After an unusually cold start in Europe with the race in Portimao last Sunday, it was now off to Jerez. In front of packed grandstands (more than 58,000 spectators), a MotoGP rider already showed an exceptional performance in qualifying on Saturday.
The runner-up in the 2021 world championship, remained so far this season behind expectations, it never managed a better position than fifth place in previous races for Francesco Bagnaia. Until the knot burst in Jerez for the time being and the Ducati factory rider again showed his best side. With a perfect lap (1:36.170 min) Bagnaia secured pole position.
From the start of the race, Bagnaia dominated at will. Only Fabio Quartararo was able to follow the Ducati factory rider, but never overtake him. In the end, the two were separated by just 0.285 sec at the finish. Bagnaia and Quartararo outclassed the rest of the field with their performance. They wrestled ten seconds off the rest of the field. Third place went to Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro, who took advantage of a riding error by Marc Marquez. Overall, it is now the third podium this season for Aprilia and thus extinguishes the advantages in the bike development through the “concession points”.
In two weeks it goes on in Le Mans. There Fabio Quartararo will not only contest his home GP as reigning world champion, but also as world championship leader. We can be curious to see whether Fabio Quartararo can live up to expectations. We will see.
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