The Sunday with the races to the Grand Prix of Spain live
We had already pointed out in the preliminary report and other articles that Jerez would be a completely different world after Portimão. As extreme as Saturday turned out to be, we hadn’t meant it before. According to the medical examination, Marc Marquez is said to be uninjured and, in addition to him, this also applies to the other fallen. But anyone who has seen how Brad Binder and Pol Espargaró flew off, for example, can well understand that this is a broad concept. Racing drivers are made of special stuff and if they want to be among the best in the world, they simply have to try to put it away. The cards were shuffled for the race on Saturday and there were numerous surprises. The results of the qualifying sessions with the starting grid in the various classes are summarized below in an overview.
The Circuito de Jerez
As far as drivers and teams are concerned, Moto2 rider Lorenzo Baldassari put it aptly before his journey to Andalusia, when the Italian emphasized that it is a completely different route than the first two on the calendar. The start-finish straight, in particular, is comparatively short at 607 meters compared to Losail (1068 m) and Portugal (969 m). The Circuito de Jerez has a very special layout with two almost 180 degree bends and is almost at ground level compared to the Autodromo do Algarve up and down course. As far as the weather is concerned, it looks a lot better than the forecast a week ago suggested. In dry conditions it should be between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius and the first Sunday in May should be very sunny in Jerez de la Frontera.
World Championship intermediate result in all classes
The Moto3 race – Acosta wins after a dramatic finale
The first fall victim is John McPhee and then the leading Gabriel Rodrigo, while Öncü then leads the race. As always, the top group is huge and the battles for positions in the field ensure constant change, only the young Turk is still ahead of Acosta and Binder when 15 laps are still to be driven. Sometimes 3 drivers approach the curve side by side and soon half of the race is reached. After Binder was in front, it’s Öncü again. The first 19 pilots form a large group when 11 laps remain to be driven. Behind them with a respectful distance Foggia, Toba, Kofler and Rossi. Fellon and Adrian Fernandez were back over 18 seconds behind the front. The pole setter Tatsuki Suzuki just crashed in Turn 2, which means that after McPhee and Rodrigo, another favorite is out of the race.
A top group is formed
Meanwhile, a group of seven has easily separated from the pursuers. With Öncü, Acosta, Masia, Fenati, Binder, Sasaki and Migno, these are the drivers who will be the first to ring in the last 8 laps. The fight in the leading group is tough and Fenati pushes himself to the top for the first time when Öncü approaches a curve more sideways. When there are still 5 laps to go, Öncü is back in front. Foggia crashed at Turn 9. The top ten will shortly be here before the final result is officially announced. In the end there was a fall in the last corner with Öncü and Masia, who also claimed Binder as the third victim. Below is the classification with the drivers in italics who did not get any championship points.
P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 37, Pedro ACOSTA, 148.2, 39’22.266
2, 55, Romano FENATI, 148.2, +0.417
3, 52, Jeremy ALCOBA, 148.2, +0.527
4, 16, Andrea MIGNO, 148.2, +0.548
5, 71, Ayumu SASAKI, 148.2, +0.971
6, 99, Carlos TATAY, 148.2, +0.997
7, 50, Jason DUPASQUIER, 148.2, 1.043
8, 23, Niccolò ANTONELLI, 148.2, 1.144
9, 43, Xavier ARTIGAS, 148.2, 1.383
10, 6, Ryusei YAMANAKA, 148.1, 1.596
11, 28, Izan GUEVARA, 148.0, 3.986
12, 12, Filip SALAC, 148.0, 4.389
13, 11, Sergio GARCIA, 147.9, 5.191
14, 92, Yuki KUNII, 148.0, 7.204
15, 82, Stefano NEPA, 147.7, 8.194
16, 27, Kaito TOBA, 147.4, 12.822
17, 54, Riccardo ROSSI, 147.4, 12.869
18, 19, Andi Farid IZDIHAR, 147.4, 12.990
19, 73, Maximilian KOFLER, 147.2, 17.318
20, 53, Deniz ÖNCÜ, 147.1, 18.162
21, 5, Jaume MASIA, 147.0, 19.439
22, 40, Darryn BINDER, 146.7, 25.337
23, 20, Lorenzo FELLON, 146.2, 32.323
24, 31, Adrian FERNANDEZ, 145.4, 46.228
The Moto2 race – Di Giannantonio wins ahead of Bezzecchi, Lowes and Gardner
The drivers go on the warm-up lap. After the start, Di Giannantonio is the first to turn into Turn 1 and take the lead. Behind are Gardner, Bezzecchi, Adrian Fernandez, Vierge and Raul Fernandez. Bezzecchi goes far in turn 5 and can regroup ahead of Lowes on P5. After two laps, Raul Fernandez sits down in turn 1 in front of Adrian Fernandez, who falls shortly afterwards and Bulega is also on the ground. Lowes is now on P4 and is chasing the three pilots in front of him with the fastest round to date. Somkiat Chantra fell badly at Turn 11, but can get up on his own. In the meantime, Di Giannantonio has created a lead of a good second over the pursuers. The next one to crash is Hector Garzo. Vierge is up to Lowes and together with Gardner and Raul Fernandez lying in front of them they hunt down leader “Di Gia”. At the front, Di Giannantonio is already more than seconds ahead. While Lowes is losing touch with the front, in front of him are Raul Fernandez, Bezzecchi and Gardner. Albert Arenas crashes violently in Turn 8, but does not seem to have seriously injured himself.
The second half of the race
Even Raul Fernandez, who is now the first pursuer of “di Gia”, does not come any closer to the leader. Gardner and Lowes struggle to follow Bezzecchi in third place. MV Forward rider Simone Corsi also fell and was happy not to have been hit by his bike, which produced several overturns. With 6 laps to go, Bezzecchi is now on P2 after a small mistake by Fernandez and the two behind have come a little closer again. While “di Gia” is apparently heading towards a certain victory, Bezzecchi cannot close the gap either. But the third place seems to be completely open between Fernandez, Gardner and Lowes. Gardner makes a mistake while trying to overtake his teammate Fernandez and Lowes passes him by. There are still 3 laps to drive. On the penultimate lap, Lowes and Gardner passed Raul Fernandez at Turn 2. Fabio Di Giannantonio wins ahead of Bezzecchi, Lowes and Gardner. Behind him in 5th place is Raul Fernandez, who missed the connection to the one in front of him at the end. Beaubier fell in the last lap and Schrötter made it into the top ten.
P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 21, Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO, 156.0, 39’07.396
2, 72, Marco BEZZECCHI, 155.8, 1.722
3, 22, Sam LOWES, 155.8, 2.229
4, 87, Remy GARDNER, 155.8, 3.019
5, 25, Raul FERNANDEZ, 155.4, 8.571
6, 97, Xavi VIERGE, 155.2, 12.181
7, 79, Ai OGURA, 155.1, 12.313
8, 16, Joe ROBERTS, 155.1, 12.523
9, 44, Aron CANET, 155.0, 14.407
10, 23, Marcel SCHROTTER, 154.8, 17.152
11, 42, Marcos RAMIREZ, 154.8, 18.071
12, 9, Jorge NAVARRO, 154.7, 18.720
13, 62, Stefano MANZI, 154.3, 25.775
14, 7, Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, 154.3, 25.896
15, 64, Bo BENDSNEYDER, 154.2, 27.326
16, 19, Lorenzo DALLA PORTA, 153.9, 31.359
17, 55, Hafizh SYAHRIN, 153.6, 35.845
18, 13, Celestino VIETTI, 153.6, 36.433
19, 12, Thomas LUTHI, 153.5, 38.197
20, 5, Yari MONTELLA, 153.4, 39.789
21, 14, Tony ARBOLINO, 153.3, 40.083
22, 32, Taiga HADA, 151.9, +1’02.980
23, 10, Tommaso MARCON, 150.8, +1’20.544
Not Classified
-, 6, Cameron BEAUBIER, 154.8, 1 Lap
-, 24, Simone CORSI, 153.7, 10 Laps
-, 75, Albert ARENAS, 152.7, 12 Laps
-, 40, Hector GARZO, 152.4, 18 Laps
-, 35, Somkiat CHANTRA, 149.7, 20 Laps
-, 37, Augusto FERNANDEZ, 151.5, 21 Laps
-, 11, Nicolò BULEGA, 148.6, 21 Laps
In the World Championship, Gardner is still leading ahead of Lowes, who is now second again, and Raul Fernandez. The first three separate only 3 points and the Italians Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio are close behind and have made up a lot of ground with their double victory.
The MotoGP race
During the warm-up, Marc Marquez fell in Turn 4, at the point where he made his first mistake last year and drove into the gravel, before he took off violently in Turn 3. The Spaniard only drove the twelfth fastest time last year and is an absolute question mark for the race. The same goes for Valentino Rossi, who only started the race from 17th place on the grid after finishing on the podium in the 2nd race last year. His 3 brand colleagues, on the other hand, are clearly considered podium candidates. You can clearly see from the grid that it is not a race without spectators. Numerous clearly private people have had the opportunity to romp around on the grid in a dubious way, but we already know this from July 2020. The “Closed-Door-Protocol” seems to have certain loopholes. Now the starting grid is slowly emptying and the countless private visitors are hiding behind mirror glass in the VIP area, while the warm-up lap is about to begin.
The start of the race – does Ducati’s starting motto work up to the 1st corner?
In contrast to Losail and Portimão, turn 1 in Jerez comes very early after the start. But Quartararo still does not get off optimally, but Miller and Pecco, in between Morbido and the pole setter on P4. Marquez has already fallen, but it’s Alex, Marc’s younger brother. Binder is the next to slip on Turn 2. Zarco got off to a terrible start and is only 10th after 2 laps, while Marquez dropped from 11th to 14th. The next rider to fall is Alex Rins. Quartararo, Morbido and Aleix Espargaró have already passed Bagnaia and are chasing Miller as the leader. Now Quartararo is past Miller, who cannot catch him again even on the straight that is too short. Me on the only Suzuki is currently on P7 behind Bagnaia and Nakagami, while Maverick and Zarco are not far behind.
Quartararo withdraws
Jack Miller struggles to stay on the Frenchman’s heels and Morbido tries to drive up behind him. Marquez is 11th behind Pol Espargaró. The two Repsol Hondas do not seem to play a role in the fight for the top 5 and are having a hard time keeping up with Zarco, who is ahead of them. Bagnaia is now again in front of Aleix, who in turn is harassed by Nakagami and Alex Rins is back on the track, but 22nd and currently last. Zarco is now on P8 and past Viñales, while Quartararo continues to break away and Miller is already 1.7 seconds ahead of Morbidelli in third place. Rossi is still outside the top 15 by the time there are fifteen laps left. Bagnaia increases the pressure on Morbido lying in front of him and Marquez is past teammate Pol Espargaró.
The second half of the race begins
Quartararo leads one and a half seconds ahead of Miller and behind the Australian, Morbido and Bagnaia duel for fourth place a good 2.5 seconds behind. Shortly after that, Quartararo lost almost all of its lead and Miller is close. The commentators are puzzling whether the Frenchman has a problem with his Yamaha, as it did 2 years ago at the same place. Now Jack is past the previous leader and then goes far into Turn 5, but Quartararo cannot pass him. Fabio seems to be struggling to keep up with the Australian. The reason for this is not clear. Meanwhile, Pecco approaches him from behind, who has meanwhile passed Morbido. At the moment it looks like a Ducati double victory. In the back, Maverick is past Zarco again, who now has Marquez on his neck. It doesn’t look like a happy day for the two French. After Bagnaia, Morbido, Nakagami and Mir have already passed Quartararo, who fights with blunt weapons.
The last 6 laps – Morbido chases Pecco on P2
Pol is also past Fabio, at the same time Bradl lost a place behind him to Oliveira. As only twelfth, the Portuguese is the best KTM rider, an absolute disaster for the oranges. In the front, Miller doesn’t seem to let the butter off his bread for the last 3 laps and Morbidelli has trouble catching Bagnaia and seems to want to be content with P3. Even Bradl has passed Quartararo and the die should have been cast. It comes to the first Ducati victory of the season when Miller wins from Bagnaia and Morbido with 3rd place saves the honor of Yamaha. Nakagami behind on the best Honda in front of Joan Mir on P5, Aleix Espargaró and a disappointing Maverick in seventh ahead of Zarco. Marquez as ninth will no longer be able to play a role in the World Cup, but this certainly does not apply to the terribly disappointed Quartararo, who is still World Championship second despite a lot of bad luck. Apparently Fabio was in severe pain and suspected arm pumps, which is why he fell back without a fight. Perhaps, as after Losail Miller, he will be operated on in Barcelona soon, if this assumption is correct.
Joys and sorrows
Miller also has tears in his eyes before the interview, just like Quartararo in his box, but with the Australian it is joy. Jack is back and his teammate Bagnaia now ahead of Fabio World Cup leader. Since 2018 with Dovizioso and Lorenzo it is the first double victory for Ducati, three years later. Below is the result of the 4th race of the season with the riders without points in italics.
P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 43, Jack MILLER, 161.4, 41’05.602
2, 63, Francesco BAGNAIA, 161.3, 1.912
3, 21, Franco MORBIDELLI, 161.2, 2.516
4, 30, Takaaki NAKAGAMI, 161.2, 3.206
5, 36, Joan MIR, 161.1, 4.256
6, 41, Aleix ESPARGARO, 161.1, 5.164
7, 12, Maverick VIÑALES, 161.0, 5.651
8, 5, Johann ZARCO, 160.9, 7.161
9, 93, Marc MARQUEZ, 160.7, 10.494
10, 44, Pol ESPARGARO, 160.6, 11.776
11, 88, Miguel OLIVEIRA, 160.4, 14.766
12, 6, Stefan BRADL, 160.3, 17.243
13, 20, Fabio QUARTARARO, 160.2, 18.907
14, 9, Danilo PETRUCCI, 160.1, 20.095
15, 27, Iker LECUONA, 160.1, 20.277
16, 10, Luca MARINI, 160.0, 20.922
17, 46, Valentino ROSSI, 159.9, 22.731
18, 53, Tito RABAT, 159.4, 30.314
19, 32, Lorenzo SAVADORI, 159.0, 37.912
20, 42, Alex RINS, 158.9, 38.234
Not Classified
-, 33, Brad BINDER, 156.2, 14 Laps
-, 23, Enea BASTIANINI, 154.9, 14 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap, , , ,
-, 73, Alex MARQUEZ, , 0 Lap
Stand in the world championship in all three classes after round 4 in Jerez
Some questions have been answered
What we asked ourselves before the race was partially answered clearly in Jerez. One of them concerned Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi. In both cases it is at least clear that these two arch-rivals from the second decade will no longer be able to play a significant role in the World Cup in 2021 either. Even victories can hardly change anything with regard to the title decision. After 3 Yamaha victories it is also certain that Ducati and Honda came back strong. However, this should not hide the fact that Quartararo was heading for a third win in a row before he was slowed down by problems. While Aleix Espargaró was convincing again at Aprilia, KTM is currently facing a pile of broken glass. The oranges were definitely back to the backbench team without concession status and their test advantage in the previous year.
This live blog is now closed. For more, see our conclusion on the day shortly.
Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© MotoGP).
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