Round 7 of the 2021 MotoGP™ World Championship saw riders and teams head to Montmelo for the Catalan Grand Prix. Ahead of the 24-lap race, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) sat on pole for a fifth consecutive time and had his sights on a third win in four years at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, but it wasn’t the Frenchman who would take the early initiative.
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REWIND: CHAPTER 7 - BACK IN BUSINESS
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UNSEEN: THE PEDROSA EFFECT! KTM CELEBRATE IN STYLE
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WHAT HAPPENED TO PRE-RACE FAVOURITE QUARTARARO'S LEATHERS?
The Yamaha rider was ousted from the lead by Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) through the opening corners with Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) bolting from the second row to get himself up to P2. By the end of the second lap, the Portuguese rider had seized control of the action while the pack behind him continued to shuffle before eventually settling down with Quartararo in second and Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) in third as we came towards the latter stages of the action.
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FREE: FULL FINAL LAP OF MotoGP™ RACE FROM BARCELONA
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WHY WAS QUARTARARO HANDED A THREE SECOND PENALTY?
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AFTER THE FLAG: ANALYSIS AND COVERAGE OF THE CATALAN GP
Oliveira didn’t put a foot wrong all day despite coming under intense pressure from the M1 behind him, but with two laps to go, it was Quartararo who had to contend with some late challengers. Zarco blasted by his compatriot before Aussie Miller capitalized on a mistake from the Yamaha rider to move into third. As the two battled for the final podium place, Quartararo’s leathers came undone and his chest plate was removed, while he also took a late shortcut. He was slapped with a penalty post-race as a result and despite crossing the line third, he dropped to sixth on the timesheets.
Prior to that, Oliveira withstood some last lap pressure from Zarco to hold on for his first win of the season, and third in MotoGP™ overall, to help put a torrid run of form for the KTMs firmly in the rearview mirror.