Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo took his maiden MotoGP win at Jerez this afternoon, controlling the race after Marc Marquez saved a 120mph front-end slide which put him down to 16th place on lap five.
Quartararo was able to dictate the pace on the satellite M1 and it was enough to keep Jack Miller and Maverick Vinales behind him for most of the race.
But Marquez scorched through the pack, picking off race winners, world champions and factory riders to get to third after an incredible riding display.
However, with four laps to go, Marquez asked too much of his rear Michelin at turn three and was spat over the highside of his Repsol Honda at 94mph which resulted in a broken arm.
It left Vinales - who had gambled on soft Michelins all round - to take 20 points with Andrea Dovizioso bagging the final podium spot just a couple of weeks after breaking his collarbone.
As the lights went out, Vinales got a storming launch from the middle of the front row using the new holeshot device and grabbed the holeshot into turn 1, with Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) getting his Ducati off the line like a rocket to initially go P2.
The Australian was wide though which let Marquez to come through into second after an average getaway, with polesitter Quartararo slotting into P3 at Turn 2 to get the better of Miller.
However, the Desmosedici grunt saw Miller get up the inside of Quartararo down into the Dani Pedrosa corner, as Vinales got out the seat around Turn 8 – an early scare for the number 12.
Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) was then past Quartararo on Lap 2 but Quartararo was back through at the final corner on that lap as Marquez and Viñales went toe-to-toe at Turn 4, before Marquez managed to make the move stick at Dani Pedrosa corner.
However, Lap 5 was then a game-changer. Marquez was leading the way but going through Turn 4, we witnessed something we’ve seen so many times before – a miraculous save.
Somehow, somehow the number 93 picked his HRC machine up from an almost certain crash and managed to keep it upright through the gravel and come back on the track in 16th.
At the front, Viñales wasn’t looking comfortable. Only himself and teammate Valentino Rossi chose the soft front Michelin option – everyone else was on the hard – and it started to look like it was a gamble that wasn’t going to pay off. After leading for a couple of laps, Quartararo had got the better of Miller and was soon right on the tailpipes of Viñales. A mistake at Dani Pedrosa corner was then followed by another one heading into Jorge Lorenzo corner on Lap 9 after the pace had slowed into the 1:39s. Viñales went wide, Quartararo and Miller were through, but attentions we starting to turn to Marc Marquez.
With the pace at the front slow, the World Champion was anything but. In just five laps Marquez had managed to get himself from P16 to P10 and was lapping around a second quicker than most of the leading group, with Quartararo stretching away from Miller at the front. Lap 12 saw Marquez set a 1:38.3 – the fastest lap of the race – that was a good 0.4 faster than Quartararo, and even more than the riders in the podium hunt.
Lap 13 passed by and doing the passing was Marquez, he’d got the better of Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and a struggling Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) to move up into P8. At this point, Marquez had a podium finish well within his grasp – quite remarkable. At the Lap 15 stage, Quartararo’s lead snuck past the two-second mark for the first time, but the shark music was playing as the cameras started to show an orange missile quickly making its way towards the back of the fight for the podium places.
With 10 laps to go, Marquez was a second quicker than third place Viñales. Marquez getting back into a podium position was now a formality rather than a possibility. With eight laps to go, Marquez was just two seconds away from the podium as he hunted and passed Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Bagnaia. Dovizioso was then passed, Marquez a full second quicker than the Italian and now, amazingly, Marquez had Miller and Viñales right in front of him – up the road, Quartararo was over five seconds clear.
So, Marquez vs Miller. Six laps to go, Turn 13 was Marquez’ chosen passing place on Miller but down the home straight, the Australian bit straight back at Turn 1. A man on a mission, Marquez was straight back up the inside at Turn 2 and made the move stick. Now, Viñales was next on the list – the rider right behind Marquez when the eight-time Champion ran off track at Turn 4.
Coming across the line with four laps remaining, Marquez was plotting his move into P2. However, there was about to be another twist – and a vast one at that. Coming out of Turn 3, Marquez was launched off his RC213V in a vicious way which resulted in a broken arm.
At the front, Quartararo was untroubled in the latter half and he took an incredible maiden MotoGP victory. Behind, Viñales was able to grind out a P2 despite struggling with his front tyre from “lap seven or eight”.
The battle for the final podium spot went down to the final lap. With two to go, Dovizioso made his move on Miller at Turn 6 to hold P3, with Morbidelli then almost crashing after colliding with Miller on the inside of the corner. This allowed Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) through in P5 – the Spaniard in the fight all race – but Morbidelli would eventually get the better of Espargaro at the last corner, on the last lap.
Vinales took P2 from Dovizioso, with Miller leading Morbidelli and Espargaro over the line with P2-P6 covered by 2.3 seconds.
Bagnaia couldn’t keep up the pace in the latter stages as the Italian slipped out of contention and finished P7, with Oliveira placing P8 – his equal best result in the premier class. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) crossed the line ninth, with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) closing out the top 10.
There were only 15 finishers in a brutal MotoGP™ race in Jerez. Johann Zarco (Reale Avintia Racing), Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – who recovered from an unseen incident in the opening stages to sometimes sit as the fastest man on track – Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) and Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Bradley Smith completing the points.
Rossi suffered some sort of issue and was out of the race with seven to go, with Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) also not finishing.
