On a rainy day at the iconic Le Mans circuit, Jack Miller came out victorious to clinch back-to-back MotoGP race wins for Ducati ahead of Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo. the two Frenchmen sealed the remaining two spots on the podium.
THE MEN THAT SHINED
View this post on Instagram
Jack Miller claimed victory yet again with the two impressive Frenchmen sealing the remaining two spots on the podium, while a fall at turn 14 ended Marc Marquez’s victory hopes. Miller found a way to win despite having back-to-back penalties for speeding in the pit lane and after he was promoted to second spot after Alex Rins and Marc Marquez crashed, it was all about the Australian catching and passing Quartararo with a very clear speed advantage. In changing conditions, he did so and held onto his position out in front until the end of the race. The Ducati of Johann Zarco displayed some incredible pace as he flew past his countryman, Fabio Quartararo to claim second position with five laps remaining. Quartararo finished in P3, to maintaining top spot on the Championship table. Jack Miller’s teammate Francesco Bagnaia who was also reprimanded with a long lap penalty, displayed a brilliant performance as he started the race at the back end of the grid and finished P4. The Tech 3 KTM side had one of their best results too, thanks to Danilo Petrucci who claimed fifth position after a late move on Alex Marquez who finished the race in an impressive sixth.
RIDERS THAT LEFT US WANTING MORE
View this post on Instagram
It was a sad day for Marc Marquez fans as he crashed his Honda twice in the race. Once the rains hit the Le Mans circuit, we saw Marquez taking the lead and it looked like it would be his first victory since his return to racing but it wasn’t to be. The master of flag-to-flag races crashed, initially dropping him to P18, but the Spaniard did well to get up to pace and climb back up to P10. But a turn 14 crash then proved even more costly and saw him retire from the race. Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia also retired from the race after facing mechanical problems and the other man leaving us wanting more was defending champion Joan Mir who said, “I don’t know what happened” as he crashed out of the wet French Grand Prix on the fifth lap.
STANDINGS:
Riders
View this post on Instagram
A P3 finish meant that Fabio Quartararo claimed back the lead in the World Championship standings with 80 points, just one ahead of Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, while Johann Zarco climbed up the ladder from being fifth to third in the standings with 68 points. Two back-to-back victories for Jack Miller sees him in fourth spot, just four points short of Zarco. The three Spaniards, Vinales, Mir and Espargaro are next in line but a poor race for Esperago and Morbidelli saw the gap between the sixth and seventh stretch to 17points.
Constructors
After a brilliant race for Team Ducati, they find themselves leading the Constructors championship with a three points gap to Yamaha who sit second on 107 points. A 54-point gap separates Suzuki and Yamaha, followed by Honda, KTM, and Aprilia with 43, 38 and 35 points respectively.
MotoGP next heads across for the Italian GP – Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley on 30th May, which was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19.
[Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool]
Shashank Iyer