YAMAHA’S Fabio Quartararo has taken out the 2021 MotoGP title after a dramatic race at Misano, Italy.
After starting from 15th on the grid, Quartararo picked his way through the pack and briefly looked set for a podium finish. That wasn’t to be, but fourth spot was enough for the 22-year-old Frenchman to take an unbeatable lead in the season standings.
In a race full of drama, the only rider with a chance to beat Quartararo for the title, Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, took an early lead ahead of fellow Ducati rider, Australian Jack Miller.
When the pack settled, Marc Marquez (Honda), who started from seventh, moved into third behind Bagnaia and Miller.
Then Miller went down, leaving Marquez to chase down Bagnaia.
With just a few laps remaining, Bagnaia had opened up a near one-second lead over Marquez and looked safe to take first spot. But then he went down, on the same corner as Miller crashed. The two Ducati riders both rode with hard front tyres, a decision that was subject to much discussion after the race.
That left Marquez to cruise to victory.
Valentino Rossi finished tenth in his last MotoGP on Italian soil.
Final results
|
1
|
93
|
M. MARQUEZ
|
41:52.830
|
|
2
|
44
|
P. ESPARGARO
|
+4.859
|
|
3
|
23
|
E. BASTIANINI
|
+12.013
|
|
4
|
20
|
F. QUARTARARO
|
+12.775
|
|
5
|
5
|
J. ZARCO
|
+16.458
|
|
6
|
42
|
A. RINS
|
+17.669
|
|
7
|
41
|
A. ESPARGARO
|
+18.468
|
|
8
|
12
|
M. VIÑALES
|
+18.607
|
|
9
|
10
|
L. MARINI
|
+25.417
|
|
10
|
46
|
V. ROSSI
|
+27.735
|
