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Francesco Bagnaia won the final round of the 2021 MotoGP season in Valencia as Valentino Rossi hangs up his leathers after a fantastic 10th place finish.
Bagnaia made a move on Jorge Martin on course to his fourth win of the season as the Spaniard finished second with Jack Miller rounding out the rostrum.
Starting Grid
On pole position was Pramac Ducati’s Martin who clinched his fourth pole position of the season and was joined on the front row by Bagnaia in second and Miller in third. Row two was fronted by Joan Mir who started fourth with Johann Zarco in fifth and Alex Rins in sixth.
KTM’s Brad Binder started seventh with Fabio Quartararo and Takaaki Nakagami making up row three as they started eighth and ninth respectively.
On row four, Rossi started his 432nd and final MotoGP race in 10th as he was alongside Franco Morbidelli in 11th and Aleix Espargaro in 12th. Andrea Dovizioso lined up in 13th and was joined on row five by Maverick Vinales in 14th and Iker Lecuona in 15th, who was another rider that said his goodbyes after the race.
Row six was an Italian lockout as Danilo Petrucci lined up on a MotoGP grid for one last time in 16th with Luca Marini in 17th and Enea Bastianini in 18th. Alex Marquez started 19th with Miguel Oliveira in 20th and last place on the grid.
Repsol Honda duo Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro were both declared unfit for the season finale. Marquez was suffering from double-vision, meanwhile, Espargaro missed out after a heavy crash in FP3.
As It Happened
Off the line, it was Miller and Martin who got the best starts and the latter held onto his first place into turn one. Meanwhile, the retiring Rossi moved up a position as he claimed ninth after a phenomenal start.
Miller tried to make a move for the lead on Martin at the start of lap two, but the Spaniard made an instant reply at turn two. Three corners later, the Aussie lost second place to Mir who took the opportunity to leapfrog Miller.
On lap three, Bagnaia was the next to make a move on Miller as the Italian made a tidy move at turn one. Rins followed the Italian past the Aussie as he moved up to fourth.
The overtaking duo were at it again as both Bagnaia and Rins moved up the order after overtaking Mir for second and third place respectively.
Quartararo dived up the inside of Miller at turn 14 and got up into fifth place, however, the Aussie reclaimed the position moments later as he blasted past the champion down the pit straight.
On lap five, Nakagami became the first rider to retire from the race as he crashed out at turn six and ended his race early.
The top four started to pull away on lap six as Rins made a lunge on Bagnaia at turn six but the Italian fought straight back to keep second place.
However, Rins’ race ended prematurely on lap 11 as he was too aggressive on the brakes at turn six and crashed out.
Over the next laps, Bagnaia started to chase leader Martin and eventually started to size up an overtake. The Italian made the first move stick on lap 15 as he dived up the inside of Martin at turn 14.
Miller made a late surge as he overtook Mir for third and the Aussie wasn’t done there as he desperately tried to catch Martin. However, it was too little too late and he had to settle for third despite running the final laps all over the rear of Martin’s Pramac Ducati.
In the end, it was Bagnaia who took the victory in Valencia ahead of Martin in second and Miller in third. Mir, Quartararo, Zarco, Binder, Bastianini, Aleix Espargaro and Rossi rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Emotional scenes followed as Rossi circulated the last lap of his MotoGP career. Fireworks, flags, tears and applause followed as he returned to pit lane to a guard of honour from all personnel in the MotoGP paddock.
Ducati’s first 1-2-3 finish in the manufacturer’s history gives them plenty of confidence and momentum heading into the 2022 season as Martin’s podium finish saw him clinch the Rookie of the Year award.
That brings the end to what has been a thrilling 2021 MotoGP season. Eight victors and 15 podium finishers over the course of the year poises the 2022 season to be one of the best yet.
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