Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) won his second Grand Prix of the season on Sunday in Catalonia.
This victory allows the reigning world champion to consolidate his leading position in the MotoGP riders’ classification.
The Ducati Pramacs of the Spaniard Jorge Martin and the second Frenchman on the grid Johann Zarco accompany Quartararo on the podium. Zarco notably took advantage of an incredible error by the Spaniard Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), who believed the race was over with one lap to go when he was in 3rd place, to steal the position from him.
“I first thought he had a mechanical problem, but then I understood that he was greeting the public,” said Johann Zarco on arrival, who thought he would fail at the foot of the podium in front of many French supporters who came to Catalonia this weekend.
A margin of 22 points
In front, Fabio Quartararo, who started in third position on the grid in the heat, made an excellent start and took the lead in the race from the first laps. He then gradually widened the gap to win by more than 6 seconds.
The 23-year-old from Nice now has 147 points in the championship, once morest 125 points for his pursuer Aleix Espargaro, who finally finished 5th in the race. Among the other headliners, the Italians Enea Bastianini (Ducati-Gresini) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), 3rd and 4th in the championship before the Catalan round, had to retire following falling.
If Bastianini retains his rank, this abandonment is a blow for Bagnaia, now relegated to 5th place in the world championship, ten points behind Zarco, past fourth with a total of 91 points, only three units from Bastianini.
/ATS