Who had Johann Zarco on the bill before the lights went out in Losail for the first time and almost everyone only talked about Miller and Bagnaia and whether Maverick Viñales would also achieve his sensational pace in the double race. The Catalan only played a minor role in the 2nd Qatar GP, while the Frenchman was the best Ducati rider for the second time in a row.

1st French double victory in MotoGP history & Zarco as world championship leader

We had already warned in winter against underestimating the French. The fact that Bagnaia and Miller were preferred to him for the Ducati factory team should only have spurred the fast man from Cannes on. Again only a Yamaha rider could beat him, this time in the person of his compatriot Fabio Quartararo. The other sensation was Zarco’s team-mate Jorge Martin. Instead of just fighting for the top 6 as expected before the race, the rookie drove like an old hand. The new World Cup leader also paid him this compliment during the podium interview. The Spaniard looked like the sure winner until 5 laps before the end. But then came the hour of the young man from Nice, who grew up in Catalonia from his teenage years.

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) is back – the Frenchman doubled his second win of the season on the supposed Ducati circuit for the Yamaha works team instead of teammate Maverick Viñales. The Japanese brand leads the statistics in Losail with 10 victories, ahead of Ducati with just half as many and Honda with 3, of which one each goes to Gibernau, Stoner and Marquez.

The advance of the Monster Energy Yamaha rider in the second half
Fabio Quartararo was only on P9 in the first quarter of the race, but he hadn’t wanted to ruin his tires too early until the middle of the race. In an interview, he later admitted that he had been annoyed for three days after the first race of the season about driving like a rookie. The Frenchman, who celebrated his 22nd birthday on April 20th, crossed the finish line in 5th place despite the heavily decreasing tires. But this time he did everything right and did not attack until the second half of the race. From position 8 on lap 11, it went within eight laps to the top of the field. But not only that, he overtook the previous leader Jorge Martin at exactly the right moment and then immediately distanced him by a few tenths. The Spaniard could no longer overtake him immediately on the straight with his lightning-fast Ducati and then the cheese was bitten. As in the first race, the Yamaha ace drove his team-mate Viñales to an undisputed victory.

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yanaha) in the winner’s interview – he is now a four-time MotoGP world champion, surpassing all of his predecessors, even if you add up their victories.
These are our statistics with the 3 previous winners of a 500 cc race from France and the date of their triumph.

Where were the co-favorites?

With Alex Rins, at least one of the Suzuki drivers made a positive impression several times. Often referred to as MotoGP’s “Inspector Gadget”, the man from Barcelona tried his best, but the Ducati riders kept passing him on the long start-finish straight. In the end he was fourth and thus two places better than on the first weekend, as well as the best Suzuki driver. His teammate Joan Mir, on the other hand, was rather uncomfortable. When he tried to pass Jack Miller and almost knocked him off the slope, an even more ugly scene ensued. Shortly before the next destination passage, the Aussie drove him full in the side and gestured wildly in his direction. It remains to be seen whether he will still be punished for this, in any case he ended up only on P7 and Joan Mir only two ranks ahead. With Viñales, the winner of the first race before Bagnaia still took fifth place, just like Quartararo at the season opener.

Alex Rins in the Suzuki Ecstar Box – as fifth in the World Championship, the likeable man from Barcelona is not far behind leader Johann Zarco after only two laps. It can be assumed that the tracks will still come on which he can show off big with the Suzuki.

The losers – again Honda and KTM

Although Aleix Espargaró achieved his second top ten result in a row at Aprilia, he was understandably not really satisfied with it after P2 at the season opener. KTM and Honda, on the other hand, have completely different worries than the small plant from Noale and its Catalan rider. Although the oranges with Binder took eighth place, it was again catastrophic behind them. Oliveira as 15th and the other two in the gravel bed and, in the case of Petrux, penultimate, that is beyond good and evil. Especially for a brand that had been victorious three times last year and placed fifth in the World Cup with Pol Espargaró. At Honda, it was precisely the latter who was again the best driver. But just like in the first race for KTM, positions 13 and 14 are simply embarrassing for the world’s largest manufacturer. What is surprising is Pol’s relapse compared to the reasonably respectable 8th place in the first race of the season.

Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM) – the Portuguese is so far a shadow of himself as the two-time Grand Prix winner of the year. But this is probably due to the poor material, as well as the lack of test advantage over the previous year. In his first season in 2019 he had been similarly unsuccessful throughout the year, but now comes to his home GP, which he won in 2020.

Result of the 2nd MotoGP race of the season

MotoGP World Championship booth

How it goes on

After the FIM and Dorna calendar had already resembled a desired program rather than a serious plan when it was first drafted, the first corrections were the logical consequence. Below is the provisional calendar with MotoGP and WorldSBK and the collisions between the two series in red. Currently, however, not only the overseas races of both series are at risk, but also all events that were canceled in the previous year due to a lack of spectator permits. In Le Mans, a FIM-EWC endurance race has just been canceled due to pandemic reasons, which was planned just 4 weeks before the MotoGP race. The reason for this was not just a new lockdown in France, but the overloading of the regional hospitals. It is currently at least likely that it will continue in Portugal in two weeks. A comeback by Marc Marquez, however, is questionable, which, as we reported early on, is likely to be much more likely for Jerez.

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