Quartararo Extends Championship Lead With Win At Mugello
Calum Gill 14:15 30/05/2021
Fabio Quartararo has extended his lead at the top of the MotoGP standings following victory at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.
The Monster Energy Yamaha rider lost the lead at San Donato (turn 1) on the opening lap to 2nd on the grid Francesco Bagnaia, but regained it a lap later when Bagnaia crashed at Arrabbiata 2. From there on, Quartararo stretched out his lead over the pack for the remainder of the race to take his 3rd win of the season.
Before the race, the paddock and grid fell silent in tribute to Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier, who sadly lost his life in a qualifying crash yesterday. Winner Quartararo held a Swiss flag on the podium in honour of Dupasquier.
The drama of the race started before lights out, when Avintia rookie Enea Bastianini ran into the back of Johann Zarco as he warmed up his brakes on the grid on the warm-up lap. This left Zarco with some tail unit damage while Bastianini was forced to miss the race, but the start wasn’t delayed as a result. The incident will be investigated after the race.
Behind the frontrunners, Honda’s Marc Márquez made contact with KTM’s Brad Binder and crashed at the Poggio secco right-hander - with Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli dropped to the back of the pack having been forced to run off the track to take avoiding action. Zarco held onto second until lap 16, when KTM’s Miguel Oliveira came through, while the Pramac rider would soon come under threat from the Suzukis behind.
Álex Rins and Joan Mir engaged in a tight tussle over fifth spot in the early stages, but strong late pace put them into podium contention in the closing stages. World champion Mir scythed past Zarco at the Palagio left-hander to steal third on lap 17, with Rins demoting the Frenchman further on the following tour at the Saveli left-hander. But having crashed out of strong positions in the last three races, Rins’ miserable run continued when he slid off at the last corner on lap 19.
Oliveira was initially demoted to third for track limits violation, but Mir had done the same, so the Portuguese rider kept his on-track second place. Zarco held onto fourth, 1.3s clear of Binder, while the sole remaining factory team Ducati of Jack Miller was only sixth. Aleix Espargaró was seventh on the Aprilia ahead of a struggling Maverick Viñales, the Yamaha rider forced to recover from 16th after a poor start.
Danilo Petrucci was ninth on the Tech3 KTM ahead of Valentino Rossi on the Petronas SRT Yamaha, with Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM) getting the better of Honda’s Pol Espargaró in 11th. The final points went to Pramac stand-in Michele Pirro, LCR Honda’s Álex Márquez and Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori, while Morbidelli was 16th ahead of Sky VR46 Avintia’s Luca Marini.
2021 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix Classification (23 laps)
1st. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha)
2nd. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM)
3rd. Joan Mir (Suzuki)
4th. Johann Zarco (Pramac)
5th. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM)
6th. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo)
7th. Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia)
8th. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha)
9th. Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM)
10th. Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT)
11th. Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM)
12th. Pol Espargaró (Repsol Honda)
13th. Michele Pirro (Pramac)
14th. Álex Márquez (LCR Honda)
15th. Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia)
16th. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT)
17th. Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia)
DNF: Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) (Lap 19)
DNF: Álex Rins (Suzuki) (Lap 18)
DNF: Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) (Lap 2)
DNF: Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) (Lap 1)
DNS: Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama)
