Barcelona Sunday live

Live blog from Sunday MotoGP in Barcelona

Saturday brought a qualifying with a few surprises and yet in the end there were three drivers in the front row, which you absolutely had to have on the bill. With 3 Yamaha’s in the first two races, two Ducati and one KTM, there is enough color. Joan Mir is anything but to be underestimated on the Suzuki, even if he will only start the race in the fourth row. The big question on Saturday was the forecast regarding the weather on Sunday. And this looked like a lot of rain until at least noon, which threatened another wet race day. Below is the starting grid in all 3 classes.

The two Frenchmen after qualifying

Fabio Quartararo (Poleposition): “Except for the last attempt, which I had to break off with yellow flags, everything was fine today. We don’t yet know exactly which tire we want to use on Sunday. Of course, I don’t have much reserve compared to Q2. In the race you will see that this is always a thing of its own. I have the feeling it shouldn’t be a problem to warm up even the tough tires well. But at the moment we don’t really know which one we will bet on for the race.“
Johann Zarco (Launch site 3): “Q2 was a good session, and I was on a very good lap with the second soft tire, but I was close to Brad at Turn 10. So it was better to try going inside, and the time was still very good in the end. For on Sunday it is of course important to be at the front right from the start and hopefully start the race with a good start. On Saturday afternoon in FP4 I was a bit frustrated in between and I couldn’t possibly follow Fabio. It’s not just the grip on the rear wheel. In qualifying, however, it was good, and I’m thinking more of trying to make it onto the podium than of winning on Sunday.“

The Moto3 race

The race takes place with a bit of a delay, we recently talked about 5 minutes, which we currently doubt. The typical experience, as so often on racetracks, we know it from earlier years. Nothing is currently working and Moto3 should have started for almost 5 minutes. It stayed dry, even in the warm-up, but so far it has never rained, and now the Junior class riders are finally late on the starting grid. But we will be more likely to be 15 minutes late than, as recently announced, only five minutes. It will be particularly interesting to see how long World Cup leader Acosta needs to move up from his 25th starting position. It may not take three rounds to get into the top fifteen. We’ll know more in about 10 to 15 minutes. Now the drivers are finally going on the sighting lap and in the end the announced 5 minutes delay turned into their 20.
After the start of the race
Riccardo Rossi will miss the start because he crashed in the warm-up lap. After the start, Rodrigo leads in front of Antonelli, Alcoba and McPhee. Acosta reached P19, the 16-year-old Spaniard has to make sure that he doesn’t lose too much to the top group. With nineteen laps to go, Binder is ahead of Guevara, McPhee, Rodrigo, Antonelli and Garcia. But of course the positions change constantly, especially on the endlessly long start-finish straight. Within one lap, Binder could only be found in P6, which clearly underlines the previously declared changes. Alcoba is now on P16, which means that he roughly lives up to our announcement from before the start. The world championship leader is less than 2.5 seconds behind the leaders, and now he is fourteenth as 16 laps are left.
No falls in the first racing quarter yet
Except for Rossi’s crash in the warm-up lap, there has not yet been a single crash and already 6 laps have been completed and 15 are still outstanding. Fernandez gets the first long-lap penalty and many hope that there won’t be many. The next goes to Bartolini, together with many fans and a large part of our readers we are not friends of the track limits and are happy to admit this. Now McPhee fell with a highsider in Turn 2 and Migno and Suzuki are also lying in the gravel, but get up again like the Scot. Alcoba is now in the middle of the leading group and positions are constantly changing.
The last 9 laps
The top group comprised exactly 15 drivers when we were just before the last third of the race. The positions change wildly and especially before turn one it is mostly chaotic and currently Öncü is ahead of Rodrigo, Acosta, Toba and Garcia. But after start-finish, the order is mixed up again when the last 6 laps begin. Filip Salac has just given up, which means that after the 3 who have fallen so far, another favorite is out of the race. The last 3 laps have begun and of course it is not possible to estimate which three drivers will be on the podium in the end. Two more laps and behind Alcoba, Acosta and Binder, Rodrigo fell back briefly, but managed to work his way up to P7 again. At the end of the penultimate lap it was extremely chaotic and Acosta fell back to P13. In the last lap there was another fall and in the end Garcia wins ahead of Alcoba, Masia, Öncü and Binder. Behind Rodrigo, Acosta, Antonelli and Toba. Because there were still red flags at the end, the previous lap may be counted for the race. The result would of course be completely different. The following result was changed shortly afterwards because the man on P3 had committed a track limit violation. The red flags, on the other hand, probably came shortly after the checkered flag.

POS	#	RIDER	TIME/GAP
1	11	S. GARCIA	38:33.760
2	52	J. ALCOBA	+0.015
3	5	J. MASIA	+0.079
4	53	D. ÖNCÜ	+0.118
5	40	D. BINDER	+0.204
6	2	G. RODRIGO	+0.317
7	37	P. ACOSTA	+0.380
8	23	N. ANTONELLI	+0.798
9	27	K. TOBA	+0.933
10	82	S. NEPA	+0.983

The first interviews
As the third, Deniz Öncü could not speak properly and crying he only gave for the record, he thanked everyone who remained loyal to him up to this result and who had supported him. Second Jeremy Alcoba was satisfied and believed a podium was the best he could do, regardless of placement. Therefore, he is very relieved about his result. Winner Sergio Garcia reported overjoyed at the microphone and with his many emotions he couldn’t really say anything more, and he was gone again. All 3 drivers on the podium then climb onto the podium with a Jason Dupasquier T-shirt in memory of their colleague who died in Italy. The following is the final and official result, adjusted for the correction after Masia was punished for his offense, which actually wasn’t. A few centimeters in the green area mean no danger for the drivers, as many former GP drivers had already credibly declared. In italics, the drivers without championship points.

P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 11, Sergio GARCIA, 152.1, 38’33.760
2, 52, Jeremy ALCOBA, 152.1, +0.015
3, 53, Deniz ÖNCÜ, 152.1, +0.118
4, 5, Jaume MASIA, 152.1, +0.079
5, 40, Darryn BINDER, 152.1, +0.204
6, 2, Gabriel RODRIGO, 152.1, +0.317
7, 37, Pedro ACOSTA, 152.1, +0.380
8, 23, Niccolò ANTONELLI, 152.1, +0.798
9, 27, Kaito TOBA, 152.1, +0.933
10, 82, Stefano NEPA, 152.0, +0.983
11, 55, Romano FENATI, 151.9, 3.334
12, 92, Yuki KUNII, 151.2, 1 Lap
13, 22, Elia BARTOLINI, 151.2, 1 Lap
14, 6, Ryusei YAMANAKA, 151.2, 1 Lap
15, 96, Daniel HOLGADO, 151.2, 1 Lap
16, 20, Lorenzo FELLON, 151.2, 1 Lap
17, 19, Andi Farid IZDIHAR, 151.2, 1 Lap
18, 32, Takuma MATSUYAMA, 148.8, 1 Lap
Not Classified
28, Izan GUEVARA, 152.1, 1 Lap
71, Ayumu SASAKI, 152.1, 1 Lap
7, Dennis FOGGIA, 152.1, 1 Lap
43, Xavier ARTIGAS, 152.1, 1 Lap
12, Filip SALAC, 149.6, 6 Laps
31, Adrian FERNANDEZ, 149.5, 10 Laps
17, John MCPHEE, 152.8, 12 Laps
16, Andrea MIGNO, 152.5, 12 Laps
24, Tatsuki SUZUKI, 152.4, 12 Laps
Not Starting
54, Riccardo ROSSI, , 0 Lap

The MotoGP race

While the riders of the premier class go on the so-called sighting lap, the result of Moto3 has still not been published. The organization here is a bad joke, as we had to experience before the start of the junior class. When it comes to the warm-up lap, we are still waiting for the results of the Moto3 race to be published. Jorge Martin has to drive out of the pit lane and then start the race from the very back. The weather currently looks like the route will continue to be dry, but within almost three quarters of an hour nothing is absolutely certain. After the start, Miller is in the lead ahead of Oliveira, Quartararo and Zarco. Mir, who passed Zarco on lap 1 with Aleix, had the best start and Bagnaia came off the worst, who was initially only in P13.
Quartararo with an almost fall
The Frenchman was just on P2 ahead of Miller, but then came to the inner lane and was able to prevent a fall. Then he is on P6 behind Zarco and right in front of Maverick. While Oliveira is in the lead, Miller is behind on P2 in front of Aleix, Mir, Quartararo, Zarco and Marc Marquez. There are still 21 laps to go and Bagnaia is behind Maverick and Marquez, but has just been pushed to P10 by Binder. In the front, Oliveira can surprisingly easily pull away, while Mir was ahead of Aleix in P3 at the start-finish. Zarco fell behind Marc Marquez, but there are still many laps to be done. Pol Espargaró is the first in the gravel trap on Turn 11. Now Miller, Mir and Quartararo are the three followers of Oliveira when Miller suddenly lost ground and fell behind them to P4. Zarco is now the first pursuer of the second group, ahead of Aleix and Marc Marquez.
Quartararo now second and therefore first pursuer of Oliveira
Followed by Mir, the Frenchman is a good second behind the leader from Portugal after having cleared the way for the first time. Now everyone is curious whether he can get closer to the KTM in front of him. Marc Marquez fell and in the gravel, he fell for the fourth time in the third race in a row! Zarco is now directly behind Miller and the two are close behind Quartararo and Mir. Behind Aleix is Maverick, Brad, Pecco and Iker, followed by Morbido, Enea and Alex Marquez. Rossi is only behind in P14 when there are 14 laps left. Nakagami has just taken a long-lap penalty and break pilot Marc Marquez comes back into the pits on the pillion of a scooter. After his brother Pol and Marc Marquez, Aleix Espargaró is now also in the gravel trap, as the third with a crash.
Quartararo Leader for the first time
It looked easy as the Frenchman passed the KTM rider on the winding part of the route. He didn’t make it back to the top even on the longest straight. One lap later he tries again and this time he is ahead of the curve before turn 1. But it looks like the Frenchman will be able to go faster as soon as the corners come. Me, Zarco and Miller are not far behind the leadership duo. With eleven laps to go, Oliveira is the leader again and Quartararo has Mir, Zarco and Miller right behind him. These are the five drivers who are considered favorites for victory and podium. Maverick behind has a clear respectful distance to the leading group, but he looks strong and can possibly close the hole,
Zarco past Mir on P3
A little later, Miller also passed the Suzuki driver and not on the straight, as is often the case with Ducati drivers. Now Rossi fell on Turn 10 and is out of the race. It’s Maverick’s turn and now the Catalan is part of the chasing group, while Lecuona also finishes his race in the gravel. Three groups of two are in front when there are still 6 laps to go. In front Miguel with Fabio, slightly behind Johann with Jack and only a little behind Joan and Maverick. It looks like Quartararo doesn’t want to risk everything and his front tire looks a bit worn when there are still 5 laps left and Zarco is not far behind his compatriot.
The showdown
Oliveira is not yet sure of the winner because the Monster Energy Yamaha is still right behind him and Zarco and Miller are not far behind the leading duo either. But it still doesn’t look as if Fabio has the tires to keep up, and now he has his compatriot right on his neck when it comes to the third from last lap. But it still doesn’t look as if Fabio has the tires to keep up, and now he has his compatriot right on his neck when it comes to the third from last lap. On the home stretch, Zarco passed Fabio, who almost fell into Turn 1. Fabio has a problem with his leather suit, and it’s completely open at the top, and you can see his bare chest below when Miller is right behind him. Johann is close to Oliveira when they are close to the final lap. The race is over, and the winner is Miguel Oliveira, after Zarco held back enough as World Cup runner-up not to risk another fall shortly before the finish. Quartararo receives a three-second penalty, although he crossed the finish line in third in front of Miller, which means that the Australian will inherit third place. The questionable punishment of Fabio and his time penalty will still be discussed, apparently it is about Turn 1, but where he did not take advantage of preventing a fall.

POS	#	RIDER	TIME/GAP
1	88	M. OLIVEIRA	40:21.749
2	5	J. ZARCO	+0.175
3	20	F. QUARTARARO	+1.815
4	43	J. MILLER	+1.990
5	36	J. MIR	+5.325
6	12	M. VIÑALES	+6.281
7	63	F. BAGNAIA	+8.175
8	33	B. BINDER	+8.378
9	21	F. MORBIDELLI	+15.652
10	23	E. BASTIANINI	+19.297

The first interviews
Miller is of course happy about 3rd place and thinks it’s great, but we can’t really be happy with him. The real fans would have preferred he did it on his own. Not only we do not understand the punishment of Fabio at the moment. Johann Zarco is very happy because he got another podium. According to his statement, he lost a little too much time behind Jack, otherwise he would probably have been able to catch up with Miguel. Miguel Olivera was of course overjoyed after his first win, and he said it was one of the best races of his career. Tire management was very difficult and in the end he was happy to have driven in front of fans again. The following is the result after the FIM commissioners did their mischief for the second time that day.

P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 88, Miguel OLIVEIRA, 166.1, 40’21.749
2, 5, Johann ZARCO, 166.1, +0.175
3, 43, Jack MILLER, 166.0, 1.990
4, 20, Fabio QUARTARARO, 166.0, 4.815
5, 36, Joan MIR, 165.7, 5.325
6, 12, Maverick VIÑALES, 165.7, 6.281
7, 63, Francesco BAGNAIA, 165.5, 8.175
8, 33, Brad BINDER, 165.5, 8.378
9, 21, Franco MORBIDELLI, 165.0, 15.652
10, 23, Enea BASTIANINI, 164.8, 19.297
11, 73, Alex MARQUEZ, 164.6, 21.650
12, 10, Luca MARINI, 164.6, 22.533
13, 30, Takaaki NAKAGAMI, 164.2, 27.833
14, 89, Jorge MARTIN, 164.1, 29.075
15, 32, Lorenzo SAVADORI, 163.4, 40.291
Not Classified
27, Iker LECUONA, 165.3, 8 Laps
46, Valentino ROSSI, 164.9, 9 Laps
41, Aleix ESPARGARO, 165.5, 14 Laps
93, Marc MARQUEZ, 165.0, 17 Laps
9, Danilo PETRUCCI, 163.2, 19 Laps
44, Pol ESPARGARO, 163.5, 20 Laps

The Moto2 race

In terms of sport, one can only hope that it will be the first race of the day in which the first three drivers at the finish are also rated that way. We like to stand by the fact that we, as commentators and fans, have extremely trouble with constant punishments for “offenses” that are difficult or impossible to understand. We also know that we are definitely not the only ones. But now we try to concentrate on the middle class, which is the end of today, because otherwise there would have been a temporal collision between MotoGP and F1. The drivers go to the warm-up lap and the fans, mostly from Spain, would like to see one of their compatriots win. But Raul Fernandez is in row one between an Australian and a Dutchman and in the first three rows there is still an Englishman, a Thai man and a Japanese.
After the start of the Moto2 GP of Catalonia
It is Poleman Gardner, who leads before Fernandez, who is overtaken by Bendsneyder shortly afterwards, but then fights his way past the Dutchman again. Sam Lowes got off to a bad start and is only on P12 right in front of Schrötter. Gardner is still leading Fernandez, Bendsneyder, Vierge and Bezzecchi when there are 20 laps left. Meanwhile, Lowes has made it into the top ten. Behind the leading duo from the Ajo team, the Dutchman was almost half a second behind on P3, which he was able to drive towards on the winding part of the route. Now Aron Canet, who was previously among the pursuers of the leading trio, has fallen. Fourth is currently Vierge ahead of Bezzecchi, Adrian Fernandez, Ai Ogura, Lowes now on P8 and behind “Di Gia”. The next one to crash is Marcos Ramirez.
Will Lowes make it forward?
He is just under five and a half seconds behind Leader Gardner when the Englishman is still on P8, which he had climbed shortly before. According to the original rain forecast, it looks as if it will remain dry in the third race of the day. Bendsneyder is just over a second behind the two team-mates who are in the lead, and Vierge and Bezzecchi are just behind him. There are 11 laps left, and it doesn’t look like Sam Lowes will be able to fight his way forward. He is in a group with Adrian Fernandez and Ai Ogura, which is almost two seconds behind the fifth Bezzecchi. Bendsneyder, Vierge and Bezzecchi got a little closer to the leading duo, which might make it a quintet in the fight for victory.
The final 8 Laps
It looks like Gardner and Fernandez can’t pull themselves completely free, and the three pursuers are apparently getting a little closer and closer. Raul Fernandez has just taken over the command and Vierge passed the Dutchman on P3. With six laps to go, Bezzecchi also passed Bendsneyder at the start and finish line and the two Ajo Team drivers at the front have increased the gap to just over a second. Now it is still possible that you will hear a Spanish anthem for the second time when the race is over. Fernandez is still leading in front of Gardner, but the Australian is not giving up yet. With four laps to go, it is almost unlikely that Vierge or Bezzecchi will be able to close the hole in front of them. They are a little over a second and a half behind the leading duo.
The final with the last 3 rounds
Lorenzo Dalla Porta fell on Turn 1 when Gardner was back in the lead shortly afterwards. Ai Ogura is next to crash. The Australian is going into the last two laps with a slight lead over his team-mate and Di Giannantonio and Garzo have just crashed together. The Italian was to blame for the double fall before Turn 1 and Garnder is pulling away in front. Gardner drove off his stable colleague and won for the second time in a row to Mugello, this time superior. Behind Raul Fernandez, Xavi Vierge takes his first podium of the season, followed by Bezzecchi, Adrian Fernandez, Bendsneyder, Lowes, Schrötter, Chantra and Joe Roberts.

POS	#	RIDER	TIME/GAP
1	87	R. GARDNER	38:22.284
2	25	R. FERNANDEZ	+1.872
3	97	X. VIERGE	+2.866
4	72	M. BEZZECCHI	+3.207
5	37	A. FERNANDEZ	+3.899
6	64	B. BENDSNEYDER	+4.541
7	22	S. LOWES	+4.875
8	23	M. SCHROTTER	+15.973
9	35	S. CHANTRA	+17.515
10	16	J. ROBERTS	+19.838

The first interviews
Xavi Vierge is very relieved to finally be back on the podium after difficult times. The Spaniard, who spoke with a hoarse voice, didn’t have much more to say shortly after reaching the finish line. Raul Fernandez was very happy to have climbed a podium again and for the fifth time this season. But he looked disappointed and said on record that he could not have fought today. So he hopes to fight for victory again soon. Remy Gardner is of course much more satisfied as the winner. He could manage his tires better than Fernandez and towards the end he had an attack and was able to break away, that was it. Now he is very happy to have increased his lead in the World Cup a little, with which he politely said goodbye to the microphone.

>Again, it takes a long time for the official results to be published.

After taking a lot of time for their most important task of the day, the official result finally came long after the award ceremony. With the punishments, which were more than questionable for many observers and, above all, the drivers and their teams, the people from the FIM were much faster. Many paddock members have been saying for a long time that these snobbies should be sent into the desert, but there is no authority that could enforce this.
The following is the official result of the Moto2 Grand Prix of Catalonia with the riders without championship points in italics.

P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 87, Remy GARDNER, 160.2, 38’22.284
2, 25, Raul FERNANDEZ, 160.0, 1.872
3, 97, Xavi VIERGE, 160.0, 2.866
4, 72, Marco BEZZECCHI, 159.9, 3.207
5, 37, Augusto FERNANDEZ, 159.9, 3.899
6, 64, Bo BENDSNEYDER, 159.8, 4.541
7, 22, Sam LOWES, 159.8, 4.875
8, 23, Marcel SCHROTTER, 159.0, 15.973
9, 35, Somkiat CHANTRA, 158.9, 17.515
10, 16, Joe ROBERTS, 158.8, 19.838
11, 9, Jorge NAVARRO, 158.7, 20.571
12, 75, Albert ARENAS, 158.6, 22.512
13, 14, Tony ARBOLINO, 158.6, 22.558
14, 13, Celestino VIETTI, 158.6, 23.238
15, 12, Thomas LUTHI, 158.5, 23.958
16, 24, Simone CORSI, 158.4, 25.099
17, 11, Nicolò BULEGA, 158.0, 31.344
18, 96, Jake DIXON, 157.6, 37.129
19, 6, Cameron BEAUBIER, 157.6, 37.895
20, 55, Hafizh SYAHRIN, 157.5, 38.438
21, 2, Alonso LOPEZ, 157.4, 40.247
22, 70, Barry BALTUS, 157.4, 40.674
23, 7, Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, 157.4, 40.784
24, 62, Stefano MANZI, 156.8, 48.588
25, 74, Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI, 156.8, 49.640
26, 81, Keminth KUBO, 156.8, 49.694
Not Classified
40, Hector GARZO, 159.1, 2 Laps
21, Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO, 159.1, 2 Laps
79, Ai OGURA, 159.8, 3 Laps
19, Lorenzo DALLA PORTA, 158.8, 4 Laps
42, Marcos RAMIREZ, 157.3, 15 Laps
44, Aron CANET, 159.1, 16 Laps

World Championship stand in all classes after the 7th round at Montmeló

This live blog is closed now.

Circuito de Cataluña

Catalonia Grand Prix schedule

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