Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) – the world championship leader got off to an excellent start in the third race of the season but then had to fight hard to stay in the front positions.

A dramatic GP weekend with an outstanding MotoGP winner

Even if the Repsol Honda box has been literally flooded by cameras since Marc Marquez’s comeback, the 6-time world champion only played a minor role in the race. Of course, we will cover his first appearance after a break of around 9 months in a separate article. Much more important that day was what was going on at the very front and Marquez was only there for the first one and a half laps. At the top, Johann Zarco was initially the dominant man. Right from the start he took the lead right up to the first corner. But early on he was harassed by the two Suzukis, and it was clear early on that the Frenchman would not be able to break away as desired.

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) – the new world championship leader showed a simply sensational performance and won for the second time in a row in a completely different race than the second run in Qatar.
Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo) shortly before the race in the pits – the laugh should unfortunately pass early on in the race for the likeable “Aussie”. After two ninth places, we had already expressed our fear before the start that he might be over-motivated to go to work. Unfortunately, we were right. Whether it is the pressure that many called him a World Cup favorite before the start of the season can only be answered by himself.

Falls and failures shaped the third race of the season
Pol Espargaró, disappointed, parked his Honda in the pits after just 8 minutes. A short time later, Jack Miller flew off. The next crash victims were Miguel Oliveira and, shortly after mid-race, Valentino Rossi. For both of them, as for Jack, the season could hardly have started much worse. Incidentally, the Portuguese drove on after that, but finished 18th and one lap behind. A bitter pill indeed for last year’s winner. But it did not stop with these three. Alex Rins, who was in second position, flew off with 7 laps left. The Spaniard would have been better satisfied with second place behind Fabio Quartararo, who drove outstandingly in front of him, but in hindsight you are always smarter. This is especially true for Johann Zarco, who was fighting for second place with Joan Mir and Pecco Bagnaia when he slipped over the front wheel while braking at Turn 10.

A disappointed Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) during an interview after his crash in the race. The old master couldn’t really explain his fall afterwards and the disappointment was understandably deep for the 7-time MotoGP world champion.

Third Yamaha victory in a row
Even before the race, it was clear that the Japanese brand had podium chances not only with Morbido at the Autodromo do Algarve. Fabio Quartararo’s pace was sensational not only over a single lap, as he had impressively demonstrated in FP4 on Saturday morning. His race, however, was very intelligent, despite a sub-optimal start, and in the end the 22-year-old from Nice ultimately won with an absolutely superior victory. It had taken 14 races until the southern French gave another “back-to-back” victory. According to his interview in the press conference, he doesn’t want to know anything about the title and think about it ahead of time. Fabio is looking forward to his favorite track in Andalusia, where it will continue in 2 weeks. Behind Franco Morbidelli on P4, Brad Binder also showed a very good performance, which he provided for a little consolation on the mind at KTM.

Start of the second ghost race of the season with the eventual winner Fabio Quartararo (Monster Endergy Yamaha) and the number 20 in the center of the picture.

The result of the third race of the season

World Championship stand after 3 rounds

The fact that Marc Marquez is already the second-best Honda driver with just one race and a modest 7th place thanks to a few falls in front of him is thought-provoking. The season is still young and on the other hand it is not really clear what the future calendar will look like. But with the two rookies Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin definitely nobody expected in the top ten after 3 races. After the next round on the Circuito de Jerez, however, there should be some postponements. It will be interesting to see whether and how firmly some balance of power will shift there. As a double winner last year, Fabio Quartararo will certainly start there with a broad chest and his team-mate Maverick Viñales, as the second-best driver in 2020, has great hope of a significant improvement. Like after Qatar, the Catalan is still third in the intermediate ranking, just one point ahead of unlucky Johann Zarco, the former World Cup leader.

The team ranking – Monster Energy Yamaha on top

Due to the failure of Jorge Martin and the fall of Johann Zarco, Pramac Ducati dropped from P2 to 4th place. The question now is who should replace Jorge Martin, who is on hold with a broken hand. Ducati test driver Michele Pirro is probably the Reds’ preferred candidate and if you ask the fans, it would be Andrea Dovizioso.

The manufacturer rating – Yamaha still flawlessly in first place

After Portimão, thanks to Brad Binder, KTM gave the red lantern to Honda despite Marquez’s return. At the front, Yamaha is still confidently ahead of Ducati and in Jerez it is unlikely that anything will change at the top.

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