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Miguel Oliviera took glory in MotoGP’s Catalan Grand Prix, ahead of Johann Zarco and Jack Miller who rounded off the podium places, thanks to a three-second penalty handed to Championship leader Fabio Quartararo.
The Circuit de Catalunya sweeps through the hills on the outskirts of Barcelona with several long, flowing corners and hard braking zones offering plenty of challenges as well as overtaking opportunities for the riders.
Another track with a long straight so the Ducati riders were licking their lips at the prospect of some simple straight-line overtakes.
Starting Grid
Fabio Quartararo lined up on pole position for the fifth consecutive race after a stunning lap in Saturday’s Q2 session, which he made look so effortless.
The Frenchman was joined on the front row by Ducati’s Jack Miller, who was pipped to pole by 0.039 seconds, and Pramac’s Johann Zarco who started third.
Fresh from his podium in Mugello last time out, Miguel Oliviera placed his KTM machine at the front of the second row. He lined up alongside Franco Morbidelli and Maverick Vinales who qualified sixth.
Big names started further down the grid than they would have hoped. 2020 champion Joan Mir started 10th, Valentino Rossi qualified in 11th and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez could only find the pace to start in 13th as he failed to advance from the Q1 session as he continues to recover from a year of injury complications.
As It Happened
On the sighting lap, returning rider Jorge Martin had a high side at turn five which saw his Pramac mechanics scrambling to prepare his spare bike, which forced him to drop from P15 to starting from the back of the grid.
Off the line, it was Quartararo who got the launch before the Ducati of Jack Miller roared into gear as the Australian led into turn one ahead of Oliviera as Championship leader Quartararo dropped to third.
Solo-Suzuki rider Joan Mir had an excellent start as he jumped from 10th on the grid all the way up to fourth by the end of the first sector. Zarco dropped from third to sixth as he struggled to get up to speed on the opening lap.
The two Sepang Racing Team riders, Rossi and Morbidelli, had first laps to forget. Rossi dropped six places as his teammate fell eight places down to 13th.
On the second lap, leader Miller ran deep into turn four which saw Oliviera leap-frog the Factory Ducati rider into the lead. This gave Quartararo the chance to size up a move and through the next series of corners. Miller and Quartararo battled before the Frenchman ran deep into turn seven and dropped to fifth.
Zarco became the first Ducati rider to breeze past another rider down the straight as he overtook his compatriot Quartararo and jumped up to fifth at the start of lap three.
The Yamaha rider was quick to respond as he re-claimed fifth position at turn five. Marc Marquez entered the fray during this tussle as he set sights on his first top-five finish of the season.
On lap four, Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro got past Miller into second, however, Miller moved back into second behind Oliviera who was stringing a series of solid laps at the head of the pack.
A lap later, Joan Mir slotted his Suzuki up the inside of Aleix Espargaro into turn one, which saw the former break into the top three.
Espargaro’s woes continued as Quartararo got past him at turn four, moments before his brother, Pol Espargaro, crashed out of the race at turn five.
Marc Marquez blitzed past Aleix Espargaro on the pit straight as the Honda rider jumped into sixth position.
Quartararo made a brave overtake on Mir at the never-ending turn three as the Frenchman promoted himself into second and set sights on leader Oliviera.
On lap eight, Marquez crashed out of his third race in succession as he lost the front at the reprofiled turn 10. A crash that home-boy Aleix Espargaro mirrored just three laps later.
After laps of chasing Oliviera, Quartararo made the move into the lead at turn five on lap 12 and tried to pull away, but Oliviera’s KTM power helped him reclaim the lead of the race down the main straight at the start of lap 14.
Moments later, Zarco finally got past Miller at turn one, a move that the Frenchman had sized up several laps before, but he used the dimensions and blueprints to pull off a perfect overtake.
Mir fell down another position at turn seven. An unusual place to overtake, but that didn’t phase the bold and brave Miller as the Australian jumped up to fourth. Maverick Vinales was also keeping tabs on the battle for fourth as the Spaniard ran in sixth.
Valentino Rossi broke deep into turn 10 after being fixated by LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez running deep and saw his race end in the gravel trap for the second time this season.
On lap 21, second place Fabio Quartararo started being reeled in by Johann Zarco. Over the line at the start of lap 22, the Ducati rider flew past his fellow Frenchman, again demonstrating the unbelievable straight-line speed that his bike has.
In the braking zone at turn one, Quartararo pulled off a fantastic save. The Yamaha rider was forced to run on and use a shortcut between turns one and two, something the Frenchman was handed a three-second time penalty for.
It was then bought to everyone’s attention that Quartararo was circulating with un-zipped leathers and that he’d dashed his chest protector at turn three when he was following leader Miguel Oliviera.
At the start of the penultimate lap, Miller and Quartararo (who still was running bare-chested) embarked on a battle. At turn one, Miller dived down the inside of the Yamaha rider, but the Frenchman got straight back past.
Whilst this battle was ongoing, Zarco was closing in on Oliviera in the lead throughout the final two laps however it was too little too late.
In the end, it was Miguel Oliviera who took his first victory of the 2021 season ahead of Johann Zarco and Miller who came home in third, thanks to six seconds worth of penalties handed to Fabio Quartararo.
Rounding out the top 10 was Mir, Vinales, Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia, Brad Binder, Morbidelli and Enea Bastianini.
In the riders’ standings, Quartararo still leads the way by 14 points ahead of Johann Zarco who is 11 points clear of Jack Miller in third.
What’s Next?
MotoGP takes a two-week break ahead of the German Grand Prix held at the Sachsenring Circuit, where Marc Marquez will be hoping to keep up his unbeaten record around the East-German Circuit.
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