Fabio Quartararo is back – the Monster Energy Yamaha rider learned from his mistakes in the first race, for which he criticized himself harshly afterwards. The Frenchman celebrated a comeback, which by far not everyone expected him to be, and thus ensured the first French double victory in the premier class.

What was good and what was bad about the first double race of the season in Qatar

Basically, what was good about the first of possibly several double races of the season in Qatar was that it took place at all and that there were no serious accidents. With a few exceptions, the various crashes did not have any serious consequences for the driver. Compared to the delayed start of the season in Jerez last year, this time the first double event of the year, especially in MotoGP, was downright light. At that time, Cal Crutchlow and Alex Rins were already badly beaten before the first race and the reigning world champion was hit hard in the first race at the start of the season. His comeback attempt, which was much too early, was much worse and since then he has been the long-term missing in the paddock. But where there was light, as at the exciting start to the second Corona season of MotoGP, there was also shadow.

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo) – the absolute original in the MotoGP paddock together with Valentino Rossi. Unfortunately, there was an incident with Joan Mir in the second race of the season which was nasty and shortly afterwards did not show the Australian at his best.

The less good aspects of the season opener in the desert state
Many observers were bothered by the vaccination campaign, which was rather insidiously orchestrated by the Dorna and the Qatari authorities. Pushing ahead in the order is not always considered a trivial offense. To tell the paddock members late in the evening before the last day of testing that a vaccination was planned for the next early morning stank. Some of those affected wanted to call their doctor first before they simply agreed. Including the drivers Rins and Nakagami, who refused to take part for this reason.

The route from Losail from a bird’s eye view with the parking lot and the main grandstand in front of the left, currently still on the edge of the desert. But construction is ongoing in the immediate vicinity and in the near future this may also protect a little from the sandstorm, which turned the 5th test day into a farce.

More modesty would be appropriate
So much self-praise, as Dorna boss Ezpeleta uttered, was also disgusting for many viewers. It should not be forgotten that there were innumerable breakdowns in Losail and there was a high risk that participants could become infected during the many necessary trips. A little more modesty on the part of the mid-seventies would therefore be entirely appropriate. A sandstorm cost drivers like the rookies, Pol and Petrux an important test day, with otherwise a third of the usual preparation time. In addition, all participants agreed that the Losail test was useless for the rest of the season. But at least the choice of Qatar as the venue replenished Dorna’s coffers, so there were winners on this site too.

A historic moment for French sport – one that will go down in eternity. On the left, World Championship leader Johann Zarco after second place and the winner of the second race in Losail Fabio Quartararo, who is happy with him about the double victory. Pictures like this let you quickly forget the sometimes embarrassing mishaps at the start of the season. Allez – les Bleus!

Where there are winners – there are usually losers too

The season opener took place in Qatar for the third time, and TV viewers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland did not see a minute of the training sessions and warm-ups. They owe this nonsense to the Red Bull Media broadcaster Servus TV. Since taking over the broadcasting rights, the Austrians have limited themselves to broadcasting only a third of the action live from the track. Except for their home event, they only show qualifying sessions and races, a real disaster for the thousands and thousands of fans, especially in times of the pandemic! Against this background, we have already heard several times how happy the fans are, from their point of view at least the KTM MotoGP team sponsored by Red Bull literally disappeared into oblivion. Many perceive this as a compensatory justice, which is quite understandable.

Danilo Petrucci (Tech 3 KTM) – the Italian seems stranded on the losing team in terms of his chances for the coming season. As the penultimate of the classified drivers on the second weekend and the first to fall in the first race, things couldn’t get any worse for the likeable northern Italian.

Not just KTM in misery
HRC Honda test and reserve driver Stefan Bradl was again unable to achieve the hoped-for goals. Once it was due to the bad starting position and another time it screwed up the start. Seven points in two races on Marc Marquez’s bike, this is just as much a drama as the results of Alex Marquez with two falls and Takaaki Nakagami with one crash and a 17th place. Without Marc Marquez, Honda is still in the valley of tears. With the excuse that Stefan Bradl used, as usual, regarding the Honda performance in Losail, it looks bad. The Bavarian claimed before the double race that the track in Qatar would never have suited the Honda. Before that, Bradl would have better informed himself a little more. Even after Zarco and Martin’s P2 and P3, Yamaha is still leading with 20 podium positions ahead of Honda (18) and Ducati with only 16. So much for the HRC test driver’s claim that his manufacturer was never successful in Losail!

Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda) as the leader of the chasing group in front of fellow brand colleagues Alex Marquez, Luca Marini (Ducati), the two Tech 3 KTM riders Petrux and Lecuona, and Valentino Rossi. Even before the start of the season, we feared that the German would make excuses for his performance afterwards, and unfortunately we should be right. His narrow gap to the winner was okay, but the position was ultimately disappointing.

Reporting with bankruptcies and mishaps

Whether in the live interview at the press conference or on other occasions, there was no lack of bankruptcies and breakdowns. One time at the press conference, Miller’s microphone was out of order and the replacement microphone was also not working. At the next opportunity it was the weather, which, as on the 5th test day, did not play along due to a sandstorm. This was also the case on Saturday afternoon, which is why drivers like Johann Zarco even completely did without the FP3. But there were also mishaps in the reporting that astonished even us. Here are a few samples.

Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) – after his voluntary exit from the oranges and Red Bull Media at KTM, literally dragged through the mud for months. The Frenchman answered this unsportsmanlike behavior on the track and now he is Ducati World Championship leader!
Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) – he too is a “renegade” of the Austrian company, but has not yet been dragged through the mud by them like his quick teammate after his “lese majesty”.

Various portals before the 1st race: “Ducati works team self-confident – favorite at the MotoGP opener in Qatar” or “Jack Miller – the clear favorite” and many more. The same old adage always applies to this: Points can only be won in the race. Nonetheless, almost all so-called experts keep falling for the same mistake and assess test results as if this were a clear indication of upcoming races. Rather, after 4 days of testing in Losail, numerous commentators even deduced from this who the upcoming world champion would be. Some drivers also immediately named Jack Miller, who only came in ninth twice in the end. But for some it was probably just about not having to name yourself in order to appear immodest.

Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) – for him, three good races last year, in which in two cases he did not even see the checkered flag, were enough to be promoted to the works team by Pramac. Once he was eliminated in Jerez with technical problems and in Misano it was his own fault due to a fall. Zarco as two-time Moto2 world champion and twice World Cup sixth in MotoGP, however, was passed over by Ducati. But now the Frenchman turns out to be more and more of what we had already noted in winter: a World Cup favorite.

About the pointless forecasts based on the Losail results for the entire season
The real capital flaw in the whole story before the 1st race, however, was that no other track is like Losail, especially in terms of conditions. So you could have renamed the FP3 as a warm-up. Almost all teams and drivers emphasized during the tests that they were useless for the rest of the routes in the calendar. Nevertheless, there were far too many premature predictions about the future world champion even before the first race was held. Only with regard to the double race did many people go wrong and Yamaha is now with 10 wins in Qatar, while Ducati stayed with 5 and Honda at least 3. In the podium positions, Yamaha leads with 20 ahead of Honda (18) and Ducati (16), on what many have called the Ducati circuit.

On the first weekend, 1500 spectators were allowed in Losail, after which it was over. Already at the ATP tournament shortly before the MotoGP event you could see the indiscipline of the visitors on television, which is why Qatar was locked down. Even before the restriction, there were no waiting times at the refreshment stand, as the officially reported visitor numbers were probably 10 times higher than reality.

What can the drivers expect at the Portugal Grand Prix?

A completely different world, on a unique course with completely different conditions and, as usual, an FP2 that is no longer pre-deciding. According to the current forecast for the weekend of April 18, the temperature should be just under 20 degrees Celsius and even a little lower on Friday. The Autodromo do Algarve in the hinterland near the coastal city of Portimão is a real ascent and descent for the pilots, with hardly any breather except for the long straight. But with well over 300 kph this becomes an intermediate sprint in MotoGP, nothing more. With significantly lower temperatures compared to Losail and a completely different route, nothing will be the same as at the season opener.

Photographed by us at the Autodromo do Algarve – in the middle the VIP tower and on the left the pit area with the huge main grandstand behind it. A completely different route than Losail with completely different climatic conditions than in the desert state of Qatar.

Different requirements with some beneficiaries
The drivers with a lot of practice have an advantage here, such as Bradl as an HRC test driver and a former WorldSBK driver, even if the latter only for one season. First and foremost, of course, local hero Oliveira, who knows this route like the back of his hand. A return of Marc Marquez is hardly to be expected here, especially for the reason that he has less practice here than almost all opponents over a MotoGP weekend. As before Losail, the remaining drivers have different requirements. Switchers like Petrux, Pol Espargaró and of course the rookies only have the FP1 before it is serious for everyone. The following is the result from last year’s race. By the way, at that time it was 22 degrees Celsius and thus a little more than according to the current forecast for April 18, 2021.

As you can see here, only one KTM rider was strong last year, and he is still there today. The world at Yamaha was completely different compared to Losail 2021, when only Morbido was at the forefront and the other three stumbled. World Championship leader Johann Zarco made it into the top ten with the Ducati GP-19 and Miller impressed with P2 in the team, for which the Frenchman is now competing. It is also interesting how weak the two Suzukis performed at the time and thus even lost the manufacturer’s title, which was believed to be safe, to Ducati at the season finale.

The provisional MotoGP calendar

Some changes are still to be expected after various overseas races in particular are likely to fall victim to the corona-related travel restrictions. Jerez should be safe so far, but after Le Mans even various races in Europe are at risk. The FIM-EWC endurance event on the Bugatti Circuit, planned 4 weeks before the French Grand Prix, was only postponed indefinitely a few days ago. In addition to Le Mans, Mugello, Sachsenring, Assen and Silverstone are currently particularly at risk. All stations that had already fallen victim to the visitor ban in the previous year.

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© MotoGP).