Monster Energy Yamaha factory rider Fabio Quartararo is the 2021 MotoGP World Champion after Pecco Bagnaia crashed out of the lead in the final few laps of the race.
Fabio Quartararo inspired plenty of people back home as he became the first Frenchman in history to clinch a premier class title. After qualifying P15 for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, El Diablo made his way up the grid over the next 27 laps or so to finish the race at the top of the order. Meanwhile, his championship rival, Francesco Bagnaia started on pole and looked in great shape to win the race but a late crash ended the Ducati rider’s hopes as Quartararo went on to become a MotoGP World Champion just at the age of 22.
View this post on Instagram
Quartararo’s championship victory also ended a decade of Spanish Dominance after Marc Marquez – six times champion, Jorge Lorenzo – two time champions and Suzuki’s Joan Mir (2020) won the last nine titles. Casey Stoner was the last non-spaniard to win the title when he won it with Honda back in 2011.
Quartararo now leads Bagnaia by 65 points and is guaranteed a first championship title for Yamaha since 2015 as well. The Frenchman’s top tier win comes in his third full season in MotoGP, the first with Yamaha’s factory team after spending a couple of years in the SRT satellite outfit. It took Quartararo sixteen races to be crowned Champion in which he claimed ten podiums and five race wins.
“I still can’t believe it. It feels good to also have my family with me, we will enjoy a lot tonight and until the end of the season” a tearful Quartararo said to Sky Sports.
View this post on Instagram
Marc Marquez, the race winner of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was one of the first ones to congratulate Quartararo as he said, “Today is not my day but Fabio’s. I want to congratulate him. He deserves it as he has done an incredible job this season. Congrats to the Yamaha team, we will try and make things difficult next season”.
[Image Credit: Fabio Quartararo]
Shashank Iyer