Catalan GP: Fabio Quartararo back to winning ways, Aleix Espargaro misses on podium after celebrating early

The
Frenchman
put
to
bed
the
nightmare
of
2021
by
easing
to
his
second
premier
class
victory
at
the
venue,
cashing
in
on
his
closest
2022
FIM
MotoGP
Championship
rivals’ despair
to
extend
out
his
title
lead.

Prima
Pramac
Racing’s
Jorge
Martin
and
Johann
Zarco
completed
the
podium
after
benefitting
from
a
blunder
by
Espargaro
(Aprilia
Racing)
after
the
Spaniard
celebrated
a
lap
too
early
and
threw
away
a
secure
second
place.

Catalan
GP:
Aleix
Espargaro
breaks
lap
record,
grabs
pole

The
Catalan
GP
had
barely
got
underway
when
drama
of
the
highest
order
struck
at
the
first
corner.
Espargaro
and
Quartararo
got
away
cleanly
from
the
front
row
of
the
grid,
with
Francesco
Bagnaia
(Ducati
Lenovo
Team)
aiming
to
settle
in
to
third
spot.

Behind
him,
LCR
Honda
Idemitsu’s
Takaaki
Nakagami
was
trying
to
edge
past
his
sparring
partner
from
one
week
ago,
Alex
Rins,
before
the
Japanese
rider’s
front-end
folded
and
he
wiped
out
the
Team
Suzuki
Ecstar
man.

Nakagami’s
head
collided
with
the
rear
wheel
of
Bagnaia,
which
sent
the
Italian
tumbling
into
the
gravel
trap
as
well.
From
the
delight
of
Mugello
to
the
despair
of
Catalunya,
Bagnaia’s
title
bid
had
taken
a
huge
dent.

Italian
GP:
First
win
for
Bagnaia,
Quartararo
extends
championship
lead

Quartararo
avoided
the
chaos
to
hit
the
front
and
quickly
began
stretching
out
a
lead.
By
the
end
of
the
opening
lap,
he
was
nearly
a
second
clear
of
the
rest
–
nobody
was
able
to
live
with
El
Diablo.

Further
back,
Team
Suzuki
Ecstar’s
Mir
had
made
a
dynamite
start
to
find
himself
inside
the
top
five,
making
up
a
sensational
twelve
places.
Three
laps
had
ticked
by
when
Espargaro’s
dream
home
win
was
pulled
further
from
his
grasp
when
Martin
managed
to
squeeze
his
way
through
on
the
Aprilia
man.

One
lap
was
at
Barcelona
with
Quartararo
en
route
to
a
hugely
important
second
win
of
the
season.
Then
the
camera
panned
to
Espargaro
slowing
down
on
the
run
down
to
the
first
corner,
with
what
seemed
like
a
technical
issue
cruelly
having
robbed
him
of
a
home
podium.

But
then
he
began
waving
to
the
crowd,
taking
in
the
applause,
and
it
was
apparent
the
Aprilia
man
had
made
an
unforgivable
howler.
As
he
celebrated
one
lap
early,
the
Prima
Pramac
duo
of
Martin
and
Zarco
flew
past,
then
Mir
and
then
Mooney
VR46
Racing’s
Luca
Marini
before
he
realised
his
mistake.

1.
Fabio
Quartararo
(Monster
Energy
Yamaha
MotoGP)
2.
Jorge
Martin
(Prima
Pramac
Racing)
+
6.473
3.
Johann
Zarco
(Prima
Pramac
Racing)
+
8.385
4.
Joan
Mir
(Team
Suzuki
Ecstar)
+
11.481
5.
Aleix
Espargaro
(Aprilia
Racing)
+
14.395
6.
Luca
Marini
(Mooney
VR46
Racing
Team)
+
15.430
7.
Maverick
Viñales
(Aprilia
Racing)
+
15.975
8.
Brad
Binder
(Red
Bull
KTM
Factory
Racing)
+
21.436
9.
Miguel
Oliveira
(Red
Bull
KTM
Factory
Racing)
+
26.800
10.
Alex
Marquez
(LCR
Honda
Castrol)
+
30.460

The
MotoGP
caravan
now
moves
to
the
Sachsenring
circuit
in
the
Deutschland
for
the
German
GP
on
June
19.
Bring
it
on!

(By
a
special
arrangement
with
Dorna
Sports)