots of questions, as I had never managed to be fast and finish the race in the points since 2019 until now at the MotorLand. Instead, this year, since FP1, everything has been perfect. I’m thrilled.”

Team Ducati celebrate

Marc Marquez – P2

“I pushed hard all race but on the last three laps I really tried everything. Sometimes when you try like this you make a mistake, you crash and the result isn’t good. But I still tried and I think everyone watching it enjoyed a lot! I knew it would be really difficult, fighting against the Ducati is hard because they brake very late and accelerate very well plus today, Pecco was riding in a perfect way. It was a great battle with him, I enjoyed it a lot. After two crashes in a row, it’s not easy to give everything and put it on the line like in this race. In Turn 1 on the last lap I couldn’t stop well and I couldn’t make it happen at Turn 5 either. My last chance was Turn 12 but as soon as I went to the dirty part of the track, I knew it would be impossible and I ran wide. I’m happy because we were able to fight and our race pace was fast and also because this race provides extra motivation to me, to HRC and everyone in the box. Thanks to everyone for their hard work.”

The pressure from Marquez was unrelenting

Joan Mir – P3

“I’m a bit disappointed, despite the podium, because I wasn’t able to be as fast as I wanted. But the important thing was that I managed to be really consistent and feel comfortable on the bike. The team and I put in a lot of effort and that resulted in a third place finish, which was good, but I was hoping to have winning pace. The track was very hot and all weekend it was hard to get optimal grip and feeling, but I kept fighting and this podium brings us positivity and some nice points. We’ll keep pushing to improve for the remaining rounds. I’m not thinking of the title, I just want to get the best possible result at every race.”

Joan Mir was the quiet achiever and again bagged good points to rank third in the championship, 20-points ahead of Zarco

Aleix Espargaro – P4

“In the race today, the pace was out of this world, especially at the front, and even physically I can’t remember too many Sundays that have been this demanding. I’m pleased with the position, but more than anything, with the consistency we’re demonstrating, which is still my primary goal for this season. Considering the fact that in the finale, since overtaking Mir for third was impossible and I had a good gap ahead of Miller, I increased the pace a bit, I was still able to keep up with the riders who were making the difference over the rest of the grid. This means that we can battle with anyone and on any track, which is a huge step forward for me and for Aprilia.”

Aleix Espargaro

Jack Miller – P5

“I have to admit, I have some mixed feelings after that one. Fifth after starting second … I’m not happy, but I’m not disappointed either. It’s kind of a level feeling, you could say. I’m rapt for my teammate Pecco (Bagnaia) to have his first win though, and to do it after a massive battle with Marc (Marquez) – he earned that one, so that’s great for him.

Jack Miller on the grid

“For me, I would have liked to have joined him up there but I had some issues with my leg that were a bit weird with the lever as I was trying to shift gear. I kept making mistakes on the gearbox and while I could hang in there with Pecco and Marc early on, it just kept happening and I eventually ran long into the last corner and Joan (Mir) and Aleix (Espargaro) came past me, I gifted them the places really. I went out of the track at the last corner and kept going wide at Turn 1, so it was a strange one. My tyres went well and I felt good on the bike, but it just wasn’t to be today.

Jack Miller was in the mix up front early on

“Back to Pecco, I’m really happy for him and the team because he’s shown time after time that he has the speed, but it hadn’t happened for him for one reason or another. It’s been coming for a while, and he might have won at Mugello if he’d not crashed there because he had the speed. So, he has a win now this year, I have a couple, and let’s see if we can add a few more victories before the season ends.

Jack Miller

“We came here with some confidence after the result at Silverstone, not so much the fourth place itself but more how I got it. It was really nice to be strong at the end of a race and really be able to push, be able to show that I could keep the tyre alive at Silverstone which is one of the most brutal tracks on tyres. So to be able to put in a solid second half of that race was key, and I enjoyed it a lot.

“Aragon’s a really fun track, but a lot of the corners lead into one another so if you don’t have a good feeling, it’s really hard to go fast. Last year we didn’t have that feeling but this year – a bit hotter, the bike is better, maybe the rider is doing a better job – that good feeling came back.

“Generally I’ve gone well here at Aragon before, I was on the podium with the Pramac boys in 2019, but last year was pretty shocking really. Two races, kind of nowhere in the first one and then got taken out by Brad (Binder) two corners into the second one. All us Ducati riders struggled here last year, to be honest. But the race – well, races – were so much later in the year last year than normal because of the changed calendar, so being here over a month earlier was always going to help. It gets pretty cold here in October, and we were doing FP1 sessions when the track was about 12 degrees, that’s way too cold for these bikes to work properly. It felt like a proper Aragon Grand Prix this time.

“I had a lot of fun here in 2019, but last year was a struggle the whole time. But right from when I rolled out of the box on Friday this weekend it immediately felt like something was up, it was fantastic. I’ve been on a Ducati for a while now and I’ve never had one that turns as good as this one does through the last corner. The corners like that one have caught us out in the past but us Ducatis owned the final sector all weekend, that one was ours. We could be calm on the tyre and be fast the whole time. Even in qualifying, it was the last sector that saved me because I struggled in sector one, but was able to use that last sector to pull something out of the bag and get onto the front row next to Pecco.

“Anyway, we have Misano next weekend, and I’m sure Pecco will be incredibly fast again, he was there last year. I feel good going there and I’m excited to be heading to the home Grand Prix for Ducati, so I’ll speak to you from there next week. “


Enea Bastianini – P6

“It was a very enjoyable race. At the beginning I struggled in the corners, but from the middle of the race onwards I improved and from then on I started my comeback. It’s a pity that I lost a bit of time fighting with Quartararo and Nakagami, because maybe I could have caught Miller as well. Anyway, it was a race that exceeded my expectations. I think we showed great pace throughout the weekend and we’ll go to Misano in really motivated.”

Enea Bastianini

Brad Binder – P7

“It was a tough race for us, really difficult, I tried my absolute best at the beginning not to destroy my rear tire so that I would have something left for the end. Even though I nursed the left-hand side really well it gave me a very hard time on the last few laps. I need to say a huge thank you to the team because they worked so hard this weekend. The bike is working well, we just need a little bit more to be a bit more competitive. We are struggling more than we’d like to right now but it’s not for a lack of effort, that’s for sure. If we keep working then we are going to get there.”


Fabio Quartararo – P8

“I’m not happy, because it was strange today. I improved my pace this morning, but something strange happened during the race. These things can happen sometimes. It‘s a bit sad that this time it was during the race, but it‘s not a total disaster. We will work hard to analyse what happened, and next week we will be riding in Misano. That‘s a track that I really like, so we just need to turn over the page. I still think we did a great job. It‘s just a shame about the result at the end of this weekend.”

Fabio Quartararo

Jorge Martín – P9

“I am satisfied. I ended in the top ten and this is my objective for the season. I’m still suffering a bit physically and in tracks like this which require a lot of effort, I struggle more. Either way, I am happy. We have earned points and we are improving more and more each day.”


Takaaki Nakagami – P10

“We finished P10, the race was so tough, really difficult conditions as it was so warm. During the race, I was behind (Enea) Bastianini for a long time and it was difficult to manage the front tyre performance. But I tried my best during the race and over the last four laps we had a chance to finish P8, it was very close with Fabio (Quartararo) and Jorge Martin, but I wasn’t close enough and didn’t have a chance to attack or try to overtake. Anyway, we ended up P10, which is not the best result, but we had some positive feelings this weekend and we’ll keep working hard. We’re looking forward to the next one in Misano which is really important as it’s a home GP for the team and I’m excited to go there.”


Iker Lecuona – P11

“I’m happy on one side as I did a very good race. The pace was unbelievable! I made some mistakes and especially one in corner eight, where I lost many positions back to P11. I tried to recover but after I had hit my shoulder very hard in my crash on Friday it made me struggle on the last laps. I still kept pushing and recovered almost two seconds to come back to that group. I even tried to pass Nakagami to finish in the top 10, but it was impossible. It’s still ok. I’m very happy about this weekend, I worked well. Thanks to everybody, who believes in me; to my family, my manager and also thanks to the team, that always works very well.”

Iker Lecuona

Alex Rins – P12

“It was a very, very difficult race. In the first part I overtook a lot of riders, but then when I went onto the long straight I was fast but I was also keen to maintain the condition of the tyre. I got up to 12th and then I started to feel quite strange with not much grip or feeling in general. I wanted to do the best job possible, but in the end I couldn’t gain any more places. I don’t feel so bad because I gained a lot of places compared with my grid position and I’m ready to move on to Misano and try again.”

Alex Rins

Pol Espargaro – P13

“I wasn’t fast today, I did not have a good feeling with the bike in the hotter conditions and I struggled from the start. I was unable to ride as I wanted and I lost too many places at the start, there were points in the race where I felt better and I was able to make up some ground, but the group ahead had been lost. With just a little more grip I can really ride the bike with my style as I want, but when the conditions are like this I can’t ride the bike like I want to. Now we get ready for Misano where probably the conditions will be similar, so we have to keep working to see what’s possible and how to improve. Marc shows that the bike can be strong in these conditions, I just need more time on the bike to understand what to do.”


Miguel Oliveira – P14

“Tough race for me. After the bad qualifying yesterday we made a couple of positions but I didn’t have the best feedback from the front end to be able to ride at my best. The team is working hard, I’m working hard and I’m sure we’ll come up with a good solution. Misano is a challenging track but I like it. We’ll hope for a good result.”


Danilo Petrucci – P15

“In the end, we managed to score one point, even if the race was really difficult. It was impossible for me to overtake and even stay with the pack, as I couldn’t get past anyone and was slower into the corners. Twice I almost hit a rider in front of me then I started to push and push and push but I struggled all the race with the front tyre, as it was very hot. Unfortunately, I made some mistakes. At the end we scored that point, which is ok. We did our best.”


Cal Crutchlow – P16

“I did enjoy it, and that‘s the main thing. Enjoying the race and getting the information for Yamaha was our aim for this weekend. I‘m disappointed with my position, but my position was severely hampered after the first lap contact with I think it was Alex Marquez. I had made a great start to eleventh already. I had the pace for a top 10 today I believe, but I ran off track, ran across the grass, came back on track, and then I hit another rider. I was back in 20th or something. I had to make up some positions, that was okay. I got held up by Marini after this, then I came across a 2s gap to the group in front of me. We struggled today, but it was good for information. I was pleased with my pace when I was not battling or something like that, which is positive. This means we can keep testing in a good way, because I will be testing here in two weeks’ time again.”


Johann Zarco – P17

“It was a difficult race; I am not satisfied. I am searching for that feeling I had with the bike at the beginning of the championship, but I am really struggling. I will rest for two days and we will try to improve at Misano.”


Maverick Vinales – P18

“I’m satisfied with the weekend overall. We knew that the position wouldn’t be our primary objective. In fact, I used a slightly different setup in order to continue experimenting with this new bike and gather information. I started well – that’s the first positive note – and in terms of tyre management, I must also admit that the situation is good. Maybe if we had started a bit farther forward, we’d be talking about a different race, but the flying lap in practice is a question of confidence and that will come with time and miles. We are at a point that requires great effort and work, but I know that we’ll be successful in the end.”

Maverick Vinales

Valentino Rossi – P19

“It was a difficult day to end a difficult weekend at this track, but we know that this is not one of my best tracks. I was hoping to fight for some points today, because in Free Practice I was able to stay inside the top-15 at times, but racing with the soft rear tyre I needed to be very careful in the beginning to be smooth and not overstress the rear. We knew that on paper this tyre was faster than the medium and the hard, but the time we lost in the beginning being smooth was too great. I was able to keep a constant pace throughout the race though, but it was not enough to earn any points, which was our target. I’m now really looking forward to racing at home next weekend.”

Valentino Rossi has only scored 28-points so far this season and ranks 21st in the championship

Luca Marini – P20

“A very difficult race, I don’t have much more to say. A complicated weekend and a lot of work to do in order to make a step forward and be competitive for my home GP.”


Jake Dixon – DNF

“Everything had been going quite well during the weekend, up to the crash in the race. I felt like I didn’t have a bad first lap and I managed to stay with Rossi. I settled into it, but then had a moment coming out of Turn 3 on my first lap and that unsettled the bike. I went off the track on Turn 4 and Turn 5, re-joined about half a second behind everyone and tried to catch them. Looking at the data I didn’t do anything differently, but the hard front tyre wasn’t quite up to temperature. It’s something that experience obviously helps with, but it was my mistake and I want to apologise to the team. I want to thank the team and all the crew members for giving me this great opportunity to do two weekends on the Petronas Yamaha SRT; I’ve enjoyed it a lot.”


Álex Márquez – DNF

“It was unfortunate today, we made some steps during warm-up when I was feeling ok. In the race, on the first lap somebody in front of me had a touch and, ahead of me, I had Taka who braked to avoid the contact in front, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to avoid contact with him and his rear tyre. It was completely my fault and I’m sorry to the team, they did an amazing job today to give me the best bike for the race, so I’m sad for that. The positive thing is that in three or four days I’ll be back on the bike, I’ll to try to forget this weekend because, overall, it’s not been easy. We look forward to Misano where we’ll try harder.”


Team Managers
Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager

“It was an incredible race, and I’m so excited. Pecco was amazing! He really did a masterpiece, riding flawlessly and beating a Marc Márquez who showed his form today. This first win was crucial for Pecco, and he deserves it, as do all the guys at Ducati Corse who have worked so hard to achieve this victory. I’m really happy”.

Bagnaia congratulated by Ducati management Paolo Ciabatti and Gigi Dall’Igna

Shinichi Sahara – Suzuki Project Leader and Team Director

“First of all I’d like to say ‘great job’ to Joan and his crew! During the weekend he was steady and consistent as usual and he made a good start from his grid position. He maintained everything very well, and he stayed very concentrated. I’m really happy for him to be back on the podium. We still need to find something more to fight for the title, but I believe we can do that. Alex achieved great lap times in Warm-Up this morning with a used tyre, but he lacked a bit of feeling with the bike during the race, despite this he recovered well. We’re already looking forward to Misano and hoping to see both our riders at the front.”


Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“We had high expectations here because last year we had fantastic results, but this year we are struggling a bit more. Despite this situation, Joan did a very good job to take a podium and I’m very happy. Alex improved in the race compared with his qualifying position, but he couldn’t achieve what he wanted today. We need to study the data again and try to find the solutions ahead of Misano next weekend.”


Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director

“We knew we would struggle here, but we didn‘t expect the race to be this tough right from the start. We are still analysing what caused Fabio discomfort today. We haven’t found the answer yet. Whatever caused it, it was a real shame, because after Warm Up we were feeling confident that we could have done a completely different race than what ultimately happened today. We will definitely analyse the data carefully before next week’s race. But Fabio‘s fighting spirit and instinct to never give up resulted in eight championship points. It‘s definitely not as many as we wanted or could have scored here, but they are still crucial. Cal also didn‘t have the start of the race that he wanted. There was contact with other riders and he also lost some time battling with Marini, but overall he was riding well. He got into a solid rhythm and came really close to securing a championship point. Luckily, we can go back to ’normality‘ next week, riding at Misano where we‘re usually competitive. So the team are all looking forward to making a strong comeback there.”


Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Race Manager

“It was hard for us to post a single fast, flying lap from Friday morning on this track. We knew we would be stronger in the race but from those grid positions we also knew it would be tough. To be fair Brad and Iker pushed so hard in the first half of the race and against strong competition. Iker made a mistake and Brad continued to make the maximum possible. It was difficult to manage the tires and Miguel had issues from the beginning with rear grip, which he’d had all weekend. We need to help him and all of our riders to overcome these obstacles and I hope we can again fight for the top five when we come to Misano next week.”


Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 KTM Team Manager

“I believe it was a really strong race from our two guys, for sure especially Iker. He had a great start and he was clearly inside the top 10. We were very proud to see him being the leading KTM rider for most of the race with Brad (Binder) just behind him. Unfortunately, when everything is so close, you can’t afford to do any mistake and he did a very small one, that cost him dearly. He went from P7 to P11, which was a shame. But still I would like to thank Iker, because he has been pushing all weekend long, he has been showing a positive attitude and a great fighting spirit. There is more to come in the next few races. Overall, it was a strong weekend. When he came to the garage, he was really pissed off, which is the sign of a champion, so just a few more days and we are in Misano and we can push again to try to do another strong race. Danilo didn’t get such a good start, but still kept his head down. He was doing interesting lap times, but unfortunately, the pace was very similar among the whole grid. He managed to pass quite a few riders, including Johann Zarco. He ended up in P15, which means our both riders are in the points. This is a satisfaction, but of course, both Iker and Danilo wish for more and we do as well. Anyway, let’s pack everything and move to Misano, where we can challenge again and hopefully have our two guys in the top 10.”

Razlan Razali – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT, Team Principal

“We saw a tough race for Valentino today and it was very hot out on track, which didn’t help. We know this is a track that he historically struggled a bit at, but I’m sure that Misano, which is a home race for him, will be better. It was an unfortunate crash for Jake, but I’m sure it’s just part of the learning process because the conditions were difficult. I’m sure he’s had a lot of fun being on the MotoGP bike.”


MotoGP Aragon 2021 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 41m44.422
2 Marc MARQUEZ Honda +0.673
3 Joan MIR Suzuki +3.911
4 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +9.269
5 Jack MILLER Ducati +11.928
6 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati +13.757
7 Brad BINDER KTM +14.064
8 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha +16.575
9 Jorge MARTIN Ducati +16.615
10 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +16.904
11 Iker LECUONA KTM +17.124
12 Alex RINS Suzuki +17.71
13 Pol ESPARGARO Honda +19.68
14 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +22.703
15 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM +25.723
16 Cal CRUTCHLOW Yamaha +26.413
17 Johann ZARCO Ducati +26.62
18 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia +27.128
19 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +32.517
20 Luca MARINI Ducati +39.073

2021 MotoGP Standings

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha FRA 214
2 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati ITA 161
3 Joan MIR Suzuki SPA 157
4 Johann ZARCO Ducati FRA 137
5 Jack MILLER Ducati AUS 129
6 Brad BINDER KTM RSA 117
7 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA 96
8 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia SPA 95
9 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM POR 87
10 Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA 79
11 Jorge MARTIN Ducati SPA 71
12 Alex RINS Suzuki SPA 68
13 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda JPN 64
14 Pol ESPARGARO Honda SPA 55
15 Alex MARQUEZ Honda SPA 49
16 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati ITA 45
17 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha ITA 40
18 Iker LECUONA KTM SPA 38
19 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM ITA 37
20 Luca MARINI Ducati ITA 28
21 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 28
22 Stefan BRADL Honda GER 11
23 Dani PEDROSA KTM SPA 6
24 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia ITA 4
25 Michele PIRRO Ducati ITA 3
26 Tito RABAT Ducati SPA 1

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar

Round Date Location
Round 1 Mar-28 Qatar, Losail (night race)
Round 2 Apr-04 Doha, Losail (night race)
Round 3 Apr-18 Portugal, Portimao
Round 4 May-02 Spain, Jerez
Round 5 May-16 France, Le Mans
Round 6 May-30 Italy- Mugello
Round 7 Jun-06 Catalunya, Barcelona
Round 8 Jun-20 Germany, Sachsenring
Round 9 Jun-27 Netherlands, Assen
Round 10 Aug-8 Styria, Red Bull Ring
Round 11 Aug-15 Austria, Red Bull Ring
Round 12 Aug-29 Great Britain, Silverstone
Round 13 Sep-12 Aragon, Motorland Aragon
Round 14 Sep-19 San Marino, Misano
Round 15 Oct-03 Americas, Circuit of the Americas
Round 16 Oct-24 Italy e dell’Emilia Romagna, Misano
Round 17 Nov-7 Portugal, Algarve
Round 18 Nov-14 Valencia, Circuit Ricardo Tormo

Source: MCNews.com.au

Aragon serves up best MotoGP race of 2021 thus far

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship
Round 13 – Aragon


Aragon produced the MotoGP race of the season overnight after Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez went head-to-head over the final laps in a tense battle that was truly magnificent to watch.

Despite yet more crashes during practice the mental strength of Marc Marquez was on display as soon as the lights went out as he propelled himself into the battle for the lead with a daring display of other-worldly motorcycle control.

As the race wore on it was only Marquez that could take the battle for victory up to Bagnaia after the Italian had scored the holeshot from pole position and led every single lap of the race.

Bagnaia and Marquez battled in close-quarters through every turn over the final laps

Over the final laps Bagnaia was a measure of calculated control as he fended off a flurry of thrusts and parries from Marquez that were simply breath-taking in both daring and volume.

Every time Marquez slotted his Honda up the inside or outside of the Ducati, Bagnaia answered with an amazing display of strategy and control that earned him his first ever MotoGP victory under what was immense pressure from the eight-time World Champion.

What a way to take your first victory…

As Marquez said himself after the race, it was a Dovizioso-like display from Bagnaia, but with even more corner speed.

Marquez piled the pressure on Bagnaia but the Italian resisted

The win moves Bagnaia up to second place in the championship while series leader Fabio Quartararo still enjoys a 53-points lead despite a lack-lustre eighth place finish at Aragon.

Joan Mir took third place at Aragon and holds down third place in the championship, a slim four-points behind Mir.

With five rounds now remaining it is fair to say that Quartararo certainly has one hand on the championship trophy. Only a series of major disasters can prevent the 22-year-old from being crowned champion.


MotoGP Race Report

As the lights went out, polesitter Bagnaia got away well and held on for the holeshot, with team-mate Jack Miller going in a bit deep at Turn 1 and that allowing Marc Marquez to grab P2 after a lightning start for the number 93. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was up to P4, with Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) losing out and down to fifth 5th. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) then crashed at Turn 5, rider ok.

Aragon MotoGP

As Bagnaia and Marc Marquez led the train away, Quartararo was struggling. Both Mir and Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) passed the Frenchman next as he slipped towards the clutches of eighth place Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), but nobody in the early stages was showing their cards, with only 2.2 seconds covering the top six.

Championship leader Quartararo slipped backwards

Just outside that top six remained Quartararo, however. By now, the Frenchman had the rapid starting Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) climbing all over him, and at the end of Lap 6, the number 27 was through. A couple of laps later, another KTM was ahead as Binder followed Lecuona after the Spaniard had despatched him too, and Quartararo was suddenly down to P9.

Bagnaia and Marquez pulled clear of Miller and from then on it was a two-man race for victory, and what a race it was

With eight laps gone, the cards were beginning to appear on the table. Bagnaia and Marquez were just over a second clear of Miller in third, and that advantage was soon up to nearly two with 13 to go. Miller headed wide at Turn 16 not long after too, allowing Aleix Espargaro and Mir to cut through. The reigning World Champion then managed to despatch the Aprilia to take over in third, but the gap to Pecco and Marquez was now nearly three and a half seconds.

To compound the gap, the pace was far from slowing. The two leaders were exchanging 1:48s lap after lap, with the rest in the 1:49s and below. They’d carved out a 4.3s lead over Mir and Aleix Espargaro with nine laps to go, but then it was into tyre life territory. Would that play a role? With five to go though, there was no change, with both riders still in the 1:48s… and it seemed it was going to the finish.

With four laps left, the pressure from Marquez was ramping up. Getting closer and closer until he was glued on, a lap later the first move finally came. The Honda rider went for a lunge into Turn 5, but he was in a little hot and slightly wide, Pecco replying unflustered to get back into the lead. So Marquez next shoved his RC213V up the inside at Turn 15, but again, the Italian got the cutback and held P1. Two down, how many to go?

On the penultimate lap, another. An exact copy and paste at Turn 5, Marquez again lunged late and again got a quick reply. The exact same thing happened at Turn 15 too, and again, Bagnaia carved back past. And so it was going down to some final lap fireworks…

This time, Marquez tried his luck at Turn 1, but that didn’t stick either. So, of course, Turn 5 saw another lunge for the third lap in a row, with the exact same result. That made six attempts from the number 93, each of which had been on to try but each of which had been greeted with a swift reply.

The pressure from Marquez was unrelenting

Marquez is Marquez though, so a seventh attempt then came at Turn 12. The number 93 got a great run out of his own namesake Marc Marquez Corner and was up the inside at the downhill left-hander, not a move he’d tried yet but ultimately one that wasn’t going to work either. Struggling to get it hooked up to the apex, Marquez was wide and onto the green, and Pecco needed no second invitation to sweep back past, keep it pinned and finally gain a few metres of breathing space.

From there the Italian made no mistake and crossed the line to complete a perfect weekend: pole position to maiden MotoGP victory, the eighth winner of 2021, defeating Marc Marquez on his home turf.

Bagnaia kept his head to take a brilliant victory

His victory is also the 250th for Italy in the premier class, adding Francesco Bagnaia next to a little chapter of a rich history. Emotional in parc ferme, Bagnaia was just sublime on Sunday at Aragon.

Bagnaia congratulated by Ducati management Paolo Ciabatti and Gigi Dall’Igna

Marquez threw absolutely everything at it as he sought that seventh win at MotorLand though, coming up just six tenths short. Still, it’s another podium and a leading role in an all-time classic, as well 20 points to add to his tally – and he’ll likely sleep rather well knowing he left it all out there, seven times.

Joan Mir was the quiet achiever and again bagged good points to rank third in the championship, 20-points ahead of Zarco

Behind, Mir kept it tidy in third to take his fifth rostrum of 2021, in some space alone as he escaped Aleix Espargaro but couldn’t get onto terms with Bagnaia and Marquez.

Alex Espargaro crossed the line in fourth, another great result for Aprilia and one that moved him up to seventh in the championship standings

Aleix Espargaro’s P4 is another excellent ride from the Spaniard though, and he’s the top Independent Team rider. Miller couldn’t recover ground later on and finished a lonely fifth.

Bastianini showed glimpses of brilliance and got the better of Quartarararo

Reigning Moto2 World Champion Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) claims sixth for his best premier class result, putting the cherry on top of an impressive weekend. The rookie beat Binder by just 0.3s, and both escaped Quartararo by a good margin. A tricky day at the office for the World Championship leader and his second worst result of the season sees his lead cut, but it’s still a healthy 53 points with five races to go.

Martin took P9 less than a tenth behind Quartararo too, with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) 10th in the same pack as Bastianini, an earlier sparring partner, was able to break away from the Japanese rider. Lecuona made a mistake with a handful of laps to go that saw the Spaniard slip outside the top 10, but it was nevertheless a great ride from the 21-year-old and a stunning early charge.

Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) pocketed P12 from P20 on the grid, gaining some ground, and it was a quieter day for Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) in P13, just ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and 15th place Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing).

Cal Crutchlow (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) were P16 and P17 respectively, with Maverick Viñales taking P18 on his Aprilia Racing Team Gresini debut. Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia) were the final finishers, with Jake Dixon (Petronas Yamaha SRT) joining Alex Marquez in the DNFs, crashing out on Lap 2 and rider also ok.

Valentino Rossi has only scored 28-points so far this season and ranks 21st in the championship

So, a magnificent MotorLand battle sees Bagnaia finally claim that illustrious first MotoGP win. Next up: his home race at Misano. Remember that time he disappeared in the lead and then crashed? The Italian will be looking for a replay of the first half, and has never seemed less likely to recreate the second… save the date as MotoGP gets ready to take on the Riviera di Rimini.

Bagnaia’s heart rate monitor saw him running around 175 bpm, I think if they had one on Tardozzi in the pit garage he would have fried its wiring…

MotoGP Aragon 2021 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 41m44.422
2 Marc MARQUEZ Honda +0.673
3 Joan MIR Suzuki +3.911
4 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +9.269
5 Jack MILLER Ducati +11.928
6 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati +13.757
7 Brad BINDER KTM +14.064
8 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha +16.575
9 Jorge MARTIN Ducati +16.615
10 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +16.904
11 Iker LECUONA KTM +17.124
12 Alex RINS Suzuki +17.71
13 Pol ESPARGARO Honda +19.68
14 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +22.703
15 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM +25.723
16 Cal CRUTCHLOW Yamaha +26.413
17 Johann ZARCO Ducati +26.62
18 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia +27.128
19 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +32.517
20 Luca MARINI Ducati +39.073
Francesco Bagnaia – P1

A lot of emotion today. I’m so happy. We worked a lot to achieve this result, every time we were close, something happened and this dream to take my first victory, every time it was far. So to win today is a great liberation. I’m so happy, I have to say thanks to all the team, my family, my fantastic girlfriend, who are with me every day. It’s difficult to say something now, but it was not easy. I knew it wasn’t easy to stay in front of Marc at this track. His body isn’t at 100% but I think today with the hunger to win he was very, very competitive, and… I just tried to do my best and finish first. It’s a dream come true.

2021 MotoGP Standings

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha FRA 214
2 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati ITA 161
3 Joan MIR Suzuki SPA 157
4 Johann ZARCO Ducati FRA 137
5 Jack MILLER Ducati AUS 129
6 Brad BINDER KTM RSA 117
7 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA 96
8 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia SPA 95
9 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM POR 87
10 Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA 79
11 Jorge MARTIN Ducati SPA 71
12 Alex RINS Suzuki SPA 68
13 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda JPN 64
14 Pol ESPARGARO Honda SPA 55
15 Alex MARQUEZ Honda SPA 49
16 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati ITA 45
17 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha ITA 40
18 Iker LECUONA KTM SPA 38
19 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM ITA 37
20 Luca MARINI Ducati ITA 28
21 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 28
22 Stefan BRADL Honda GER 11
23 Dani PEDROSA KTM SPA 6
24 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia ITA 4
25 Michele PIRRO Ducati ITA 3
26 Tito RABAT Ducati SPA 1

Moto2

Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) pulled another sensational win out of the hat at Aragon, despite a crash at Silverstone leaving him on the back foot and a crash cycling for which he needed surgery on his hand just before the race weekend. Nevertheless, he dominated to equal Marc Marquez’ record of five wins as a Moto2 rookie, with teammate and Championship leader Remy Gardner taking second. With that, Red Bull KTM Ajo wrapped up the Teams’ Championship, and the win was also their hundredth too. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) completed the podium for another rostrum finish as he shows more good 2021 form, storming through from 12th on the grid.

Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo)

Off the line it was Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) who held firm from pole from Gardner and Raul Fernandez, opening up an advantage of 0.6 on the opening lap as Raul Fernandez then passed title rival Gardner for second at Turn 12. Just behind, Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) grabbed P4 from Hector Garzo (FlexBox HP 40). The fastest lap of the race on Lap 2 for Raul Fernandez saw him cut Lowes’ lead to just 0.2, with Gardner sitting twice that down on his teammate, in third.

The number 25 then decided to attack for the lead at the beginning of Lap 4, with Gardner exchanging P3 with Ogura just behind. The Australian was having a scrappy opening handful of laps, wide at Turn 12 and once again conceding P3 to Ogura. Soon after, Garzo was also ahead of Gardner. It was a fascinating scrap the Aussie found himself in, but in getting caught up with the likes of Ogura and Garzo – who crashed at Turn 8 on Lap 5 – the gap to Lowes and Fernandez was up to 1.9s. By 10 laps down, Raul Fernandez was still holding Lowes at bay by just over a second and Gardner was over three seconds down on them, with Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) and Aron Canet (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) in hot pursuit.

On Lap 12, the first drama for a frontrunner: Marco Bezzecchi’s (Sky Racing Team VR46) quiet weekend came to a premature end at Turn 8, putting a dent in his standings. And then, after seeing Raul Fernandez stretch his lead to nearly one and a half seconds, a gift was handed to both Red Bull KTM Ajo riders as Lowes was the next to slide out. Rider ok, the Brit stacked it at Turn 7 with nine laps to go, leaving Raul Fernandez with a huge, six-second lead over Gardner.

Despite the pain barrier, the number 25 was unstoppable. Keeping that gap to the end, Raul Fernandez took his fifth win to take back to the top step in style, with the deficit to Gardner in the Championship down to 39-points as they swept the Teams’ title too.

2021 Aragon Moto2 Podium
1 Raul Fernandez – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex – 39:49.990
2 Remy Gardner – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex – +5.408
3 Augusto Fernandez – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – Kalex – +6.824

In even more good news for Aki Ajo, future Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Augusto Fernandez took the final place on the podium. After starting 12th the Spaniard make good progress to slice his way up to the fight for the rostrum, with Navarro his final obstacle. The two had a good duel before the number 37 was able to just pull away to take that third.

Teams Title already wrapped up

Navarro nevertheless took another strong result in fourth, with Canet finishing three seconds down on the rostrum fight in P5. P6 went the way of Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), as newly crowned Moto2 European Champion Fermin Aldeguer (+EGO Speed Up) claimed a stunning P7 – his best yet despite already having made quite an impression. Ogura faded slightly and took P8, with fellow rookie Tony Arbolino (Liqui Moly Intact GP) finishing P9 in a much improved race day for the Italian.

The experienced Simone Corsi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) rounded out the top 10, the Italian beating Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP), Marcos Ramirez (American Racing), Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) and Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) as they locked out the remaining point scoring positions.

Moto2 Aragon 2021 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Raul FERNANDEZ Kalex 39m49.990
2 Remy GARDNER Kalex +5.408
3 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex +6.824
4 Jorge NAVARRO Boscoscuro +7.051
5 Aron CANET Boscoscuro +10.695
6 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Kalex +15.16
7 Fermín ALDEGUER Boscoscuro +16.73
8 Ai OGURA Kalex +17.085
9 Tony ARBOLINO Kalex +17.704
10 Simone CORSI MV Agusta +20.121
11 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex +20.852
12 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex +24.602
13 Joe ROBERTS Kalex +26.086
14 Cameron BEAUBIER Kalex +29.101
15 Celestino VIETTI Kalex +30.301
16 Barry BALTUS NTS +30.42
17 Manuel GONZALEZ MV Agusta +34.977
18 Stefano MANZI Kalex +35.789
19 Hafizh SYAHRIN NTS +36.036
20 John MCPHEE Kalex +47.756
21 Xavi CARDELUS Kalex +47.834
Not Classified
DNF Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex 4 Laps
DNF Nicolò BULEGA Kalex 5 Laps
DNF Sam LOWES Kalex 8 Laps
DNF Bo BENDSNEYDER Kalex 9 Laps
DNF Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex 9 Laps
DNF Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex 14 Laps
DNF Albert ARENAS Boscoscuro 16 Laps
DNF Hector GARZO Kalex 17 Laps
DNF Xavi VIERGE Kalex 18 Laps
DNF Thomas LUTHI Kalex 18 Laps
DNF Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI Kalex 19 Laps
Raul Fernandez – P1

It was really difficult race, all this weekend. At the end I’m really happy, the race was really strong, I couldn’t do more with my hand, I couldn’t brake the last five laps. It was really difficult for me but I’m really happy to be here. I want to thank Dr Mir, his team, the Clinica, Alpinestars, my team and family I’m here because of them. Thanks everyone, and this victory is special because it’s my first one here in Spain, with the fans here and my friends. But especially because Hugo Millan’s family is here, this is for him. I’m really happy and this is for his family.

2021 Moto2 Standings

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Remy GARDNER Kalex AUS 251
2 Raul FERNANDEZ Kalex SPA 212
3 Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex ITA 179
4 Sam LOWES Kalex GBR 127
5 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex SPA 108
6 Aron CANET Boscoscuro SPA 103
7 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Kalex ITA 101
8 Ai OGURA Kalex JPN 95
9 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex GER 80
10 Jorge NAVARRO Boscoscuro SPA 71
11 Xavi VIERGE Kalex SPA 67
12 Joe ROBERTS Kalex USA 59
13 Celestino VIETTI Kalex ITA 47
14 Tony ARBOLINO Kalex ITA 40
15 Bo BENDSNEYDER Kalex NED 40
16 Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex THA 35
17 Cameron BEAUBIER Kalex USA 28
18 Albert ARENAS Boscoscuro SPA 23
19 Jake DIXON Kalex GBR 21
20 Stefano MANZI Kalex ITA 20
21 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex SPA 20
22 Thomas LUTHI Kalex SWI 16
23 Fermín ALDEGUER Boscoscuro SPA 13
24 Simone CORSI MV Agusta ITA 13
25 Hector GARZO Kalex SPA 12
26 Nicolò BULEGA Kalex ITA 12
27 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex ITA 10
28 Hafizh SYAHRIN NTS MAL 8
29 Alonso LOPEZ Boscoscuro SPA 4
30 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI MV Agusta ITA 3
31 Barry BALTUS NTS BEL 2

Moto3

Moto3 brought the serious drama at MotorLand, with three Championship contenders all finding bad luck or trouble on race day. The first was for Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) as he was forced into the gravel, then Championship leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) crashed and, right as he seemed set to make huge gains, so did second overall Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team). But one contender held firm and avoided it all, with Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) pulling off a tactical masterclass to take his third win of the year and move back into third overall.

The Italian just defeated another stunner from Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3), the Turkish rider impressing once again but forced to wait for that first win. Completing the podium was Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3), the Japanese rider digging deep and taking an emotional second rostrum after a difficult few months of injury, bad luck and more.

Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) kept the lead initially as the South African held on for the holeshot, but Garcia was quick to attack. As ever though, the moves came thick and fast and a leading freight train formed. Öncü took over at the front, with Acosta, Garcia and Binder shadowing in the early stages.

Drama hit on Lap 5 for Silverstone winner Fenati. Front row starter Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) suddenly crashed in front of the Italian, and he was forced to take avoiding action into the gravel – rejoining well down the order, a postcode off the points.

There was also an early touch between Xavier Artigas (Leopard Racing) and Acosta but no harm done. Meanwhile Öncü rolled on at the front, able to stay ahead down the back straight too as a group of nine formed at the front followed by SIC58 Squadra Corse duo Lorenzo Fellon and Tatsuki Suzuki.

After chipping away at it, they tagged onto the back to make it 11 riders fighting for the win, but it was a costly push for Fellon as the French rookie then got a Long Lap penalty for track limits. Taking it dropped him back in behind the chasing trio of Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia VR46 Academy), double 2020 winner at the track Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride).

Antonelli and Nepa were next to tag on, but then drama whittled the group down again… and key drama. After a season of history making, Acosta made his first big race day error of the year, heading up the inside of Artigas and then losing it, skittling both out. And he couldn’t rejoin, leaving Garcia with an open goal…

Starting the final lap, Foggia led Öncü led the two GASGAS machines of Garcia and Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team). Öncü then hit the front, the Turk digging in on the search for that elusive first victory, and even more drama soon hit just behind. Despite the huge chance to home in on Acosta, it just wasn’t to be. Garcia suddenly slid out as he fought to gain more ground, rider ok and able to rejoin but no points coming his way.

Meanwhile, Öncü remained ahead and the Turk led heading onto the back straight – as he had a good few times during the race, able each time to keep it too. But this time, Foggia had the legs and the incredible straight-line speed of the Leopard Honda struck, the number 7 slicing past. Öncü tried to reply on the drag to the line and almost did, but he’s forced to settle for another second, just 0.041 off the win.

After a weekend of more muted timesheets at times from Sasaki, the Japanese rider played his cards to perfection on race day. Making moves through the group late on, the number 71 took his second Grand Prix podium by just 0.064, denying Guevara as the Spanish rookie was forced to wait for that first podium once again, just as at Silverstone.

Antonelli stormed the latter stages the come home in fifth, able to pull out a few tenths on compatriot Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team), who nevertheless bounced back after a tough-to-take technical DNF at Silverstone. Binder took seventh nearly a second further back, with Nepa half a second behind him. Suzuki lost out to the Italian by 0.101 as he took ninth, with Masia completing the top ten a couple of seconds off the front group, not finding his 2020 MotorLand magic this time around.

Ryusei Yamanaka (CarXpert PrüstelGP) took P11 with a little breathing space ahead of Adrian Fernandez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), with Syarifuddin Azman (Petronas Sprinta Racing) only a tenth and a half off the number 31 by the flag. No mean feat, and the Malaysian impressively scores points on his Grand Prix debut.

Rather stunningly, behind him came Fenati. The veteran Italian dug in to try and gain ground back after being forced wide, and gain ground he did. Making up the gap to the next riders, passing them, and then rinsing and repeating, the number 55 took 2 points for 14th.

Riccardo Rossi (BOE Owlride) just pipped Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) to the final point, with a late crash seeing Jeremy Alcoba (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) and Fellon both fail to make the flag.

2021 Aragon Moto3 Podium
1 Dennis Foggia – Leopard Racing – Honda – 37.53.710
2 Deniz Öncü – Red Bull KTM Tech3 – KTM – +0.041
3 Ayumu Sasaki – Red Bull KTM Tech3 – KTM – +0.644

Moto3 Aragon 2021 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Dennis FOGGIA Honda 37m53.710
2 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM +0.041
3 Ayumu SASAKI KTM +0.644
4 Izan GUEVARA GASGAS +0.708
5 Niccolò ANTONELLI KTM +0.878
6 Andrea MIGNO Honda +1.18
7 Darryn BINDER Honda +2.133
8 Stefano NEPA KTM +2.685
9 Tatsuki SUZUKI Honda +2.786
10 Jaume MASIA KTM +4.714
11 Ryusei YAMANAKA KTM +8.275
12 Adrian FERNANDEZ Husqvarna +9.499
13 Syarifuddin AZMAN Honda +9.645
14 Romano FENATI Husqvarna +14.797
15 Riccardo ROSSI KTM +18.88
16 Kaito TOBA KTM +18.894
17 Yuki KUNII Honda +19.272
18 Sergio GARCIA GASGAS +19.888
19 Maximilian KOFLER KTM +19.933
20 Andi Farid IZDIHAR Honda +38.64
21 Alberto SURRA Honda +38.744
Not Classified
DNF Jeremy ALCOBA Honda 1 Lap
DNF Lorenzo FELLON Honda 1 Lap
DNF Xavier ARTIGAS Honda 4 Laps
DNF Pedro ACOSTA KTM 4 Laps
DNF Carlos TATAY KTM 7 Laps
DNF Gabriel RODRIGO Honda 14 Laps
DNF Filip SALAC KTM 17 Laps
Dennis Foggia – P1

It was incredible, specially the last lap with Deniz. He was so strong braking, but my bike was so fast on the straight. I wanted to win, but also to open up the Championship. On the last lap I saw on my dash that Acosta was out, and on the last lap Garcia crashed… winning is special. I’d like to thank my team for the bike, my family who support me and also my dad.”

2021 Moto3 Standings

Pos Rider Bike Bike Points
1 Pedro ACOSTA KTM SPA 201
2 Sergio GARCIA GASGAS SPA 155
3 Dennis FOGGIA Honda ITA 143
4 Romano FENATI Husqvarna ITA 134
5 Jaume MASIA KTM SPA 111
6 Darryn BINDER Honda RSA 104
7 Niccolò ANTONELLI KTM ITA 98
8 Ayumu SASAKI KTM JPN 87
9 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM TUR 73
10 Izan GUEVARA GASGAS SPA 72
11 Andrea MIGNO Honda ITA 68
12 Kaito TOBA KTM JPN 62
13 Tatsuki SUZUKI Honda JPN 61
14 Jeremy ALCOBA Honda SPA 60
15 Gabriel RODRIGO Honda ARG 60
16 John MCPHEE Honda GBR 53
17 Filip SALAC KTM CZE 46
18 Ryusei YAMANAKA KTM JPN 42
19 Xavier ARTIGAS Honda SPA 30
20 Stefano NEPA KTM ITA 30
21 Jason DUPASQUIER KTM SWI 27
22 Riccardo ROSSI KTM ITA 24
23 Carlos TATAY KTM SPA 20
24 Adrian FERNANDEZ Husqvarna SPA 20
25 Yuki KUNII Honda JPN 15
26 Maximilian KOFLER KTM AUT 10
27 Elia BARTOLINI KTM ITA 7
28 Syarifuddin AZMAN Honda MAL 3
29 Andi Farid IZDIHAR Honda INA 3
30 Daniel HOLGADO KTM SPA 1
31 Lorenzo FELLON Honda FRA 0
32 Joel KELSO KTM AUS 0
33 Takuma MATSUYAMA Honda JPN 0
34 Alberto SURRA Honda ITA 0
35 David SALVADOR Honda SPA 0

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar

Round Date Location
Round 1 Mar-28 Qatar, Losail (night race)
Round 2 Apr-04 Doha, Losail (night race)
Round 3 Apr-18 Portugal, Portimao
Round 4 May-02 Spain, Jerez
Round 5 May-16 France, Le Mans
Round 6 May-30 Italy- Mugello
Round 7 Jun-06 Catalunya, Barcelona
Round 8 Jun-20 Germany, Sachsenring
Round 9 Jun-27 Netherlands, Assen
Round 10 Aug-8 Styria, Red Bull Ring
Round 11 Aug-15 Austria, Red Bull Ring
Round 12 Aug-29 Great Britain, Silverstone
Round 13 Sep-12 Aragon, Motorland Aragon
Round 14 Sep-19 San Marino, Misano
Round 15 Oct-03 Americas, Circuit of the Americas
Round 16 Oct-24 Italy e dell’Emilia Romagna, Misano
Round 17 Nov-7 Portugal, Algarve
Round 18 Nov-14 Valencia, Circuit Ricardo Tormo

Source: MCNews.com.au

Ducati 1-2 on the grid at Aragon and five Ducati in top ten

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship
Round 13 – Aragon


Qualifying Report

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) put in an absolute stunner at the Gran Premio TISSOT de Aragon to set pole position, the Italian taking Ducati to the milestone of 50 premier class poles and beating a lap record that’s been sitting unthreatened since 2015. He also was the only one to do so, with three-and-a-half tenths in hand over team-mate Jack Miller. The Australian has closer company from Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) as the Championship leader took third, denied P2 by only hundredths.

2021 Aragon MotoGP front row
1 Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team – Ducati – 1:46.322
2 Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team – Ducati – +0.366
3 Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +0.397

Q1

Q1 saw a few surprises. First, the rider with the best record across the two events at MotorLand last season, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), didn’t manage to make an impression and ended the session in tenth – which corresponds to P20 on the grid. He’ll have a big mountain to climb on Sunday from his equal worst MotoGP qualifying.

At the opposite end of the Q1 timesheets, Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) moved through on top. The Frenchman said he’s struggling a little with arm pump but his 1:47.293 was the best of the session, beating Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) by just 0.051. The South African had a more comfortable 0.164 in hand over fellow KTM rider Iker Lecuona (Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing) as the number 27 was the first to miss out.

Vinales will start from P19 on his Aprilia debut

In the first three splits Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) had been on the money, with two red sectors and then a yellow, still within hundredths, but the final sector saw him lose out and the number 12 will start from P19.

Q2

Bagnaia laid down a big benchmark initially, before Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) hit the top as he just edged out the Italian. Then came Quartararo, and this time the margin was a little bigger as he pulled out 0.151.

Fabio Quartararo has qualified third and starts from the front row for the 34th time (on what is his 46th race in MotoGP,
nearly 73.9%). Over his 33 previous front-row starts, he went on to finish on the podium 17 times (including seven of his eight premier class wins so far).

On the final runs though, the red sectors were flying in and again, it was Bagnaia first – and again by a sizeable chunk of time. He was a whopping 0.405 ahead as he crossed the line with two minutes left on the clock, laying down the gauntlet.

Francesco Bagnaia has qualified on pole position (setting a new all-time lap record at MotorLand) for the second time in MotoGP along with Qatar this year. He will be aiming to take his maiden win in the class.

The only red sectors then were coming from Quartararo, but ultimately no one could come close. And in the end, Miller snuck into second too – edging El Diablo out by just 0.031 as the Frenchman lost time later in the lap and Miller gained it.

Reigning Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) ended his final flyer with a frustrated gesture as he headed off into the Turn 1 runoff after crossing the line, taking P7 in the end, with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) following close behind him and making good gains to move onto the provisional front row. But that was scuppered by Miller’s late lunge, with the number 93 shuffled down to fourth.


Combined Times

A Ducati 1-2 sees Bagnaia and Miller spearhead the MotorLand grid, with Quartararo on the outside of the front row. Marc Marquez lines up at the head of Row 2, with top Independent Team rider Martin alongside him – just 0.005 ahead of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) as the Silverstone podium finisher completes the second row.

The pole position for Francesco Bagnaia is the 50th pole position for Ducati in the premier class. In addition, this is the third pole position for Ducati at MotorLand Aragon along with Casey Stoner in 2010, when he took Ducati’s only win at the track, and Jorge Lorenzo in 2018.

Despite Mir’s remonstrations, the Suzuki rider took seventh and put in a solid qualifying, staying ahead of Silverstone polesitter Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) by 0.032. They have Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) for company as the reigning Moto2 World Champion impressed at MotorLand on both Friday and Saturday, taking his best premier class grid position yet after going straight through to Q2 for the first time.

Zarco was forced to settle for tenth in Q2 and wants a lot more on Sunday, with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and Binder for company on the fourth row.

The likes of Rins and Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol), podium finisher last year at MotorLand, will be looking to charge through early, and Mir will be keen to get the hammer down. The holeshot heroes of Borgo Panigale most definitely aim to stand in their way. Marc Marquez, meanwhile, made some statements with his FP4 pace and fourth on the grid is one better than where he qualified in Germany… where Sunday went pretty ok, as an understatement, for the eight-time World Champion.


Rider Quotes

Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“I’m thrilled because, for the first time, I was able to be fast here at the MotorLand Aragón. I felt comfortable riding my Desmosedici GP from the first sessions, and we didn’t have to make any setup changes. We just kept on lapping, improving steadily and, in FP4 this afternoon, we were also really competitive. In qualifying, I set an incredible lap time and knowing that I have beaten a record that has remained intact since 2015 gives me a lot of energy. Hopefully, we can continue this positive trend also in the race tomorrow.”

This is the first qualifying 1-2 for the two official Ducati riders since the 2018 Aragon GP with Jorge Lorenzo on pole ahead of Andrea Dovizioso.
Jack Miller – P2

“It’s a fantastic day for Ducati, and I’m delighted, both for Pecco and for me! We have made great steps forward, considering that last year we both couldn’t make it past Q1 and tomorrow, we’ll start first and second on the grid! I feel comfortable on the bike, and I’m happy with my pace, so I am ready for tomorrow’s race. I expect a very close race with many riders ready to fight for the victory, so we’ll have to try to adopt a smart strategy and manage well the tyres”.

Jack Miller has qualified second, equalling his best qualifying result of the season so far from Catalunya when he finished the race in third place, his most recent podium. He has finished on the podium in MotoGP at MotorLand once, in 2019 in third place.
Fabio Quartararo – P3

“Third position is fine. Our goal is always to be on the front row, so I‘m happy. And even if I wasn‘t happy about it, I would still be starting from this position. The small run-off on my penultimate lap didn‘t cost me anything. I can‘t make Sector 4 any faster, I‘m already pushing so much there. It‘s not just the bike, I‘ve always been struggling a little bit in the last corner. I was feeling good on the bike today, but it was so difficult to reach pole position. Let‘s see what we can achieve tomorrow. Our pace is great, maybe not the best, but I will do my best. I think it‘s important for us to keep working in a really good way, so we can achieve the best result possible. Anyway, it‘s great to see the fans on the grandstands again! I have been getting some great support from them. That‘s really good.”

Fabio Quartararo has qualified third and starts from the front row for the 34th time (on what is his 46th race in MotoGP,
nearly 73.9%). Over his 33 previous front-row starts, he went on to finish on the podium 17 times (including seven of his eight premier class wins so far).
Marc Marquez – P4

“Today we finished fourth, this was our main target so that’s good. In Free Practice 4 I felt really good on used tyres so that’s a positive and I was able to ride in a good way. Tomorrow let’s see what my condition is and then see if we can fight in the front group for the whole race. Our pace is there and we’re able to make the lap time but 23 laps around Aragon will be long. Let’s see what happens and we will try to take the most from whatever our situation is.”

Marc Marquez, who has won five times in MotoGP™️ at MotorLand, has qualified fourth for his best qualifying result since he was third at the 2020 Spanish GP (and he broke his right arm during the race).
Jorge Martín – P5

“I am happy with today. I was expecting to do something more from Q2, but to start from the second row is a great result regardless. The feeling is great, and I feel I am in great form.”

Jorge Martin has qualified fifth which is the fifth time over his nine MotoGP races he starts from the front two rows of the grid. He will be aiming to stand on the podium for the fourth time this season.
Aleix Espargaro – P6

“We did a good job again today. In qualifying we had the potential to do a bit better, but the second row is still a good position to start well and stay in the group. In the race, I expect to be able to stay with the fastest riders – that’s what the analysis of my pace says – although I don’t think that it will be the fastest rider who will win, but rather the one who uses the tyres the best in the final laps. From this point of view, I am comforted by the way the RS-GP performed during FP4.”

Joan Mir – P7

“I’m not too disappointed, in fact I’m quite happy, because in the end seventh position as a starting spot isn’t that bad. I did struggle a bit with the feeling during qualifying, especially with the very high temperatures, but overall my day was much better than yesterday and we made a huge step. Of course, there are still areas that we need to improve on, braking is one of those areas. But in general everything felt much better with the bike and I feel pretty good about the race, even though I’m sure it will be a big battle with many fast riders.”

Pol Espargaro – P8

“I wanted a bit more today and I think we had potential to be on the second row. I made two big, big mistakes during our time attack – at the last corner I went super wide and when it’s this tight you can’t make mistakes. In Silverstone my lap was perfect, here I made mistakes and I paid for them. The good point is that even with mistakes we are in eighth, we left time on track and that is disappointing but in the past this situation would have ended with a crash or in 12th and we are able to take eighth place now. It’s not where I want to be, but it puts us in a place to where we can show our potential better in the race.”

Pol Espargaro has qualified in eighth, equalling his second-best result of the season so far from France and Germany, and after Silverstone when he was on pole position.
Enea Bastianini – P9

“I’m happy because it was my first Q2 of the season and I felt pretty good all day. It was a pity I couldn’t close the second fastest lap, plus I struggled a bit with the front tyre and didn’t get the time I wanted. Anyway, it’s good to start from the third row, and we showed a good pace in free practices as well, so I think we can have a good race tomorrow.”

Johann Zarco – P10

“I am a bit disappointed; I made the same mistake that I had made at Silverstone, and I haven’t been able to make the most out of the new tyre: consequently losing time. Tomorrow I will start from the fourth row, I will give it my all to have a good race.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P11

“So, first of all, I’m so happy to reach the 200th GP of my career in the MotoGP Championship, it’s an amazing number and I’m really proud. I would like to thank my team, Idemitsu and all my sponsors because without their support I would not have reached this amazing number. Tomorrow is going to be a really important race for me, starting from P11 I will try my best, and push to fight for the top positions. This track suits me well, so hopefully we can celebrate after the race with all my team. Qualifying was really tight today. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and I was not able to make two laps on my second tyre as I missed the chequered flag by one or two seconds.”

Brad Binder – P12

“I’m happy we made it through to Q2 but unfortunately we didn’t have the tires to make the most of it. I tried my best to make a lap-time from a used one from Q1 but just didn’t have the grip. I struggled to do anything In Q2. Overall, we can be happy with the step we have made today. Now we’ll give our all tomorrow.”

After passing through Q1, Brad Binder has qualified in 12th (for the second successive time) as the highest-placed KTM rider. The best KTM result across the line at MotorLand is Pol Espargaro’s fourth last year at the Teruel GP.
 Danilo Petrucci – P13

“We had a decent Qualifying. I have a really good feeling on the bike, although it’s not perfect yet. The race tomorrow will be very tough, especially with regards to the choice of the rear tyre. I still struggle in acceleration, but we will try our best. I’m quite satisfied about today and we will try to further improve our feeling tomorrow morning.”

Álex Márquez – P14

“Day two here in Aragon and unfortunately in the morning we had a small crash just when we were going faster and better. I made a small mistake and crashed, so we were not able to go directly into Q2. Before that we suffered more than we expected, I was not very happy with the bike’s performance and didn’t feel very good, so tomorrow we need to think about it and change some things. We have some quite clear ideas and directions to follow to try and improve. In qualy I made another mistake as I didn’t put the hard front on and I think that cost us the chance to get into Q2. We were close but not enough, so I’m sorry to the team, but tomorrow we will try again and try harder!”

Cal Crutchlow – P15

“Obviously, yesterday was a good day. This morning was also good, but I missed out on the top 10 to go into Q2. That would have probably been a lot easier situation to be in. But overall we‘re happy. At the end of the day, I believe we have done a good job this weekend. Our pace has been fast, and for a test rider I think it has been respectable and not too bad at all. I didn‘t qualify well because I made a mistake in the last sector in the last corner. I was last in this sector actually, which is probably my best sector at this circuit normally. So, I‘m a little disappointed with that. But the whole Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team have been working great, and we look forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow.”

Iker Lecuona – P16

“I’m quite satisfied with today. We improved a lot. In the morning we worked very hard and have been pretty close to the top guys. Everybody was so close together, so it was difficult to make it directly to Q2. I have a very consistent pace for the race and I feel very strong. Plus, I did one of my best Qualifyings this season and overall in the MotoGP class. Finally, I have a good base in order to fight for the top tomorrow.”

Luca Marini – P17

“Compared to yesterday, we made a good step forward in the bike set-up. In FP4 I rode better and I was able to get closer to the group, although I would need one more day of work to be completely comfortable with the bike and to close the gap. In any case, we will continue to analyse the data to set up the electronics better and to be able to be consistent in long runs. I don’t think we will make any big changes in the warm up because it’s at a time when the track temperature is completely different to the race. We are still deciding which tyre to use tomorrow, most of the riders seem to be orientated with the hard front and the medium rear.”

 Miguel Oliveira – P18

“It was a strange qualifying after the good feeling we had in FP4 the new tyres didn’t make much difference. We had vibration and no grip so we need to understand and analyse the reason why. The race will be long tomorrow and we still have a very good chance to get some decent points.”

Maverick Vinales – P19

“I continued to improve and learn new things today about how the RS-GP works. Evidently, I need to change my style to take better advantage of this bike’s strong points, especially in braking and in acceleration, but overall I must say that the potential is excellent. I’m convinced that we’ll be able to take another step forward in the race tomorrow as well in terms of feeling. I still haven’t tested the Aprilia over race distance, so that will be helpful in gathering important information that we can use in Misano.”

Alex Rins – P20

“Starting from 20th position, especially at this track where I’m normally fast and where I’m very motivated, is quite a difficult thing. I just couldn’t get comfortable – I was making a lot of mistakes throughout the lap and I struggled with getting the bike stopped. Everything combined and it meant it was hard to set a clean fast lap. I’m sure tomorrow’s race will be very exciting with many fast riders, so it will be a fun one and I want to get into the group.”

Valentino Rossi – P21

“It is incredible how close all the riders are here at Aragon. Today I was better than yesterday with the bike and I improved my pace, which was not too bad. The time attack this morning was quite good because I was 0.6seconds off pole position, but I was in 15th place. My pace was also quite good in FP4, but in Q1 I was not able to make the best lap. I was not able to use my full potential because I was always in the wrong place, I had a lot of traffic and I know that we could have been better. The position on the grid is bad but we need to understand which tyres to use, because the choice is very open at the moment, and what pace we could have in the race tomorrow.”

Jake Dixon – P22

“Everything is coming a lot easier this weekend and the gap is a lot smaller, we were only 0.8 seconds off the top. Overall it’s really good, I’m happy and I’m massively enjoying the big bike. It’s a huge learning experience every time I go out. I didn’t do a time attack yesterday, as I did all of them today, and maybe it would have been nice to have done one so I had a reference today, but still really enjoyed Qualifying. It’s been a positive weekend so far and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow. I’m hoping to feel good with the bike, have a good race and try to get into a battle for as long as I can.”


MotoGP Combined Qualifying Times

Pos Rider Bike Q Time/Gap
1 Francesco BAGNAIA DUCATI Q2 1m46.322
2 Jack MILLER DUCATI Q2 +0.366
3 Fabio QUARTARARO YAMAHA Q2 +0.397
4 Marc MARQUEZ HONDA Q2 +0.414
5 Jorge MARTIN DUCATI Q2 +0.556
6 Aleix ESPARGARO APRILIA Q2 +0.561
7 Joan MIR SUZUKI Q2 +0.840
8 Pol ESPARGARO HONDA Q2 +0.872
9 Enea BASTIANINI DUCATI Q2 +0.956
10 Johann ZARCO DUCATI Q2 +0.966
11 Takaaki NAKAGAMI HONDA Q2 +1.044
12 Brad BINDER KTM Q2 +1.610
13 Iker LECUONA KTM Q1 (*) 0.215
14 Alex MARQUEZ HONDA Q1 (*) 0.249
15 Cal CRUTCHLOW YAMAHA Q1 (*) 0.320
16 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM Q1 (*) 0.415
17 Luca MARINI DUCATI Q1 (*) 0.448
18 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM Q1 (*) 0.457
19 Maverick VIÑALES APRILIA Q1 (*) 0.471
20 Alex RINS SUZUKI Q1 (*) 0.497
21 Valentino ROSSI YAMAHA Q1 (*) 0.570
22 Jake DIXON YAMAHA Q1 (*) 0.853

2021 MotoGP Standings

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha FRA 206
2 Joan MIR Suzuki SPA 141
3 Johann ZARCO Ducati FRA 137
4 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati ITA 136
5 Jack MILLER Ducati AUS 118
6 Brad BINDER KTM RSA 108
7 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha SPA 95
8 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM POR 85
9 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA 83
10 Jorge MARTIN Ducati SPA 64
11 Alex RINS Suzuki SPA 64
12 Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA 59
13 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda JPN 58
14 Pol ESPARGARO Honda SPA 52
15 Alex MARQUEZ Honda SPA 49
16 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha ITA 40
17 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM ITA 36
18 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati ITA 35
19 Iker LECUONA KTM SPA 33
20 Luca MARINI Ducati ITA 28
21 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 28
22 Stefan BRADL Honda GER 11
23 Dani PEDROSA KTM SPA 6
24 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia ITA 4
25 Michele PIRRO Ducati ITA 3
26 Tito RABAT Ducati SPA 1
27 Cal CRUTCHLOW Yamaha GBR 0
28 Garrett GERLOFF Yamaha USA 0
29 Jake DIXON Yamaha GBR 0

Moto2

Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) has quite a record at MotorLand, and the Brit added a little more to it in the Gran Premio TISSOT de Aragon. Taking pole position by 0.279 makes it the fourth time he’s taken the honour at the track, the most anyone in Moto2 has managed at a single venue, and last year when he did it twice, he won twice. He’s also equalled 2014 Moto2 Champion Tito Rabat as they now share the most poles in the class: 16.

But there’s another record-breaker on the front row in the form of Championship leader Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who starts second, with his key rival and rookie sensation team-mate Raul Fernandez set to line up P3.

2021 Aragon Moto2 front row:
1 Sam Lowes – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – Kalex – 1:51.778
2 Remy Gardner – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex – +0.279
3 Raul Fernandez – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex – +0.306

Moto2 Combined Qualifying Times

Pos Rider Bike Q Time/Gap
1 Sam LOWES KALEX Q2 1m51.778
2 Remy GARDNER KALEX Q2 +0.279
3 Raul FERNANDEZ KALEX Q2 +0.306
4 Hector GARZO KALEX Q2 +0.329
5 Ai OGURA KALEX Q2 +0.370
6 Albert ARENAS BOSCOSCURO Q2 +0.392
7 Jorge NAVARRO BOSCOSCURO Q2 +0.419
8 Fabio DI GIANNANTONI   ITA KALEX Q2 +0.609
9 Marco BEZZECCHI KALEX Q2 +0.613
10 Marcos RAMIREZ KALEX Q2 +0.622
11 Aron CANET BOSCOSCURO Q2 +0.700
12 Augusto FERNANDEZ KALEX Q2 +0.716
13 Xavi VIERGE KALEX Q2 +0.750
14 Nicolò BULEGA KALEX Q2 +0.848
15 Marcel SCHROTTER KALEX Q2 +1.078
16 Thomas LUTHI KALEX Q2 +1.101
17 Fermín ALDEGUER BOSCOSCURO Q2 +1.169
18 Joe ROBERTS KALEX Q2 +1.532
19 Cameron BEAUBIER KALEX Q1 (*) 0.535
20 Simone CORSI MV AGUSTA Q1 (*) 0.581
21 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA KALEX Q1 (*) 0.597
22 Barry BALTUS NTS Q1 (*) 0.680
23 Tony ARBOLINO KALEX Q1 (*) 0.743
24 Stefano MANZI KALEX Q1 (*) 0.756
25 Hafizh SYAHRIN NTS Q1 (*) 0.865
26 Celestino VIETTI KALEX Q1 (*) 1.010
27 Somkiat CHANTRA KALEX Q1 (*) 1.015
28 Bo BENDSNEYDER KALEX Q1 (*) 1.167
29 John MCPHEE KALEX Q1 (*) 1.226
30 Manuel GONZALEZ MV AGUSTA Q1 (*) 1.340
31 Xavi CARDELUS KALEX Q1 (*) 2.228
32 Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI KALEX Q1 (*) 2.253

Moto2 Championship Points Standings

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Remy GARDNER Kalex AUS 231
2 Raul FERNANDEZ Kalex SPA 187
3 Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex ITA 179
4 Sam LOWES Kalex GBR 127
5 Aron CANET Boscoscuro SPA 92
6 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex SPA 92
7 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Kalex ITA 91
8 Ai OGURA Kalex JPN 87
9 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex GER 75
10 Xavi VIERGE Kalex SPA 67
11 Jorge NAVARRO Boscoscuro SPA 58
12 Joe ROBERTS Kalex USA 56
13 Celestino VIETTI Kalex ITA 46
14 Bo BENDSNEYDER Kalex NED 40
15 Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex THA 35
16 Tony ARBOLINO Kalex ITA 33
17 Cameron BEAUBIER Kalex USA 26
18 Albert ARENAS Boscoscuro SPA 23
19 Jake DIXON Kalex GBR 21
20 Stefano MANZI Kalex ITA 20
21 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex SPA 16
22 Thomas LUTHI Kalex SWI 16
23 Hector GARZO Kalex SPA 12
24 Nicolò BULEGA Kalex ITA 12
25 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex ITA 10
26 Hafizh SYAHRIN NTS MAL 8
27 Simone CORSI MV Agusta ITA 7
28 Fermín ALDEGUER Boscoscuro SPA 4
29 Alonso LOPEZ Boscoscuro SPA 4
30 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI MV Agusta ITA 3
31 Barry BALTUS NTS BEL 2
32 Yari MONTELLA Boscoscuro ITA 0
33 Tommaso MARCON MV Agusta ITA 0
34 Miquel PONS MV Agusta SPA 0
35 Fraser ROGERS NTS GBR 0
36 Taiga HADA / JPN 0
36 Taiga HADA Kalex JPN 0
37 Manuel GONZALEZ MV Agusta SPA 0
38 Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI Kalex POL 0
40 Keminth KUBO Kalex THA 0
40 Keminth KUBO Kalex THA 0

Moto3

Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) showed more good MotorLand form on Saturday at the Gran Premio TISSOT de Aragon, the South African pulling out two tenths to head the field and the grid. Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) slots into second, to be exact 0.181 back, with Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) completing an all-Honda front row.

2021 Aragon Moto3 Front Row
1 Darryn Binder – Petronas Sprinta Racing – Honda – 1:57.724
2 Gabriel Rodrigo – Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3 – Honda – +0.181
3 Tatsuki Suzuki – SIC58 Squadra Corse – Honda – +0.252

Moto3 Combined Qualifying Times

Pos Rider Motorcycle Q Time/Gap
1 Darryn BINDER HONDA Q2 1m57.724
2 Gabriel RODRIGO HONDA Q2 +0.181
3 Tatsuki SUZUKI HONDA Q2 +0.252
4 Sergio GARCIA GASGAS Q2 +0.345
5 Andrea MIGNO HONDA Q2 +0.379
6 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM Q2 +0.590
7 Jeremy ALCOBA HONDA Q2 +0.638
8 Niccolò ANTONELLI KTM Q2 +0.657
9 Pedro ACOSTA KTM Q2 +0.710
10 Lorenzo FELLON HONDA Q2 +0.739
11 Filip SALAC KTM Q2 +0.751
12 Xavier ARTIGAS HONDA Q2 +0.766
13 Izan GUEVARA GASGAS Q2 +0.889
14 Dennis FOGGIA HONDA Q2 +0.922
15 Jaume MASIA KTM Q2 +1.106
16 Ayumu SASAKI KTM Q2 +1.169
17 Romano FENATI HUSQVARNA Q2 +1.229
18 Kaito TOBA KTM Q2 +1.315
19 Stefano NEPA KTM Q1 (*) 1.066
20 Carlos TATAY KTM Q1 (*) 1.110
21 Syarifuddin AZMAN HONDA Q1 (*) 1.380
22 Adrian FERNANDEZ HUSQVARNA Q1 (*) 1.396
23 Riccardo ROSSI KTM Q1 (*) 1.415
24 Maximilian KOFLER KTM Q1 (*) 1.586
25 Yuki KUNII HONDA Q1 (*) 1.592
26 Andi Farid IZDIHAR HONDA Q1 (*) 1.864
27 Ryusei YAMANAKA KTM Q1 (*) 2.177
28 Alberto SURRA HONDA Q1 (*) 2.416

Moto3 Championship Points Standings

Pos Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Pedro ACOSTA KTM SPA 201
2 Sergio GARCIA GASGAS SPA 155
3 Romano FENATI Husqvarna ITA 132
4 Dennis FOGGIA Honda ITA 118
5 Jaume MASIA KTM SPA 105
6 Darryn BINDER Honda RSA 95
7 Niccolò ANTONELLI KTM ITA 87
8 Ayumu SASAKI KTM JPN 71
9 Kaito TOBA KTM JPN 62
10 Jeremy ALCOBA Honda SPA 60
11 Gabriel RODRIGO Honda ARG 60
12 Izan GUEVARA GASGAS SPA 59
13 Andrea MIGNO Honda ITA 58
14 Tatsuki SUZUKI Honda JPN 54
15 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM TUR 53
16 John MCPHEE Honda GBR 53
17 Filip SALAC KTM CZE 46
18 Ryusei YAMANAKA KTM JPN 37
19 Xavier ARTIGAS Honda SPA 30
20 Jason DUPASQUIER KTM SWI 27
21 Riccardo ROSSI KTM ITA 23
22 Stefano NEPA KTM ITA 22
23 Carlos TATAY KTM SPA 20
24 Adrian FERNANDEZ Husqvarna SPA 16
25 Yuki KUNII Honda JPN 15
26 Maximilian KOFLER KTM AUT 10
27 Elia BARTOLINI KTM ITA 7
28 Andi Farid IZDIHAR Honda INA 3
29 Daniel HOLGADO KTM SPA 1
30 Lorenzo FELLON Honda FRA 0
31 Joel KELSO KTM AUS 0
32 Takuma MATSUYAMA Honda JPN 0
33 Alberto SURRA Honda ITA 0
34 David SALVADOR Honda SPA 0

2021  – Aragon Schedule  (AEDT)

Source: MCNews.com.au

MotoGP riders reflect on #SanMarinoGP

2020 MotoGP Round Seven – Misano

Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini

Franco Morbidelli secured his maiden MotoGP victory in a dramatic Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. Morbidelli took the chequered flag 2.217-seconds ahead of compatriot Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing), who celebrated his first premier class podium. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) got the better of home hero Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) on the last lap to claim his second podium finish. Meanwhile, now former Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) crashed out – twice – at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Franco Morbidelli

Andrea Dovizioso now leads the MotoGP World Championship on 76-points ahead of Misano non-scorer Fabio Quartararo on 70-points. Jack Miller retained third place on the points table after his P8 and is on 64-points, four-points ahead of Joan Mir.

Yamaha is the leading constructor on 113-points to Ducati’s 107-points. KTM is in third on 88-points to Suzuki’s 73-points while Honda is on 53-points and Aprilia 23-points.


MotoGP Rider Quotes

Franco Morbidelli – P1

“I feel like this has been a magical week for me. Everything had been going well, so going into today I was thinking that maybe something good would be possible. Turns out, it was something great! I have never won a World Championship race at home before, so to do it in MotoGP is the greatest achievement in my life. I’m really proud to be able to say that. I want to say thanks to all the people that work with me, it isn’t just me. This win is a result of teamwork. Right now I’m just so proud of what we have achieved, not just today but in general. Seven years ago I was racing here with a stock 600, now I’m winning a MotoGP race. It’s just amazing, especially as it’s the first race with a crowd this year. It felt great to be able to salute the crowd after the race. We do this for them, so to celebrate with them was such a great feeling.”

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT)

Pecco Bagnaia – P2

“When I arrived to Misano my goal was only to finish the race. On Saturday during FP3 when I just thought about riding I understood that I could push and my feeling when I rode was the same that I had in Jerez. The start of the race wasn’t very good, I lost some positions so I had to recover the gap with Mir. When I passed him I saw that I could reach the head group. I hadn’t thought about my leg and I thought only about my first podium in MotoGP during my home race with the fans. During the last 4 laps I felt pain but today we deserved this podium. I want to thank my team, Ducati and VR46RidersAcademy for their big support. Today this podium is for them. I’m looking forward to be back on this track.”

Pecco Bagnaia

Joan Mir – P3

“I’m really happy. I wasn’t as strong here as I was in Austria, but I’m on the podium anyway so that’s good news. I really enjoyed the end of the race, and it was exciting to make that final overtake! I knew I could do it at that corner so I was confident. I was aware that I would struggle a little bit on the first laps with the fresh tyre but my pace with the used tyre was a lot faster, and I felt great with the bike, so I managed to take advantage of that. We’re going to work in the test on Tuesday and be ready for next weekend.”

Joan Mir

Valentino Rossi – 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.”

Valentino Rossi

Alex Rins – P5

“Today’s race was hard for me. In the first and middle parts of the race I was feeling confident and I had good pace and a good feeling with the bike. When I could see the podium getting closer I really pushed myself a lot and I began to have some problems with strength in my right arm due to my shoulder injury, so it was very tough to continue fighting. In the end, with a couple of laps to go, I was just trying to get through it and get a good position. I’m happy with fifth because the points are good, but for sure I’ll hope for more next time out.”

Alex Rins

Maverick Vinales – P6

“I don’t know what happened today. I’m really disappointed. I don’t know why I lost grip in the race. I tried everything I could, but I wasn’t getting enough feedback from the tyre. At the end of the race I did three or four really good laps, but that was too late. We will work on it. We have a test here on Tuesday. We will try to stay relaxed. We need to reset our minds for next weekend. We know we are fast here, so we can start in front again.”

Maverick Vinales

Andrea Dovizioso – P7

“It was a tough race. Since I was starting from the back, I struggled a lot to find the rhythm at the beginning. I still can’t be as competitive as I would like with these tyres and the riding style I’ve always adopted in the past years is not working right now. Fortunately, this Tuesday, we will have a day of testing here in Misano, which will be very important to try to solve this aspect. The championship this year is weird, and now we are leading the standings. We have to see the positive side of the current situation and continue to work, putting all our effort to come back stronger in the next races. I congratulate Pecco on his great performance today.”

Andrea Dovizioso

Jack Miller – P8

“That was one of those races where you have to look for the silver linings. Got a great start, got up to third, got to halfway … and then it all gradually went a bit downhill. Crossed the line ninth, got a place back after (Takaaki) Nakagami got demoted a spot for track limits, finished eighth. But there were positives. I’m still third in the championship, and actually narrowed to gap by a couple of points to 12. So not a great race for me, but we had a fairly crazy top three that nobody would have predicted again, and we live to fight another day.

“(Alex) Rins passed me for third on lap 14 to boot me off the podium after I’d managed to get the start I wanted from fifth, but I knew much earlier than then that I was probably going to be in some strife the longer the race went. I understood from probably lap five that I was going to struggle later on with the tyres, and on lap seven I switched the mapping to try to conserve to have something left at the end to fight with. Didn’t work, though. I suffered a lot with the rear tyre and then the front tyre on the left-hand side … maybe in hindsight I was using too much angle. I tried to manage as best I could, but by the end I was really having to control the speed in the changes of direction. I used the medium front and the soft rear (tyres), and maybe I need to trust my instincts with what tyres are working for me in the future and listen to myself more when we choose what I race with. So, we live and learn.

“I qualified fifth, and I had to pull a lap out of the bag even to get there and just beat my teammate Pecco (Bagnaia) by two-thousandths of a second … so that made for a good Saturday, but not a great one. Really, we were all fighting to be best of the rest behind the Yamahas because they’re pretty good around Misano, so it probably wasn’t a surprise that they qualified 1-2-3-4. I gave it my best to be as close to them as I could but I was still a couple of tenths off. I knew what my strategy needed to be – get to the front and try to play around with them a bit. On outright pace, they had our measure so I had to come up with another plan. I managed to jump Maverick (Vinales) and Fabio (Quartararo) off the start, but that was probably the highlight. I usually get a pretty good start, like Fabio said the Ducati is like a rocket launcher off the grid, so I was hoping to get out front and dictate what they could do, not the other way around.

“It was another weird race – Franky’s (Franco Morbidelli’s) first win, Pecco on his first podium and (Joan) Mir on his second … I think it will start to become more consistent this season with who is up front, but then I’ve thought that before too. It’s been pretty hard to read, hasn’t it? Six races, 12 different guys on the podium, five different winners, four guys winning races for the first time now Franky won here … there’s never a dull moment this year, that’s for sure. I think it’s 30-odd points covering 12 of us. It feels like a championship anyone can win at the moment because of the inconsistency.

“It was a day of survival, really, and I was missing 11 seconds to Franky at the front, so we need to fix that for next week here. But because we’re back here again next Sunday, at least there is a next week, which is a silver lining. Kinda where I started this … We’ll try to be better next Sunday at a circuit that doesn’t really suit our bike, and we have a week to figure out how we’ll do that.

Jack Miller

Takaaki Nakagami – P9

“Today was definitely quite a positive race for us because yesterday and Friday we were losing time and we did not put in a good enough performance in qualifying – 14th on the grid is not good for the race. But with the new holeshot device we are definitely improving at the start, and during the race the lap times were quite consistent around 33.1 or two. But this morning we got the top time which was really, really good for the team and were able to do a 32, but in the race we were not able to do that so we need to understand what the difference was between the warm-up and the race. It’s another top-10 and we need to see how we can improve for the next race, but definitely in the next race we can fight for the podium again. We are really looking forward to another Misano race weekend, we’ll stay positive and keep working hard to get that first podium.”

Takaaki Nakagami

Pol Espargaro – P10

“Not so much to say today. I had trouble to stop the rear of the bike from the first lap and I was stuck behind Johann for quite a long time. It wasn’t really safe to make it happen cleanly and I could only manage when the pace dropped and then the others caught me. We paid a bit for the mistakes on Saturday and we need to solve our problems before next weekend. I’m confident we can do it and we can have a better race.”

Pol Espargaro

Miguel Oliveira – P11

“It was a tough race. To be honest, it was quite hard to make up positions, especially in the beginning of the race. We had many riders with different tyre choices, so it made our life very difficult, but we had a good pace, where just too far away. Now we are focusing on Tuesday, trying a couple of things during the test in order to have a better weekend and especially a better Qualifying the upcoming weekend.”

Miguel Oliveira

Brad Binder – P12

“I didn’t start well and from then I tried my best to recover positions. The first 10-12 laps I didn’t have a good feeling but then it got better and better. I don’t feel I can complain too much. We have to take advantage of this test on Tuesday to make a few improvements. It was cool to be part of that KTM battle and I could see we were all having the same issues. It’s very tight in MotoGP right now but my attitude stays the same: I’m trying to enjoy and take the best of each race.”

KTM riders

Aleix Espargaro – P13

“The final position does not reflect reality. We are doing very well and my feeling is still very good with the new RS-GP. Today I had fun and the numbers confirm our improvements. The only difficulty is in overtaking. We are lacking the acceleration to get past our rivals and that forces us to hang back even when our pace could be better. Our growth is undeniable. We’ll get there, we just need to be patient and keep working.”

Aleix Espargaro

Iker Lecuona – P14

“In the Warm Up this morning, I felt really good with the bike. Like in FP3, I felt very fast and constant and my pace for the race was strong. I knew that my grid position was not ideal to fight for the top 10. Finally, in the race, I did that mistake in the Warm Up lap. I stopped the engine and eventually, I needed to do the long lap. I was very nervous, because I knew my potential. In the end, I could manage the situation with the penalty and lap by lap I improved. For many laps, I was the fastest KTM rider on the track, overtook many riders and finished in the points, so finally, I’m really happy. Sorry to my team for that mistake, but at the same time thanks to them for their great work.”

Iker Lecuona

Johann Zarco – P15

“I think the positive part of this race, seeing the result (P15) and 20 seconds away from the winner, far from the top of the race, is that I got a lot of positive things from the start. The step we took this morning in the warm up has helped me a lot in this start of the race to follow Dovizioso and Bagnaia. The start was good for me, but as the laps went by I suffered a lot with the rear tire, especially the last seven laps, I couldn’t keep the pace and I lost a lot”.

Johann Zarco

Danilo Petrucci – P16

“Today, I struggled a lot in the race. I had several contacts with a few riders at the beginning, and I couldn’t stay hooked to the leading group. As the bike got lighter with the fuel consumption, I was able to find a better pace, but by then, I was too far away to recover on the riders in front. Today’s race has allowed us to understand some aspects, and this is an indication that we will serve us for the future. Hopefully, Tuesday’s test will help us to get the situation clearer. I’m disappointed that today I couldn’t score points: I put it all into it, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

Danilo Petrucci

Alex Marquez – P17

“Our pace today was good, especially towards the end of the race where I was able to lap at a similar speed to the leaders. My fastest lap of the race was my last one. We have made a big step from yesterday with the bike and it felt good today. It was a good race; I had a hard battle with Petrucci and we touched a couple of times. But it was really the grid position that hurt us today, otherwise I think we could have been up with Binder and Oliveira. Compared to where we started this weekend it’s not so bad, but we still need to be more consistent.”

Alex Marquez

Stefan Bradl – P18

“It was a frustrating race, I had a problem with the nerve in my right elbow that started yesterday but in the race it became worse. It’s not arm pump, but my two small fingers were going numb. Because of this I was about one second off my normal pace. Already it was not in the plan for me to test here Tuesday, so I will use the time to rest the arm. Hopefully we can come back next week stronger.”

Bradley Smith – P19

“Unfortunately, the crash in FP3 compromised our weekend. The sensations were good on Friday, but when I had to switch to the second bike, it wasn’t the same feeling in qualifying or in the race. Today I crashed on a bump and then, despite the bike being damaged, I was able to re-join and finish the race. We’ll use the tests on Tuesday to take a closer look at what is causing our difficulties so we can be better prepared for the next race.”

Fabio Quartararo – DNF

“First of all I want to congratulate Franco, because he really deserved the win today. It was a really tough race for me but it is what it is, I will learn from it. I made a mistake: I was trying too hard to overtake Maverick and it overheated the tyre. I made the move, and was the correct move to make, but Jack was in front and I wanted to catch him as well but too quickly. I braked too late and lost the front end. We are struggling to overtake with our bike, which is something we need to work on. Of course I am disappointed, as we had the speed to fight at the front, but we learn from the experience and I won’t make the same mistake next weekend. We have seen five different winners in six races and it is one of the closest championships we’ve had, so I’m going to continue to give my best and try to make it ours.”

Tito Rabat – DNF

“I think that this weekend I have taken steps forward, in terms of the fastest lap, the race pace and the first laps of this. My fastest lap in the race was similar to that of my teammate, as well as the pace, which was very even for both. Now we have to stay focused, arrive rested for the test on Tuesday and the following weekend and give 100% of myself”.

Razlan Razali – Petronas SRT Yamaha Team Principal

“This weekend was the best so far for Petronas Sepang Racing Team, as a collective. It was a fantastic win for Franco: very well deserved, especially considering his crash in the first Austrian race. Doing it at his home Grand Prix as well is amazing. It was unfortunate for Fabio; he crashed while trying to catch the front-runners. He is still second in the championship, so it’s not too bad and I’m sure he’ll come back stronger next week. In Moto2 we saw another big improvement from Xavi, finishing fourth. He was very close to the podium and we know that he can do well next weekend, when we are here again. It’s been a learning curve for Jake today; it’s only his second time at Misano. I’m sure next weekend will be better for him. In Moto3 John had his first win of 2020 today and after the ups and downs of the last few races this was really nice to see. To get his championship back on track again is great. For KIP, to be coming back from major surgery like he has is incredible. We do expect him to improve further in the second GP at Misano too.”

Franco Morbidelli

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“A bit like with Red Bull Ring, I didn’t necessarily expect a good race here but we did a very good job. Both riders were in the Top 5 which was a great result, and Joan made an incredible last lap to get the podium. Alex was fifth which is also a good finish. Both riders will work hard to continue this form next weekend.”

Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“We’re very happy to get another podium. It was great to see both our GSX-RRs at the top and keeping really competitive pace, and I think with stronger grid positions we could’ve had even better results. Joan recovered really well and he had a great last lap to earn a deserved podium, and also Alex did a really good race with unbelievable pace until the problem with his arm, so he was also impressive. We’ll try to bring this competitiveness into next weekend. Thanks to all the team for their hard work.”

Team Suzuki

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“We knew this race was going to be tough and that the tyres would play a decisive role. We had hoped to fight for the victory today, but unfortunately that wasn‘t possible. Valentino had a good start and his pace was really good throughout the whole race. It‘s a shame he wasn‘t able to get a podium result, because that would have been a real treat for the team and also the fans. But the way he performed is encouraging, so for sure he will try to be fighting at the front again next time. Maverick‘s pre-race experience was a bit unsettling, because we saw smoke coming from his bike when he arrived on the starting grid. We had a thorough check, and it turned out it was fine. However, the race was tough for him, because he didn‘t feel as good with the hard tyre today as he had done earlier this weekend. It‘s really disappointing, because we know how fast he is. But we get another chance next week. We will take today‘s experience on board, and we have the opportunity to test some new parts here on Tuesday, so we will push to come back stronger.”

Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Race Manager

“It was not the best results for us and the fact that the boys could not get a fast lap in qualifying made it difficult today to get near the front of the group because the rhythm of the riders is very similar. After the last few races we are not so happy with the results but the race pace today was positive. All four riders did well in their respective battles and brought the bikes home for points, especially Iker who came back from a long-lap penalty. We’ll try everything we can to be better for next weekend.”

Hervé Poncharal – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“Overall this was a quite strong team result for Red Bull KTM Tech3 here in Misano. For sure, we didn’t expect to duplicate the incredible and unforgettable victory from Spielberg here, but it was an interesting circuit for us. We end up 12 seconds to the winner, but we lost six seconds in the first two laps, so it means out of the 25 laps left we lost six seconds, which is showing how close the grid is. We could see that KTM has got a really strong line-up, because the four riders were doing the same lap times and Miguel was in a sandwich between Pol (Espargaro) and Brad (Binder) on the finish line. We got some good points. We need to understand what we can improve on that circuit, but I want to see the glass half full and I think we are not too far and we can improve next weekend. The championship is wide open, which is also very interesting, we are 28 points to the leading guy at the moment, so we need to keep our heads down and keep on believing and pushing. This is for Miguel. It was a bit more eventful race for Iker. He stalled the bike on the grid, which is not happening very often and he didn’t know exactly what to do. He went back to the starting grid, although he should have been starting from the pitlane. Then he was given a long lap penalty, that he did really well. He didn’t waste any time, put his head down and managed to finish 14th, which is really impressive. Most of the race he was the fastest KTM guy, doing the fastest laps. I think we can be proud of our four riders as KTM, we as Tech3 can be proud of Miguel and Iker and we need to keep on working hard and follow the same method, plus always improve and get closer to the leaders. I believe we can do it and this is a story I can tell you in a few days, because we’re staying here.”

KTM men racing each other

Piero Taramasso – Michelin

“We have had a very successful weekend here at Misano in both MotoGP and MotoE. The tyres performed very well and adapted to the new surface, despite us having little information on the asphalt when we had to choose the tyres before the start of the season. This the first time this season that the condition of the track and the weather has afforded the possibility of all MotoGP specifications being a genuine raceable option, as it was five options were used and we saw three different configurations on the podium. Breaking records is not the whole reason we are here, but it is great to do that and to set all-time lap-records in both classes and break the race durations in both is an especially pleasing aspect and demonstrates the performance of the tyres and one that can eventually be translated from the track to the street. It was a very exciting race for all concerned and especially good to see people in the grandstands again, this is a small step in the battle against the pandemic, but from the point of MotoGP an important one. We hope that Michelin contributed in some way to rewarding them with good racing. I want to send congratulations to Franco Morbidelli on his first victory, a feat that gives us four new winners this season and with the way some of the other guys are riding I can see that growing. MotoE produced another good race and the tyres again lived up to their potential following the new materials, compounds and rear construction we introduced for this season. Racing is fast and close and we broke every single record on show, so we have to be happy with that. We will now stay here at Misano for a test on Tuesday, where I am sure different tyre configurations will be tested by the riders to see if that can improve further and get an optimum set-up for their respective machines ahead of next week’s race at the same track.”

Michelin

MotoGP Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 42m02.272
2 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati +2.217
3 Joan MIR Suzuki +2.290
4 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +2.643
5 Alex RINS Suzuki +4.044
6 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha +5.383
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +10.358
8 Jack MILLER Ducati +11.155
9 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +10.839
10 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +12.030
11 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +12.376
12 Brad BINDER KTM +12.405
13 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +15.142
14 Iker LECUONA KTM +19.914
15 Johann ZARCO Ducati +20.152
16 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati +22.094
17 Alex MARQUEZ Honda +22.473
18 Stefan BRADL Honda +37.856
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia +1m18.831
Not Classified
DNF Tito RABAT Ducati 5 Laps
DNF Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 9 Laps

MotoGP World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 76
2 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 70
3 Jack MILLER Ducati 64
4 Joan MIR Suzuki 60
5 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 58
6 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 58
7 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 57
8 Brad BINDER KTM 53
9 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 53
10 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 48
11 Pol ESPARGARO KTM 41
12 Alex RINS Suzuki 40
13 Johann ZARCO Ducati 31
14 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 29
15 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 25
16 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 18
17 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 15
18 Iker LECUONA KTM 15
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia 8
20 Tito RABAT Ducati 7
21 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 7
22 Michele PIRRO Ducati 4
23 Stefan BRADL Honda 0

Source: MCNews.com.au

2018 World Champions recognised at FIM Awards night

2018’s Champions recognised in Andorra


The annual FIM Awards ceremony brought the curtain down on a spectacular weekend in Andorra, where more than 100 national motorcycling federations gathered to celebrate their communal values of courage, excellence and commitment.

FIM Awards WorldSBK MotoGP Winners
Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta with WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea, WorldSSP300 Champion Ana Carrasco, WorldSSP Champion Sandro Cortese, Moto2 Champion Francesco Bagnaia, MotoGP™ Champion Marc Marquez and Moto3 Champion Jorge Martin

At the crowning ceremony were some of the biggest names in two-wheeled sport, from record-breaking five-time FIM MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquéz to 14-year-old FIM 85cc Junior Motocross World Champion Caden Braswell – the youngest gold medal recipient of 2018.


Aussies

Australians recognised at this year’s FIM Award Night included the 2018 ISDE Championship winning teams, with Daniel Milner, Daniel Sanders, Lyndon Snodgrass, and Joshua Strang claiming the World Trophy, and Jessica Gardiner, Tayla Jones and Mackenzie Tricker claiming the Women’s World Trophy title.

FIM Awards Toby Price
Toby Price – Image by Goodshoot/Reygondeau

Bailey Malkiewicz (Yamaha) also won the FIM 125cc Junior Motocross World Championship on home soil in Australia, while Josh Hook was a part of the F.C.C. TSR EWC World Championship winning team.

Toby Price was also recognised for his victory in the Cross-Countries Rally Championship.


MotoGP

Marquez is no stranger to the gala, winning five of the last six premier class crowns, and the Spaniard is now the youngest ever seven-time World Champion – adding another well-earned medal to the cabinet in 2018.

Marc Marquez

“It’s amazing to be here with everyone, I want to congratulate all these Champions. If we’re here we had a great season. And thanks to the team and all those kind of things, now back to the party! Try to enjoy it!”

FIM Awards Marc Marquez Bagnaia Martin
Marc Marquez (centre)

Marquez was joined at the gala by 2018 Moto2 World Champion Francesco Bagnaia after his impressive year, and another record breaker in the form of Moto3 World Champion Jorge Martin.

Raul Fernandez was also present to pick up his award for winning the FIM CEV Repsol Moto3 Junior World Championship ahead of his full-time debut in Moto3 on the world stage next season, having impressed to wrap up the crown ahead of the final weekend at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.

Francesco Bagnaia

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time and finally I reached it! And I want to thank the Team, Sky, the Academy, my family, my girlfriend and friends…and next year for sure I have my next objective and I’m really looking forward to it.”

FIM Awards Francesco Bagnaia
Francesco Bagnaia
Jorge Martin

“It means a lot to me, I want to thank my family and team and all the people who support me. I want to congratulate all the Champions because they know how difficult it is to be here – and I’ll work hard to be back here in the next few years!”

FIM Awards Jorge Martin
Jorge Martin

World Superbikes

History-maker and 2018 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) collected his medal – for the fourth time in a row – and was joined by FIM Supersport World Champion Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing) who took the title in his rookie season in the final round at Losail International Circuit.

FIM Awards Ana Carrasco
Ana Carrasco – Image by Goodshoot/Reygondeau

One of the most notable champions attending the awards was FIM Supersport 300 World Champion Ana Carrasco (DS Junior Team), who became the first solo female to win a world title, crowned in dramatic style at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.

Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK

“Once again I’ve been incredibly proud to accept my FIM World Championship medal in front of all the other champions from various  disciplines. It truly is the moment when what we have achieved starts to sink in. I want to thank all my team at KRT for all their support, my family and friends for their support.”


As well as officially crowning over fifty FIM World Champions from the 2018 motorcycling season, five equally important FIM Awards were also bestowed on individuals and organisations for their contributions to motorcycling ‘Beyond Sport’.

The FIM Women in Motorcycling Award was collected by Macrocampus, an event organised by the RFME Women’s Commission of Motorcycling at the famous MotorLand Circuit in Aragón.

The winner of the FIM Fair Play Trophy was Sebastien VanBaelen, a Belgian Enduro rider who came to the aid of a stricken competitor in l’Enduropale du Touquet, in France, while the FIM Environment Award went to Sky Ocean Rescue in Italy.

Meanwhile, Michael Woodford MBE picked up the FIM Road Safety and Public Policy Award for his road safety campaigning and important work regarding ‘Automatic Headlight On’ technology, while the first ever winners of the FIM Award for the Future were Dorna Sports for their investment in and commitment to various rookies’ series, in collaboration with the FIM National Federations and Continental Unions.

Carmelo Ezpeleta – Dorna CEO

“Thanks to the FIM and those who decided to give us this award. It is now 27 seasons we’ve been working with the FIM, with the national federations, with all the clubs. Special thanks to all the riders who have permitted us to grow during this time. From the beginning we thought it was important to create new strategies for people who maybe, without this programme, might not be able to participate. I’ve very proud to receive it in the name of Dorna, in the name of all the people who work at Dorna. And to receive this from Giacomo (Agostini), it’s an incredible honour for us to receive this from him.”

The list of names treading the red carpet included a prestigious line-up of prize givers, who handed over the honours to the World Champions and award recipients.

FIM Legend and fifteen-time FIM Circuit Racing World Champion Giacomo Agostini was joined by FIM legend and former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, Pentti Korhonen  and legendary former alpine skier turned racing driver and keen motorcyclist Luc Alphand.

Source: MCNews.com.au

Francesco Bagnaia | 2018 Moto2 World Champion

2018 Moto2 World Champion

Francesco Bagnaia is the 2018 Moto2 World Champion, taking the title at Sepang after eight wins, 12 podiums and six pole positions over an incredible season. Arriving 36 points up in the Championship, his third place in the race – paired with a second for title rival Miguel Oliveira – was enough for the Italian to secure the crown.

Francesco Bagnaia Moto Champ
Francesco Bagnaia

Making his debut on the world stage in 2013 with team Italia FMI in Moto3, Bagnaia then switched to Sky Racing Team VR46 the year after – but it wasn’t until 2015 that he finally took his first podium. That was at Le Mans, but riding a Mahindra; a marque whose history ‘Pecco’ would become an even bigger part of the following season.

After podium finishes at Losail, Jerez and Mugello, Bagnaia finally took both his first Grand Prix win and the first win for Mahindra after a stunning ride at the TT Circuit Assen. His favourite track, the layout of which he even has as a tattoo. It wasn’t a one off in that impressive season either, with Bagnaia taking another win, this time at Sepang, to put him fourth overall in the standings.

At the end of the season Bagnaia got his first taste of a MotoGP machine at the Valencia test, owing to a bet made with his team. They’d said that, if ‘Pecco’ were to win a race that season, they’d let him try the then-Aspar liveried Ducati.

Francesco Bagnaia Moto Champ
Francesco Bagnaia

Before he made that a full-time switch, however, Bagnaia’s next challenge was Moto2 – in the same Sky Racing Team VR46. His first podiums didn’t wait long to arrive, as the Italian took to the rostrum in Jerez, Le Mans, Germany and at Misano; enough to put him fifth overall and see him take the title of Rookie of the Year.

His stellar first season in the intermediate class was more than just awards and success – it also penciled him in as a key favourite for the 2018 crown. Starting the year on the top step with a first Moto2 win in the season opener in Qatar, ‘Pecco’ then ceded the points lead next time out in Argentina, but he was back on it in Texas.

A key rival then began to appear: Oliveira. The Portuguese rider won in Mugello from outside the top ten on the grid, and that brought him to within a single point of Bagnaia at the top. But the Italian responded at Assen, winning at his talisman track once again. In Germany there was some drama, however, as Bagnaia was forced into avoiding action after a crash for compatriot Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) and crossed the line in P12.

Oliveira then struck gold in Czechia to win another race, but Bagnaia was quick to hit back once again as he took the victory in Austria to begin a run of top results: a win at Misano, a P2 at MotorLand and then another victory in Thailand – the 800th for Italy – to really pull the pin. Second on the road at Motegi, he was later promoted to the win after the disqualification of Fabio Quartararo (MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing) for a technical infringement – making the gap that much bigger as the paddock arrived at Phillip Island. There, he had his first match point but it wasn’t to be after a more difficult weekend, so the battle rolled on to Malaysia.

There, it was mission accomplished after a stunning season in the intermediate class and another podium to secure the crown. After one more race and now as reigning Moto2 World Champion, Bagnaia will then be getting on a MotoGP bike once again – this time for good as he moves up to partner Jack Miller at Alma Pramac Racing in 2019.

Francesco Bagnaia Moto Champ
Francesco Bagnaia

Statistics – Francesco Bagnaia

• Francesco Bagnaia is the second Italian rider to win the Moto2 title, following Franco Morbidelli last year. This is the first back-to-back world title with two different Italian riders in the intermediate category since Loris Capirossi (1998) and Valentino Rossi (1999).

• Bagnaia is the 15th different Italian rider to clinch to title in the intermediate category. Bagnaia’s title is also 24th in the class for Italian riders and the 77th in Grand Prix racing.

• At 21 years and 294 days old, Bagnaia is the ninth youngest rider to clinch the title in the intermediate category and the fourth youngest Italian rider to do so after Marco Melandri (20 years 74 days), Valentino Rossi (20 years 250 days) and Marco Simoncelli (21 years 273 days).

• Bagnaia has won eight races so far this year, equalling Johann Zarco in 2015 and Franco Morbidelli last year which is also the second-highest number of Moto2 wins in a season after Marc Márquez in 2012 (9).

• Bagnaia equals Andrea Iannone and Franco Morbidelli, who both stands in the first place on the list of Italian riders with most wins in the class.

• Bagnaia has stood on the podium 12 times this season so far and 16 in the Moto2 class, equalling Mika Kallio, who stands in 10th place on the list of riders with most podium finishes in the class.

• With 16 podium finishes, Bagnaia is now in third place on the list of Italian riders with most podium finishes in the Moto2 class.

• With his pole position at Motegi – his 6th of the season so far – he equalled Franco Morbidelli in 2nd place on the list of Italian riders with most pole positions in the Moto2 class, two less than Mattia Pasini.

• Bagnaia is only the second Italian rider who has won back-to-back races in the Moto2 class along with Franco Morbidelli.

• Bagnaia has scored points in the last 29 successive races. The last time he failed to score points was in Italy last year when he crashed on the final lap. Only Dominique Aegerter (33) and Mika Kallio (31) and have scored points in more than 29 successive races in Moto2.

• Since he stepped up to Moto2, Bagnaia has always reached the finish line and only failed to score any points twice, in the Americas and Italy last year.

• At 21 years and 63 days old on race day in Qatar, Bagnaia became the sixth youngest rider to lead the Moto2 World Championship since its introduction back in 2010, and the youngest Italian rider.

Source: MCNews.com.au