Petrucci splashes to second career MotoGP win

In just nine races, 15 different riders have celebrated on MotoGP’s premier-class podium as a dramatic French Grand Prix underlies just how unpredictable the season has been. Factory Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci scored his second-ever MotoGP victory ahead of Repsol Honda rookie Alex Marquez and Red Bull KTM’s Pol Espargaro. Despite pole man Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) finishing ninth, he managed to extend his championship lead to 10 points over Joan Mir (Team Ecstar Suzuki).

Declared a wet race start just a few minutes ahead of the scheduled start time, riders were forced to swap bikes and re-grid for a quick-start procedure and seven of the 22 men lining up for the race had never raced a MotoGP bike previously in wet conditions.

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The rain caught out the series’ most experienced very early on, with Valentino Rossi (Monster Yamaha) crashing out of the race for the third consecutive round on just the third corner. He was one of six riders who failed to see the chequered flag.

Championship wise, the biggest blow was to Aussie Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati), who was caught out by the last-minute bike swap and was forced to use a bike which had engines problems with in warm-up. The Aussie was fighting for the lead with just eight laps to go when the engine of his GP21 cried no more.

It left Petrucci and teammate Andrea Dovizioso to fend off the charge from Alex Rins (Team Ecstar Suzuki), who started the race from 16th on the grid. But one lap later, the conditions would catch out the Spanish rider from second place. The drama up front all of a sudden put Marquez into podium contention. The rookie showed stunning wet-weather feel and was circulating almost a second and a half quicker than Petrucci.

With five laps to go, Petrucci had a 2.7-second buffer over the Repsol Honda rider, a gap which was reduced to 1.6 seconds just one lap later. But the Italian used his experience to cross the line 1.2s clear of the hard-charging rookie.

Pol Espargaro was half a second further back, ahead of Dovizioso and Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Ducati) who found good pace at the end of the race to snatch fifth place from Miguel Oliviera (Tech 3 KTM).

Points wise, it’s still Quartararo (115) from Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Joan Mir (105) who struggled to come to terms with the conditions and finished the race in 11th, two places behind Quartararo. Then it’s Dovizioso (97) from Monster Yamaha’s Maverick Viñales (96), who got caught up in Rossi’s off and finished between Quartararo and Mir in 10th. Idemitsu LCR Honda’s Taka Nakagami is in fifth overall on 81.

Remy runs second 

Australia had more to cheer about in the 10th round of the Moto2 World Championship, with Remy Gardner (Onexox TKKR Sag Team) holding off a last-lap lunge by Sky Racing Team’s Marco Bezzechi to take second place, some four seconds behind race winner Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS). Gardner got the hole shot from Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM) and Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing), though the latter two would succumb to the conditions. Sam Lowes clawed his way to the front early, though a mistake would let Jake Dixon through to a very comfortable first place. The British rider looked set for his maiden grand prix victory before he crashed out with five laps remaining.

Luca Marini (Sky Team VR46) finished 17th, nearly one full minute behind Lowes, though he still leads the championship from Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) on 150 points to Bastianini’s 135. Then it’s Bezzechi (130) from Lowes (128) and Martin (79).

Vietti wins Moto3 thriller

Celestino Vietti (Sky Team VR46) picked up his second win of the Moto3 season with a perfectly timed last-corner lunge which saw him go from third to first. Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Albert Arenas (Giviota Aspar Team) joined the young Italian on the podium, the latter moving into the championship lead with 135 points. Vietti moves up to third with 119 points ahead of Arbolinio (115), while a crash from John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) relegates him to fifth overall on 98 points.

Electric Hook notches podium

Aussie Josh Hook (Octo Pramac) celebrated a podium in the second race of what was the final round of the 2020 MotoE World Cup in France, while Jordi Torres (Pons Racing) wrapped up the title. Torres won the opening bout from Mike di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), Niki Tuuli (Avant Ajo) and Hook. The Aussie went one better in Race 2, behind race winner Tuuli and Di Meglio. A sixth place for Torres was enough for him to sew up the championship.

The rest of the MotoGP paddock now moves to Aragon in Spain for a double header.