Fabio Quartararo crowned 2021 MotoGP world champ

It’s hard to know where to start in the story of the 2021 MotoGP world championship’s 16th round. From his worst qualifying of the year back in 15th place and his title rival Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) starting from pole, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) fought through the pack to what was looking like a strong fifth-place finish.

Out front, and with just four of the 27 laps left to run, Bagnaia hadn’t put a wheel wrong. It even looked as if he’d broken the resolve of eight-time world champ Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) who had shadowed the Italian since Aussie Jack Miller (Lenovo Ducati) crashed out of second place at the end of lap five.

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But, just as it looked like the title fight would continue onto Portugal in two weeks’ time, Bagnaia went down at the same corner as Miller – the pair’s hard-front tyre gamble bringing both of them undone. Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi fell to his hands and knees and 22-year-old Fabio was the new world champ.

The crash gifted Marc Marquez his second consecutive race win, the first time that’s happened since 2019, while his teammate Pol Espargaro rode to his best finish of the season, crossing the line 4.8s behind Marquez. It’s the first time since 2017 since Repsol Honda has had two riders on the top two steps of the box. For a long time, it looked as if Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM) would inherit the last podium spot, but a crash from him on lap 23 all of a sudden had Quartararo in the podium place with a couple of laps left to run.

But that wasn’t to be. Because just as he did at Misano last time out, Enea Bastianini (Avintia Ducati) rode out of his skin from 16th on the grid to pip Quartararo for third place in the last sector, picking up his second podium of the year. In fact, in the last three races, the Italian rookie has made up 32 places from his starting position on a two-year-old bike, such is his talent. And with Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) one of the seven riders who failed to see the chequered flag, Bastianini’s charge for the Rookie of the Year title is well and truly back on track.

Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) was fifth, some 16.4 seconds further back, ahead of Alex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki), Aprilia teammates Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, followed by Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati) in ninth.

The other big story, of course, was Valentino Rossi’s last-ever grand prix on home soil and, despite starting from the back of the grid, he rode to a top 10 finish in front of the 35,000 fans who were there to farewell the nine-time world champ. As always, he had a one-off hemet design for the Misano Grand Prix, and this time it was all about the fans, thanking them for the unrivalled support he’s received during his 26-year career. In the other classes, his Sky VR46 Team machinery all sported fluro-yellow livery with simply ‘Grazie Vale’ emblazoned across the fairings.

The dramatic result gave Fabio an unmatchable 65-point lead with just two rounds left to run, the Frenchman on 267 to Bagnaia’s 202. Joan Mir crashed out of the race but remains in third overall on 175 points, Johann Zarco moves up to fourth on 152, while Miller’s hopes of third overall are fading, he drops back to fifth in the standings on 149.

If the MotoGP race wasn’t dramatic enough, the Moto2 Grand Prix was a spectacle of drama. After crashing out of COTA and allowing teammate and title rival Raul Fernandez to within nine points of his lead, Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) also suffered the worst qualifying of the season, starting back in 14th. And with Raul Fernandez just five places ahead in ninth, a fascinating scrap for the world title was set to unfold.

The win looked like it was a race between pole man Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing) and Aron Canet (Aspar Team Moto2), while further back the two Red Bull KTM Ajo teammates set about making their respective charges through the field. By the halfway mark, Raul was up to second while Gardner had found his way into seventh. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing), who was on a mission after serving a long-lap penalty snatched seventh place from the Aussie. Three laps later, Raul Fernandez was leading the race and the live standings showed Remy had lost the championship lead for the first time all season. And it was about to get worse, because a desperate move from Gardner up the inside of Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda) caused the latter to crash, and Gardner was slapped with a long-lap penalty of his own.

But, in an uncharacteristic mistake from Fernandez while leading the race, he locked the front going into turn 8 with 10 laps go and crashed spectacularly out of the race. Behind him, Canet smelt a win and took the lead from Lowes with seven to go. Lowes, who was suffering both front- and rear-wheel slides at every other corner, was having none of it and retook the lead with three to go. Augusto Fernandez was still on the charge and he snatched second from a visibly upset Canet in the final corner.

The results mean Gardner now has an 18-point buffer back to Raul Fernandez with two rounds left to run. Marco Bezzechi (Sky VR46 Racing), who crashed in the final stages, is back in third overall and 74 points adrift.

Dennis Foggia (Leopard Honda) started the Moto3 Grand Prix as the only man able to stop rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) from winning the 2021 world title and he was mired back in 14th on the grid. Acosta started from the middle of the second row in fifth, though with plenty of hungry riders determined to make a name for themselves on the podium before season’s end, his job was to stay out of trouble.

By the eighth lap, Foggia found himself at the lead of the second pack in tenth, less than a second behind the leading group of nine, and he’d just set the fastest lap of the race. Two laps later he’d reached the leading group and passed Filip Salac (CarXpert PruestelGP) for ninth, while Acosta was up to fourth.

Five laps later, Foggia was into third place and ahead of Acosta for the first time. His charge continued, and crossed the line to start lap 16 of the 23-lap race in the lead, Acosta some seven tenths behind in fifth. And as they crossed the line to start the final lap, it was as you were in terms of the title rivals’ respective positions, except Foggia and Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) were now nearly four seconds up the road.

Foggia held on for victory, while Pedro Acosta – crucially – barged his way up to third place over the line, limiting the damage of the on-form Italian with just two races to go. Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta), who earlier in the weekend was confirmed to move to MotoGP with the RNF Yamaha squad for 2022, just missed out on the podium in fourth, ahead of Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride) in fifth.

Foggia’s win reduces the gap to Acosta to just 21 points with two to go, 234 to 213. Sergio Garcia (168) remains in third ahead of Masia (155) and Remano Fenati (147).