Qatar GP
Pol Espargaró finished third and Marc Márquez fifth, after the author of the pole, Jorge Martín, had to leave due to an accident
The Italian rider Enea Bastianini achieved the first victory of the season in MotoGP at the Qatar Grand Prix. A race in which Pol Espargaró was the best Spaniard when he crossed the finish line in third position, while Marc Márquez finished in fifth place. In addition, Jorge Martín had to leave due to an accident after he got pole position on Saturday.
A race that Pol Espargaró commanded from the first lap to the final stretch, in which he had tire problems that prevented him from climbing to the top of the box. A result that allowed him to obtain his eighth podium in the premier class and the second that he conquers with Honda after being second last year in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Enea Bastianini thus signed the Italian trifecta in Losail, after the victory of Andrea Migno in Moto3 and Celestino Vietti in Moto2.
Bastianini’s win brought her team owner Nadia Padovani and the Gresini garage to tears as the team, founded by Padovani’s late husband Fausto Gresini, won its first race after becoming an independent team again. . Gresini, two-time world champion in the 125cc category (now Moto3), died last year at the age of 60 two months after contracting coronavirus.
«It is difficult for me to speak. I want to dedicate this victory to Fausto because he pushed a lot from the sky”, said an emotional Bastianini as he pointed to the sky. “It’s fantastic for the team. I think all the boys are crying,” he added.
As the lights went out, Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin, who took pole position in qualifying on Saturday, got off to a poor start as the Hondas of Pol and Marquez moved into the lead.
Marquez fell lower, however, when Binder capitalized on a mistake while Bastianini, riding last year’s Ducati GP21, was even quicker down the straight. Ducati’s Jack Miller was forced to retire with a technical problem and the Australian stormed out of the garage after entering, while his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia struggled to catch up with the lead pack.
Ducati’s night was made worse when Bagnaia, last season’s championship runner-up, slipped and took out Martin when the Spaniard tried to overtake at the first corner, with both bikes sliding off the track.
The Italian manufacturer’s hopes were pinned on Bastianini, who started from the front row for the first time, and passed Binder before beginning to wobble race leader Espargaro with the advantage of closing each lap.
The pressure paid off as Bastianini overtook Espargaró with four laps to go, using the Honda rider’s slipstream before he swerved in an attempt to defend his position and dropped to third.