Lokalmatador Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) delivered a very smart race and was able to finish on the podium for the third time in the young season less than two weeks after his arm-pump operation.

Jack’s one-two punch and French double podium at Le Mans

After a completely botched start to the season, Jack Miller was resurrected in Jerez de la Frontera with his victory, which was undoubtedly also due to the arm pump problems of the previous leader Quartararo. But in the home of the French there was definitely nothing wrong with the Australian’s victory. This time Miller brought another difficult race to an end in his career, in which he was able to show all his qualities. Even if the Marseillaise was not played this time, the French could be more than satisfied with the outcome of the fifth round of the World Cup in their home country. Even if Fabio Quartararo had been penalized with a long lap penalty by the race management for a mistake in the hectic pace when he drove into Maverick’s box. After that he had to race in his box, what a terrible nonsense of these FIM officials, who keep coming up with new stupidity! But in the end it all turned out well for Fabio.

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo) in a special gymnastics exercise on his GP-21 – once again the man from Down Under was able to prove his skills as a specialist in extremely difficult conditions.

The second winners in their home race
Pole setter Fabio Quartararo drove a flawless and very smart race and despite a mistake in the bike change he, like Jack, managed the long lap penalty without being tempted to make a mistake. Although his compatriot Johann Zarco pushed him to third place with 6 laps to go, the young man from Nice was still more than satisfied with his podium after the most difficult race of his life. His front tire was completely exhausted, and it was his first wet podium of his entire career anyway, as he emphasized afterwards. His compatriot Johann Zarco also said that under these circumstances he was very satisfied with second place. We got the impression, however, that his eyes indicated that he still hadn’t properly digested the missed win.

Johann Zarco shortly before the race in the Pramac Ducati Box – it was basically his circumstances, but he got off to a terrible start from position 5 and was initially not even in the top ten. According to his own statement in an interview after the race, that cost him the chance to fight for victory.

From the “King of saves” to the rupture pilot on duty – Marc Marquez

The six-time world champion was undisputedly the biggest loser in the French Grand Prix. The former “king of saves” fell no less than three times on Sunday. First in the warm-up in the morning and then in the lead in the race by highsider. This was followed by a similarly furious race to catch up as in the first race in Jerez in 2020, and this time too it didn’t end well. The only consolation for the Repsol Honda rider was that he didn’t seem injured. After three out of five races in seventeenth place in the World Cup, even the die-hard fans among his fans have to acknowledge that the Catalan will no longer play a role in the fight for the title this season. The sceptics about his unexpectedly early comeback in Portugal, after he was still missing in Losail, Marquez finally agreed. He had already crashed twice in Jerez and a weekend later he fell three times, making him the king of falls.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) in his first of two crashes in the race – the second of the day. Before the race, the MotoGP world champion of 2019 said confidently that it would be his conditions in the wet. But he was more than guilty of confirming this.

Francesco Bagnaia and other winners of the day

One of the fastest in the race was the world championship leader with “Pecco” Bagnaia and in the end he was harmless with fourth place for a failed qualifying. Having only started from 16th place on the grid, he of course also benefited from the numerous falls of drivers in front of him. But considering the fact that after three laps he was still fourth from last in P19, his 4th place in the race is simply sensationally strong. He lost the lead in the interim classification to Fabio Quartararo by just one point. As they had hoped, Petrux and Alex Marquez, as two of the best in the previous year, were able to enjoy positions 5 and 6 in similarly difficult conditions.

Danilo Petrucci (Tech 3 KTM) With 5th place as last year’s winner after a completely unsuccessful start to the season, he provided the first highlight of his team, which was battered by numerous failures, at their home races.

More positive results
Behind them, Takaaki Nakagami and Pol Espargaró saved Honda and Alex from an unpleasant day with two top ten results. To finish in the top ten on the second-best KTM should have felt like a victory for Iker Lecuona. But his time with the oranges is long gone. Nobody is seriously expecting to remain in the premier class. Tito Rabat, on the other hand, has his place in WorldSBK and only stepped in as a substitute driver for Jorge Martin, who has been injured since Portimão. The Spaniard made few mistakes and saved a point confirming that he had been the right choice. With ranks 12 and 14, the two rookies Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini showed an attractive performance in their first MotoGP rain race. To get points was the goal for both of them, and they did it absolutely convincingly.

Tito Rabat (Pramac Ducati Racing) – the Jorge Martin replacement showed a convincing race on his second MotoGP detour before the WSBK season begins a week later.

The many losers in the fifth round of the World Championship

In addition to Marc Marquez, it was above all the Aprilia’s who both retired with an engine failure and of course the two Suzuki Aces Rins and Mir with their crashes. Just like Miguel Oliveira, who actually expected more than one fall of the season in the rain like in his home country at the Portugal Grand Prix. Maverick Viñales also experienced another black weekend after Jerez, after initially being on the podium course and even leading the race on the second and third laps. With the Catalans, it is always the lack of consistency that throws him back and with P10 he only lost one position in this crazy year in the World Cup. Valentino Rossi was on the top ten course after several falls, including his Petronas Yamaha SRT teammate Franco Morbidelli. In the end, Iker Lecuona thwarted the old master’s hopes with a strong finish. Like Brad Binder on P13, Rossi was of course not at all satisfied with 11th place.

Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) in front of his half-brother Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati) – in exactly this order the two saw the chequered flag, although the old champion had only just been ousted from the top ten.

The MotoGP race in numbers

World Championship stand in all classes at a glance

Lorenzo dalla Porta was first in 18th position with 11 points, but was disqualified the evening after the race. The reason for this was that its total weight was 1 kg below the prescribed minimum weight. As a result, Chantra moved up and Syahrin scored one last point.

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