The 2021 MotoGP season came to an end last weekend and along with the highs for several riders, it certainly had its share of lows, and today at Man’s Life we’ll take you through some of the riders who left us wanting more from the 2021 season:
1. FRANCO MORBIDELLI
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Franco Morbidelli started off the season with the Petronas Yamaha SRT team where he only managed to bag a single podium finish and three more finishes in the points out of the eight races before getting injured. The injury put him out of racing for five races and he was finally back at San Marino in Monster Energy Yamaha colors. Everyone thought that he’d revive his season in the final five races of the season but things didn’t go as planned as he could only bag a total of seven points riding on arguably one of the fastest bikes on the grid.
2. MAVERICK VINALES
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After securing a Yamaha one-two at Motul TT Assen, Maverick Vinales decided to leave the Yamaha factory team at the end of the 2021 campaign and since then, his season has been falling apart. After a suspension for intentionally stalling his bike on the grid before the warm-up lap began, he decided to part ways immediately and joined Aprilia. Out of the 18 races this season, Vinales finished on the podium only twice which is pretty low for his lofty standards.
3. DANILO PETRUCCI
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After spending six years with the Ducati team, Danilo Petrucci took on a new challenge this season by signing a contract with Tech3 KTM Factory Racing. Things didn’t pan out the way he thought as the 2021 season will be marked as the worst season of his career, finishing 21st in the rider’s standings with just 37 points and 5 DNF’s.
4. MIGUEL OLIVIERA
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Miguel Oliviera started off the season slowly but an update in the chassis department helped him pick up his first race win of the 2021 season at the Spanish Grand Prix. He then went on to claim a podium finish on three consecutive occasions before he turned his season upside down with two back-to-back DNF’s in Austria. Since then, the Portuguese rider had 2 more DNF’s, a last-place finish, and two finishes outside the points.
5. ALEX RINS
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Alex Rins had a terrific season in our opinion but it’s his DNF’s that bring him into the list. The Suzuki Ecstar rider had 5 DNFs in total but it’s not about the number here, it’s about where he stood every time he crashed his bike. On all the occasions, Rins was either leading the race or was in the running to finish on the podium but it just wasn’t meant to be. Even at the last race of the season at Valencia, Rins’ Suzuki showed real pace and the Spainard was just about to catch the race leader but a turn 3 crash saw his 2021 MotoGP season end in the gravel trap.
[Featured Image Credit: Maverick Vinales]
Shashank Iyer