Maverick Vinales showed one of his best performances in the premier class, winning the MotoGP season opener in Qatar in 2021.
The Monster Energy Yamaha rider stayed cool and regrouped after hitting four Ducatis at the start of the race had been flooded. Vinales worked with his teammate Fabio Quartararo to catch the red bikes and started battling his way through the order with some impressive tough but fair overtaking maneuvers.
Vinales took the lead on lap 15, retreating quickly from the chase and crossed the line with a lead of 1.092 seconds to secure his ninth MotoGP victory.
Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia completed the podium after taking advantage of the significant speed advantage of their Desmocedici machines Overtaking Joan Mir on the way to the checkered flag.
I had overtaken both drivers brilliantly, but went a bit far in the last corner. It was a small mistake that ultimately cost the reigning champion a place on the podium.
Fabio Quartararo finished fifth on the second factory Yamaha M1 after falling off the podium. Like Vinales, he regrouped perfectly after a slow escape, but the Frenchman was unable to maintain the fast pace.
Alex Rins fought for grip and front and back in the closing stages and eventually crossed the line on sixth Place. He was followed by Aleix Espargaro in seventh at the new Aprilia RS-GP – and improved all of his results for 2020.
Pol Espargaro finished his Repsol Honda debut in eighth, while Jack Miller and rookie Enea Bastianini completed the top 10 . Miller was involved in the battle for the podium early on, but dropped out significantly in the middle of the race.
Petronas Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Franco Morbidelli both had a tough time in Qatar. Rossi finally finished the race in 12th place, while Morbidelli, who started seventh on the grid, was 18th.
Miguel Oliveira was the leading KTM rider in 13th, Brad Binder up the 14th place. Jorge Martin finished his debut 15th after making an amazing start to the race with his fellow Ducati riders. Martin started from 14th on the grid to fourth on the grid in turn one.
Takaaki Nakagami crashed in turn nine after losing the front on lap seven. His LCR Honda teammate Alex Marquez suffered the same fate on lap 14 on lap 14. Danilo Petrucci fell on the first lap of the race.
Sam Lowes secured a comfortable victory in the first Moto2 race of the 2021 season in Qatar.
The Brit briefly lost the lead to Marco Bezzecchi at the start of the race, but Lowes struggled early in the third round and did not look back. Lowes was unchallenged for the remainder of the race. The only shock was a warning of track restrictions on the penultimate lap.
Today’s win is Lowes’ seventh in Moto2 and he is the first British rider to win a season opener since Barry Sheene at the Venezuela Grand Prix in 1979.
Remy Gardner fought his way back from a difficult start and finished second on his first outing for the Red Bull KTM Ajo team. Behind him there was a fantastic battle between Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi for the final podium. Di Giannantonio put Bezzecchi on the line by 0.013 seconds.
Raul Fernandez continued to impress in his Moto2 debut in fourth place. Fernandez was third until the last few laps when he started to suffer from grip. Joe Roberts finished fifth on his Italtrans Racing debut.
Jake Dixon fought valiantly for seventh place. Dixon fought for the podium in the beginning, but eventually fell back from the top group. Despite still feeling the effects of his broken wrist, Dixon set his personal best on lap 16.
Marcel Schrotter, Bo Bendsneyder and Jorge Navarro completed the top 10, with five-time MotoAmerica champion Cameron Beaubier making his debut as 11th. just missed. Moto2 rookie Celestino Vietti finished 12th on his Sky Racing Team VR46 machine.
Lorenzo Baldassarri fell out of the race on turn seven on lap seven, while Xavi Vierge’s race on lap 10 on lap 15 after a collision with Aron Canet came to an end. Hector Garzo also fell out of the competition.
Jaume Masia mastered the challenge of rookie team-mate Pedro Acosta and won the first Moto3 race of the 2021 season in Qatar.
Masia managed in the last few laps, opening a gap, but Acosta approached his seasoned teammate who was going into the final corner. Despite looking for that important slipstream, Acosta couldn’t beat Masia.
It’s Masia’s fourth win in the lightweight class and a fantastic way to start his time with the Red Bull KTM Ajo team. Acosta, who also led the race several times, put the paddock on alert after an outstanding performance on his Grand Prix debut.
Darryn Binder, who started from pole, finished his first race for Petronas Sprinta Racing on the last step of the podium. Binder was in the wars throughout the race and his brakes were pushed up on the first few laps.
Sergio Garcia was fourth ahead of Gabriel Rodrigo and Niccolò Antonelli. The latter briefly led the race with three laps remaining. Izan Guevara made it into the top seven with two rookies with his GASGAS Gaviota Aspar machine. Guevara and Acosta seem to have a bright future in the GP paddock.
Tatsuki Suzuki, Kaito Toba (and Jason Dupasquier completed the top 10. Suzuki, still recovering from Covid-19, started 28th and last into the race.
Ayumu Sasaki crashed from third place in turn two on the last lap after fighting his way through the pack from 15th on the grid.
Romano Fenati received a double long lap penalty for the start jump and finally finished the race 12th ..
John McPhee’s race ended dramatically on lap three when he, Andrea Migno and Jeremy Alcoba were defeated by rookie Xavier Artigas at Turn 6. The incident will be reviewed by race officials tonight .
Dennis Foggia fell on turn three on the first lap after being hit by Carlos Tatay, while Deniz Oncu also landed on the deck on turn six on the first lap of the race, Tatay received due to the incident with Fogg ia a long round penalty and finally came eleventh. Riccardo Rossi crashed in turn 10 on lap two.
Francesco Bagnaia broke the record on the racetrack at the Losail International Circuit and achieved his first pole position in MotoGP.
The factory Ducati drove with them 1: 52.772 the fastest lap time – the first time a MotoGP bike sank below 1: 53. It was a record-breaking session in which the eight best drivers were all below the previous track record of 1: 53,380 – set by Marc Marquez in 2019.
Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales come after a fantastic session for the duo Monster Energy Yamaha to Bagnaia in the front row. Both drivers have already recognized how important it is to start in the front row tomorrow evening, as the M1 has a strong speed disadvantage compared to the Ducati.
Valentino Rossi will start his first race with Petronas Yamaha in fourth and in the second row accompanied by Jack Miller and Johann Zarco. The latter broke the all-time MotoGP speed record and reached an astonishing 225.2 km / h on the start / finish straight.
Franco Morbidelli made sure that all four Yamaha riders were in the top seven ahead of Aleix Espargaro and Alex Rins . 2020 champion Joan Mir completed the top 10, with Takaaki Nakagami and Pol Espargaro finishing the session in 11th and 12th place respectively.
Enea Bastianini lost just 0.005 seconds to the reigning champion in the second quarter Me. The Italian had previously chaired the session and should go even faster just to lose time in the last sector.
Co-rookie Jorge Martin was also on the way to improving on his last lap until he turned 12 crashed. The Pramac Racing Ducati rider will finish 14th on the grid in his first MotoGP race.
Miguel Oliveira was the fastest KTM rider in 15th place ahead of Alex Marquez and Stefan Bradl. Luca Marini starts his first race in the premier class from the 18th. Brad Binder (19th) from KTM, Danilo Petrucci (20th) and Iker Lecuona (21st) make up 22nd place alongside Lorenzo Savadori.
Sam Lowes drove to Qatar for the first Moto2 race of the 2021 season the pole position.
The Elf Marc VDS driver had a great pace all weekend and was the favorite for pole. The Brit did just that with a 1: 58.726 and was untouchable throughout the Q2 session. It’s Lowes ’12. Pole position in Moto2.
Class rookie Raul Fernandez continued his impressive debut weekend by putting his Red Bull KTM Ajo bike in second place on the grid. Equally impressive was Bo Bendsneyder in third place for the Pertamina Mandalika SAG team. It is the first time that the Dutch rider has qualified in the front row of Moto2.
Marco Bezzecchi qualified fourth in the second row, ahead of Joe Roberts and Remy Gardner. Gardner was unlucky in the second quarter; On his first fast lap, Gardner finished third, but it was quickly ruled out that the track limits were exceeded. Gardner then had to abandon his last flight lap, because at Turn 10 yellow flags were waved for Xavi Vierge to fall.
Jake Dixon will start tomorrow’s race from seventh on the grid. The Brit was fortunate enough not to fall off his bike when he was hit by Petronas Sprint Racing teammate Vierge. Dixon crossed around turn three and Vierge couldn’t react quickly enough to avoid him. Fortunately, the two of them were able to stay on their respective machines.
* UPDATE: Jake Dixon was given a penalty of three starting positions and will now start the race from 10th.
In the first quarter, Marcos Ramirez suffered a severe at Turn 14 Fall and then held his right wrist. Meanwhile, Simone Corsi hit the deck at high speed and fell into turn 16. Corsi was also uncomfortable and held his right hand.
Moto2 rookie Ai Ogura just missed a spot in the second quarter and will be his first Intermediate class races start from 19th place on the grid.
The five-time MotoAmerica Superbike champion Cameron Beaubier starts his first Moto2 race from 22nd place on the grid. The reigning Moto3 champion Albert Arenas was in 23rd place just behind the American.
Lorenzo Baldassari’s disappointing form seems to have been carried over to the year 2021. The Italian finished the day in 26th place overall. Baldassari won the Qatar GP in 2019 and finished second in 2018 and 2020.
Darryn Binder broke two records on the racetrack in Qatar and took pole position on his debut at Petronas Sprinta Racing.
The South African who had already made it through the first quarter with ease, first broke the lap record (previously 2: 04.561) with 2: 04.354. Binder would go even faster on his last lap of the session, posting a 2: 04.075 to oust rookie Izan Guevara from first place.
Guevara, who won the Moto3 Junior World Championship on his first attempt in 2020, recovered from a difficult opening day to further demonstrate its potential in second place. Great things are expected of the young Spaniard.
John McPhee, who managed to cross the line to start his final lap by about three seconds, completes the front row on the second Petronas Sprinta Racing machine.
Jeremy Alcoba finished in fourth place ahead of Jaume Masia, while Kaito Toba continued to impress in sixth place. Toba competed for the CIP Green Power Team this season and was the fastest overall in qualification.Gabriel Rodrigo and Sergio Garcia finished seventh and eighth, Riccardo Rossi and Niccolò Antonelli completed the top 10. The Reigning Red Bull Rookies Champion Pedro Acosta starts his first Grand Prix from 11th place on the grid.
Romano Fenati couldn’t set a lap time in the second quarter and will therefore start the season opener in 18th place.
In the meantime, Deniz was Öncü ousted in the last seconds of the first quarter by Rossi from the second quarter and starts tomorrow from the 19th on the grid. Several drivers misjudged their last stints in the first quarter. Nine riders failed to reach the line before the checkered flag was waved.
Other notable names who missed a spot in the second quarter are Ryusei Yamanaka (22nd), Filip Salac (24th) and Stefano Nepa (26th). Tatsuki Suzuki was unable to set a lap time after his lap was canceled after exceeding track restrictions.
Jack Miller spearheaded a Ducati one-two victory on the opening day of MotoGP action at the Losail International Circuit.
Miller’s fastest Lap time of 1: 53.387 was just 0.007 seconds below the lap record set by Marc Marquez in 2019. Miller suffered a fall at corner four in FP1, a corner that Zarco caught just before the Aussie incident.
Francesco Bagnaia finished second and only 0.035 seconds slower than his team-mate, while Fabio Quartararo was able to stop Zarco from doing one Ducati lock in the top three. The Monster Energy Yamaha rider was fast in the middle sector, but ultimately lost ground on the long start / finish straight due to the Yamaha’s top speed deficit compared to the Ducati.
Zarco finished fourth after slipping a few minutes into FP1 recovered from a fall. Alex Rins was fifth for Suzuki ahead of Maverick Vinales on the second factory Yamaha M1. During the course of the day, Vinales concentrated again, as in the official tests, on his training starts when leaving the pit lane.
Franco Morbidelli was seventh ahead of Aleix Espargaro, who was the first driver to fall into the 1:53 today. His Aprilia seems to have improved significantly compared to last year’s motorcycle, with the additional downforce from the front wing benefiting the Spaniard considerably.
Valentino Rossi and Pol Espargaro completed the top 10. The latter had two crashes on his RC213V today, one in Turn six in FP1 and one in turn 15 in the last seconds of FP2. Even so, Espargaro was still smiling when he was the fastest Honda rider, and he was able to find the bike’s limit – something he wanted to do sooner rather than later.
Reigning champion Joan Mir may have to do the first tomorrow afternoon Quarter after only finishing 11th today. Alex Marquez finished 12th overall and then confirmed to MCN that his injured foot wasn’t causing him too many problems.
Jorge Martin was the fastest rookie in 13th place, while Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini were 15th and 17th respectively . Day ended.
As with the official tests, the KTM riders continued to fight on the Losail circuit. Brad Binder was the 16th best placed KTM rider, while Miguel Oliveira was in 19th place. The Tech3 KTM duo Danilo Petrucci and Iker Lecouna were 20th and 21st today.
The RP3 starts tomorrow afternoon (March 26th) at 12:15, followed by the FP4 at 16:20. Q1 will then take place at 5:00 p.m., Q2 is scheduled for 5:25 p.m.
Sam Lowes picked up where he left off in the three-day Qatar test by setting the fastest overall lap time in the Moto2 class drove.
The Briton was the only driver who fell back to the 1:58 scale on the opening day at the Losail International Circuit. Lowes’ fastest lap time of 1: 58.959 was 0.104 seconds faster than Marco Bezzecchi of Sky Racing Team VR46. The duo are the favorites fighting for this year’s title.
Joe Roberts completed the top three ahead of Xavi Vierge and Remy Gardner. Both Roberts and Gardner are expected to fight for race wins this year after joining Italtrans Racing and Red Bull KTM Ajo.
Bo Bendsneyder was sixth ahead of Nicolò Bulega and rookie Raul Fernandez. The new Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 recruit was the fastest rookie during pre-season testing and now the first two free practice sessions.
Jake Dixon finished ninth overall for Petronas Sprinta Racing. The former Bennetts British superbike rider is still recovering from the broken wrist he suffered towards the end of last season but still appears to have the pace to be competitive. Jorge Navarro completed the top 10.
Marcel Schrotter and rookie Tony Arbolino finished 11th and 12th, respectively, with Thomas Luthi and Aron Canet currently occupying the last two automatic Q2 qualifying places.
The Moto2 Drivers will be back in action for RP3 tomorrow morning (March 27th) at 11:20 AM (UK), followed by Q1 at 3:25 PM and Q2 at 3:50 PM.
Kaito Toba won the opening day of the Moto3 season 2021 in Qatar ahead of Jaume Masia and Gabriel Rodrigo.
The Japanese rider, who won 2019 at the Losail International Circuit, was only a few minutes from the end of the ranking. Toba’s time of 2: 04.839 was 0.042 seconds faster than Masia’s time.
Rodrigo was another 0.026 seconds behind on his Indonesian Gresini Racing machine, while Sergio Garcia was fourth for the GasGas Gaviota Aspar team. The Swiss Jason Dupasquier completed the top 5.
Niccolò Antonelli was sixth ahead of Jeremy Alcoba, while the British John McPhee was eighth overall for Petronas Sprinta Racing. McPhee finished fifth in FP1 in the early afternoon. Andrea Migno and Maximilian Kofler completed the top 10.
Carlos Tatay and Dennis Foggia took 11th and 12th place respectively, while Ayumi Sasaki and Pedro Acosta are currently in the last two automatic Q2 places. Acosta, reigning Red Bull Rookies Champion, was in the top three at the start of the session after impressive teamwork with Red Bull Ajo KTM team-mate Masia. Acosta beat FP1 earlier in the day.
Izan Guevara, rookie colleague and Moto3 junior world champion of 2020, did not have such a positive day. Guevara was 20th and also crashed into turn four in the final seconds of the session.
FP3 starts tomorrow morning (March 27th) at 10:25 am (UK) and will run from Q1 to 2:30 pm and Q2 followed at 2:55 p.m.
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