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Miller takes Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez after Quartararo debacle puts Bagnaia top of the World Championship

May 3, 2021
Miller takes Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez after Quartararo debacle puts Bagnaia top of the World Championship

Great race for Jack Miller at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez in MotoGP. The Australian rider took the race after a tremendous debacle for Fabio Quartararo who finished out of the points. The French rider collapsed when he was leading, lost speed and saw all the riders pass him with ease, finishing thirteenth and crying on the bike. Bagnaia finished second and reaches the World Championship lead. Marc Márquez finished ninth and his brother crashed at the start of the race. Joan Mir was the first Spaniard, fifth.

The third and final race of the Gran Premio de España at the Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto was the premier class of MotoGP. A race that started at 14:00 with Fabio Quartararo starting from pole. The French rider won both races at Jerez last season, the Grand Prix of Spain and the Grand Prix of Andalusia. Marc Márquez was back racing at Jerez after his injury at the same track nine months ago, and started fourteenth in his second race back.

The MotoGP race at Jerez was a thrilling start and Quartararo lost first place. Miller was first, Morbidelli second, Bagnaia third and Quartararo fourth. Márquez reached tenth position. His brother, Alex Marquez crashed at turn 8 on the first lap and was out. Just after, Binder also crashed at the Michelin corner.

It took Quartararo three laps to regain the lead after taking fourth at the start. The French rider was going for it. Aleix Espargaró was fourth and Márquez twelfth. Fabio, with 18 laps to go, was eight tenths clear of Miller, who was 1.3 seconds ahead of Morbidelli. The first two riders in the lead were lapping much faster than the rest of the field.

Miller’s gap to third was also two seconds with 14 laps to go. The battle for third place was evenly matched between Morbidelli and Bagnaia. In fact, with eleven laps to go, Bagnaia overtook the Italian. Meanwhile, Márquez overtook Espargaró to move up to tenth. On the other hand, Viñales remained eighth.

The excitement at the head of the MotoGP race came with 10 laps to go. Miller closed the gap to Quartararo to within two tenths of a second. The French rider was losing steam and Miller overtook him at turn one. From there, the 43 pushed hard and started to get away. The comeback was impressive, but everyone was surprised by Fabio’s downturn.

With 9 laps to go, Miller was 1 second up on Fabio, and Bagnaia started to close the gap on the French rider. Quartararo was lapping slower than the top ten riders. With 8 laps to go Bagnaia overtook him and Fabio’s podium was in danger. Miller was already 2 seconds ahead of the second placed rider and was running away in the lead of the race.

With 8 laps to go and at the Nieto corner, Morbidelli overtook Quartararo. The French rider fell off the podium, he was lapping at 1:40 and had collapsed. It was a debacle for the French rider with tremendous impotence. Quartararo was already eighth with 6 laps to go. Viñales also overtook him and Zarco and Márquez came from behind. Both overtook him. Quartararo was already tenth. Tremendous debacle. With 5 laps to go, Pol Espargaró overtook Quartararo who moved up to eleventh position. At that moment, Bagnaia, second, moved into co-leader of the World Championship tied on points with the Frenchman.

With three laps to go, the final overtake came. Quartararo moved up to twelfth, then thirteenth, and Bagnaia took the lead of the World Championship. The two Ducati riders were riding at high speed with the top two places in the Jerez race in hand. Australian Miller took the victory after a great race on the Jerez track. Bagnaia finished second and World Championship leader, with Morbidelli rounding off the podium in third. Márquez finished ninth and Viñales seventh. Joan Mir finished fifth and Aleix Espargaró sixth. Quartararo finished crying on the bike and thirteenth.