Rennie Scaysbrook | April 4, 2021
2021 Doha MotoGP News—Sunday
Mir and Miller face-off
Aside from the spectacularly close racing, Sunday’s big talking point was a coming together between Jack Miller and Joan Mir on the exit of the final turn. The reigning world champion was forced to lift his Suzuki over the runoff on the front straight as Miller appeared to intentionally run into his side.
Miller (43) and Mir (36) were at it big time in Qatar.
The move stemmed from Mir’s aggressive pass on the Australian six turns before, which forced the Ducati rider to sit up. “It was the only place I could overtake,” explained Mir. “I took the right position. He decided to stay on the outside. He maintained his line. We touched a bit. I picked up the bike. I understand it was a risky maneuver. But it was not over the limits.” Miller claimed, “I got hit I think three times already before” that moment.
But that couldn’t excuse what followed. Mir described the events: “I was wide in the last corner. When I came wide, I saw jack. He moved his head like he saw me. I went to the kerb, on the outside of the line as I could. But he just came across over me and we both touched. We almost crashed on the straight. It was super dangerous.”
The Majorcan was sure the move was intentional. And Miller didn’t exactly deny it. “It was the way the race was going,” he shrugged. After reviewing the incident, Suzuki decided not to appeal the FIM Stewards decision not to penalize the Australian.
MotoGP – never been more competitive!
Even by recent Qatari standards, this was hotly contested. By the flag, just 8.9 seconds covered race winner Fabio Quartararo and Miguel Oliveira in 15th place. “It was the craziest race ever,” said world champion Joan Mir. The previous closest top 15 in premier class history came at this very track in 2019, when 15.093s covered the point-scoring positions.
Excessive amounts of Doha track time in the past few weeks meant racing at the Qatari venue has never been closer.
But a six-second improvement on the previous record is marked. The reason? A competitive field like never before. Even Aprilia, the class’ perennial underachiever, is capable of running toward the front. In terms of machinery, the premier class has never been this closely matched.
And then there is track time. And lots of it. After preseason testing at this track and round one, Sunday was the eleventh day of running at this track in the past four weeks (the twelfth for class rookies). “Five weeks here in Qatar,” said Maverick Viñales. “A lot of laps. A lot. Everyone can go fast!” Brad Binder said, “when you do so many laps of testing at the same place it brings everyone together and much, much closer and makes the race more interesting for sure.”
Acosta irresistible
The 22-lap MotoGP affair was astonishing. But the earlier Moto3 race will forever be remembered as the coming of age of grand prix racing’s new star: Pedro Acosta. At just 16 years and 314 days of age, the Spaniard swooped to his debut world championship win in just his second race.
Pedro Acosta. This kid is a beast!
As if that wasn’t incredible enough, the Red Bull Ajo KTM rider copped a penalty for irresponsible riding on Friday and was forced to start the 18-lap race from pit lane, along with six other riders. It meant he lost in the region of eleven seconds on lap one.
But he made sensational progress, wiped out the deficit to the leaders, and joined the lead group after just eleven laps. He didn’t rest there. By the penultimate lap, he hit the front after gaining 22 places and coolly held off Darryn Binder on the final circuit to win by 0.039s. “When I caught up, I took a little breath and then went after them. Everything worked out well,” he said.
Remember the name.
Sunday
MotoGP
Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) took victory in the 2021 Doha MotoGP as we witnessed the closest top 15 in the history of the premier class, a mere 8.928 seconds covering first to 15th.
Quartararo led home French countryman Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) and Zarco’s sensational teammate Jorge Martin, who took his first podium in MotoGP in only his second career start.
Quartararo’s win was the first tie he stood on the podium since his victory in Catalunya last year.
Along with the closest top 15 in history, it was also the first time two French riders have stood on the premier class podium since 1954.
Martin’s third place came after a near-perfect ride in which the rookie started from pole and led the race for the first three-quarters, eventually having to give way to the charging Quartararo with five laps to go.
The speed of Martin’s, Zarco’s, Bagnaia’s, and Miller’s Ducati Desmosedici GP21’s was incredible, as the four Italian machines enjoyed an enormous top speed advantage that kept them in the hunt.
The poor relation was again the Suzukis of Alex Rins and World Champion Joan Mir, who carved their way to the front only for the Bologna Bullets to lay waste to them on the straights. Rins ended up fourth from race one winner Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha), Bagnaia, Mir, Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder, and Miller, who had a tense battle with Mir that saw the pair collide onto the start/finish straight with both riders gesticulating to each other during and after the race. Rounding out the top 10 was Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
Jorge Martin was superb in Qatar and very nearly pulled off a dream debut MotoGP win.
It was another shocking race for Petronas Yamaha, with Franco Morbidelli in 12th and Valentino Rossi out of the points in 16th.
Johann Zarco now leads the championship with 40 points from his pair of second places in the opening two rounds from tied teammates Quartararo and Vinales on 36 points. The next round of MotoGP 2021 will be held at Portimao for the Portuguese Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.
2021 Doha MotoGP Results
| 1 |
Fabio Quartararo |
(Yam) |
|
| 2 |
Johann Zarco |
(Duc) |
+ 1.457 |
| 3 |
Jorge Martin |
(Duc) |
+ 1.500 |
| 4 |
Alex Rins |
(Suz) |
+ 2.088 |
| 5 |
Maverick Vinales |
(Yam) |
+ 2.110 |
| 6 |
Francesco Bagnaia |
(Duc) |
+ 2.642 |
| 7 |
Joan Mir |
(Suz) |
+ 4.868 |
| 8 |
Brad Binder |
(KTM) |
+ 4.979 |
| 9 |
Jack Miller |
(Duc) |
+ 5.365 |
| 10 |
Aleix Espargaro |
(Apr) |
+ 5.382 |
Moto2
Elf Marc VDS Racing Team’s Sam Lowes notched up win number two of 2021 to become the first British rider to win the opening two races of an intermediate class campaign since Mike Hailwood did so in 1966, as the number 22 and Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) treated us to a terrific scrap for victory at the Tissot Grand Prix of Doha. Rookie sensation Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) picked up his maiden Moto2 podium with a brilliant third at Losail. Americans Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing) and Cameron Beaubier (American Racing Team) both crashed out of the race.
Sam Lowes only just kept the charging Remy Gardner at bay in Moto2.
In the championship, Lowes leads on a perfect 50 from Gardner on 40 and Fernandez third on 27.
2021 Doha Moto2 Results
| 1 |
Sam Lowes |
(Kal) |
|
| 2 |
Remy Gardner |
(Kal) |
+ 0.190 |
| 3 |
Raul Fernandez |
(Kal) |
+ 3.371 |
| 4 |
Marco Bezzecchi |
(Kal) |
+ 6.789 |
| 5 |
Ai Ogura |
(Kal) |
+ 16.640 |
| 6 |
Augusto Fernandez |
(Kal) |
+ 16.887 |
| 7 |
Celestino Vietti |
(Kal) |
+ 17.254 |
| 8 |
Stefano Manzi |
(Kal) |
+ 17.283 |
| 9 |
Xavi Vierge |
(Kal) |
+ 17.515 |
| 10 |
F. Di Giannantonio |
(Kal) |
+ 18.167 |
Moto3
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) won an astonishing race in Moto3 that was more bar room brawl than bike race. In only his second professional start, Acosta started from pitlane after incurring a penalty during FP2 for waiting for other riders for a tow. It didn’t stop him as he charged back through the field, taking the lead on the penultimate lap and pulled clear of Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) by 0.039s, with Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3) completing the podium.
Pedro Acosta (37) made history with a storming ride to victory in the Moto3 race.
In the championship, 16-year-old Acosta leads the way on 45 points from Binder on 36 and Jaume Masia on 32.
2021 Doha Moto3 Results
| 1 |
Pedro Acosta |
(KTM) |
|
| 2 |
Darryn Binder |
(Hon) |
+ 0.039 |
| 3 |
Niccolo Antonelli |
(KTM) |
+ 0.482 |
| 4 |
Andrea Migno |
(Hon) |
+ 0.514 |
| 5 |
Kaito Toba |
(KTM) |
+ 0.651 |
| 6 |
Izan Guevara |
(GasGas) |
+ 0.708 |
| 7 |
Ayumu Sasaki |
(KTM) |
+ 1.805 |
| 8 |
Ryusei Yamanaka |
(KTM) |
+ 1.857 |
| 9 |
Jaume Masia |
(KTM) |
+ 1.875 |
| 10 |
Romano Fenati |
(Hus) |
+ 1.967 |
2021 Doha MotoGP News—Saturday
Martin’s lap from the gods
Jorge Martin’s qualifying credentials were without question: 20 pole positions across two seasons in Moto3 (2017 and 2018) tell their own story. But the Spaniard was scintillating on Saturday as he claimed a first premier class pole in just his second start. With Johann Zarco second, it was Pramac Ducati’s first ever qualifying one-two.
martin’s pole lap was a stunner and indicative of the promise the young Spaniard has shown so far in MotoGP.
On his standout ability on a flying lap, Martin explained, “I thought it was much more difficult to ride a MotoGP bike. For sure at the beginning you feel everything is new and it’s difficult, but you can push actually to another level just because the tires, the power, the brakes, the gearbox, everything is better. I wasn’t doing many crazy things and the bike was really stable. The bike is great and it’s amazing to be here.”
His ability was talked up by countryman and occasional training partner Aleix Espargaro. “I knew perfectly how fast he is, and not just one single lap. He’s a big talent. He can do big things when he understands more the bike. In just his second race he did a fast lap alone. Did a very good job. Ducati have a big treasure with Jorge.”
But Martin sounded cautiously toward Sunday’s race. “Tomorrow I think it’s time to be a rookie. I’m a rookie. I don’t have the pressure, not even the potential yet to win. But a top six would be great.”
Michelin’s methods under the spotlight
A consequence of back-to-back races at a track where the MotoGP field also conducted preseason testing is an excess of rubber. Any rubber that wasn’t at the tests or during race one was returned to Michelin and then redistributed for round two.
Michelin has come under fire for the performance of redistributed rubber in Qatar.
The problem? They have previously been heated to working temperatures before being sent back to Michelin. When allocated for a second (or third) time, grip characteristics are different. As Piero Taramasso, head of Michelin motorsport explained, “These are tires that have been allocated to a team but have not been used, and while they were with the team they have put tire-warmers on them and kept them heated to around 90 degrees C. As the tires were not used, they were returned to us (as is normal practice) and then reallocated at a later date.”
While Michelin insisted there was no drop in performance, there were complaints from several riders. Namely Pol Espargaro, who said, “When we put them the grip level is low and is lower than the ones that have not been heated from the week before. They are very different. So when we put the proper one to make the time attack the bike change a little and this makes me do a lot of mistakes.”
Moto3 penalties
A new year, but the same old shenanigans in Moto3. FP2 was another frustrating session to watch as riders waited around in pit lane for the fastest riders to leave so long, they were unable to complete their out-laps before the checkered flag. To make matters worse, seven riders were seen touring before the final corner, awaiting faster names to pass by.
Dennis Foggia (7) is one of many who will start from pit lane at the Doha Grand Prix.
The FIM Stewards’ reaction was as swift as it was tough. Seven names—Sergio Garcia, Romano Fenati, Dennis Foggia, Pedro Acosta, Deniz Oncu, Stefano Nepa and Riccardo Rossi—were handed pit lane starts for Sunday’s race.
Last October a system was confirmed by which they would distribute penalties for irresponsible riding. First time offenders would serve a Long Lap Penalty. Second time offenders would serve a double Long Lap Penalty. Third time offenders would be forced to start from the pit lane. Despite this being a new season, and the slate was wiped clean, the Stewards have attempted to warn riders off further brainless antics.
Saturday
MotoGP
Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin stunned the paddock during Q2 for the Doha MotoGP, taking a maiden pole position in only his second MotoGP race.
The young Spanish former Moto3 World Champion’s lap of 1:53.106s saw him finish 0.157s ahead of teammate Johann Zarco and round one winner, Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha). Martin joins an exclusive club in claiming pole for only his second MotoGP race, with the other members comprising only Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team, Austin 2013) and MotoGP Legend Casey Stoner (Turkey, 2006).
Not everyone gets to have that feeling of pole position for MotoGP in their lives, but Jorge Martin sure deserves it with a magic lap at the end of Q2.
“It’s difficult to describe my feelings,” Martin said. “On the first run I was behind Mir and I felt super confident, I was catching him so fast and I thought, ‘ok I need to be behind a faster bike’. I was hoping to be behind Pecco but he wasn’t pushing a lot so I thought, ‘ok it’s my time to push, time to demonstrate who I am’. And for sure I didn’t expect to get pole! I expected to be top four, top five, and when I finished the lap and I was up there in first… it’s unbelievable.”
Fourth in Q2 was the factory Ducati team rider Jack Miller, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) and Miller’s teammate Francesco Bagnaia completing row two in sixth.
Aleix Espargaro had another impressive showing on the revised Aprilia RS-GP in seventh, with Alex Rins heading Suzuki teammate Joan Mir. Mir once again had to make his way into Q2 via Q1, making it through alongside Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM0, who qualified in 12th.
Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha), Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda) and Oliveira rounded out the top 12.
It was a disastrous qualifying for Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha), as the nine time World Champion could only manage 21st on the timesheets, one of the worst qualifying performances of his career.
2021 Doha MotoGP Results—Q2
| 1 |
Jorge Martin |
(Duc) |
1:53.106 |
| 2 |
Johann Zarco |
(Duc) |
+ 0.157 |
| 3 |
Maverick Vinales |
(Yam) |
+ 0.161 |
| 4 |
Jack Miller |
(Duc) |
+ 0.197 |
| 5 |
Fabio Quartararo |
(Yam) |
+ 0.363 |
| 6 |
Francesco Bagnaia |
(Duc) |
+ 0.548 |
| 7 |
Aleix Espargaro |
(Apr) |
+ 0.599 |
| 8 |
Alex Rins |
(Suz) |
+ 0.639 |
| 9 |
Joan Mir |
(Suz) |
+ 0.679 |
| 10 |
Franco Morbidelli |
(Yam) |
+ 0.688 |
Moto2
Last weekend’s race winner Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) once again brought his A game to the table when it mattered as the British rider and Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) went head-to-head for Tissot Grand Prix of Doha pole position. Lowes 1:59.055 eventually saw him beat Gardner by 0.137s in Q2, Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) makes up the front row in P3.
Lowes once again bested Gardner for a Losail pole, this time for the Doha Moto2 race.
Americans Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) and Cameron Beaubier (American Racing Team) qualified in eighth and 14th, respectively.
2021 Doha Moto2 Results—Q2
| 1 |
Sam Lowes |
(Kal) |
1:59.055 |
| 2 |
Remy Gardner |
(Kal) |
+ 0.137 |
| 3 |
Marco Bezzecchi |
(Kal) |
+ 0.272 |
| 4 |
Raul Fernandez |
(Kal) |
+ 0.386 |
| 5 |
Jake Dixon |
(Kal) |
+ 0.388 |
| 6 |
Ai Ogura |
(Kal) |
+ 0.637 |
| 7 |
F. Di Giannantonio |
(Kal) |
+ 0.641 |
| 8 |
Joe Roberts |
(Kal) |
+ 0.672 |
| 9 |
Aron Canet |
(Bos) |
+ 0.730 |
| 10 |
Augusto Fernandez |
(Kal) |
+ 0.754 |
Moto3
He left it until his final flying lap but Qatar GP race winner Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) will start on pole for the Tissot Grand Prix of Doha, as the Spaniard beats pitlane start bound Sergio Garcia (GASGAS Gaviota Aspar) by less than a tenth. Masia set a 2:05.913, the only sub 2:06 lap time in Q2, as Jeremy Alcoba (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) equals his best Grand Prix qualifying result in P3, which becomes P2 with Garcia’s penalty.
The pitlane start penalties played their part deciding the Moto3 grid even before qualifying did, with seven riders – including Garcia – given the punishment for their riding in FP2 on Friday evening. The rest are Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride), Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Riccardo Rossi (BOE Owlride), with a few in Q2 and a few in Q1, complicating life somewhat for those looking to move through.
Masia grabbed pole again for Red Bull KTM.
2021 Doha Moto2 Results—Q2
| 1 |
Jaume Masia |
(KTM) |
2:05.913 |
| 2 |
Sergio Garcia |
(GasGas) |
+ 0.099 |
| 3 |
Jeremy Alcoba |
(Hon) |
+ 0.245 |
| 4 |
Gabriel Rodrigo |
(Hon) |
+ 0.433 |
| 5 |
Tatsuki Suzuki |
(Hon) |
+ 0.494 |
| 6 |
Andrea Migno |
(Hon) |
+ 0.706 |
| 7 |
Darryn Binder |
(Hon) |
+ 0.730 |
| 8 |
John McPhee |
(Hon) |
+ 0.733 |
| 9 |
Pedro Acosta |
(KTM) |
+ 0.916 |
| 10 |
Izan Guevara |
(GasGas) |
+ 0.920 |
2021 Doha MotoGP News—Friday
Morbidelli’s walk-back
It is fair to assume Franco Morbidelli wasn’t at his most guarded on Sunday evening after race one. The Italian had watched a podium challenge evaporate as he dropped to last place. What he assumed was a problem with his start device had deprived him of confidence as he finished a distant 18th. “I don’t know with what rush Yamaha will take this problem,” he seethed. “I know I’m not on the top of Yamaha’s list at the moment.”
Franco Morbidelli admits his post-race comments about Yamaha may have been a little much.
But he walked that back those comments at round two, saying, “Maybe after the race I explained myself a bit too roughly because the adrenaline was multiplied by two after such a bad result and bad feeling. They have other factory riders to care about. That’s for sure. I was wondering about the timing of their help and finally the time of their help was great. Everything is fine.”
Still, the Italian’s race one issues remain a mystery. “Apparently (the device) was solved,” before the race started. “Then in the race the device was working ok. But still my feeling was bad and my performance even worse.” His form wasn’t helped by two mechanical issues forcing him off-track in FP1 at the Doha GP.
MotoGP set for Amazing Prime footage
On the back of the success of Netflix’s ‘Drive To Survive’ behind the scenes series on Formula 1, MotoGP organizers Dorna has confirmed Amazon Prime is working on a similar show for the two-wheel series, to be aired next year.
You’ll be seeing plenty more of these guys around the pits as MotoGP gets its own F1-style docu-series on Amazon Prime next year.
Riders were generally in approval. “Nowadays we depend so much on image to show the world what we are doing and I think F1 has created a very good buzz around the sport because of what is happened backstage rather than the racing itself,” said Miguel Oliveira. “As riders I think we could have a lot to gain on such a format coming out.”
Franco Morbidelli was similarly enthusiastic. “I love it because, because I loved the Formula 1 doc. I’m a great fan of F1 and to see the backstage or the different things we see usually about F1 freaked me out. I’m really looking forward to something like this for MotoGP: I won’t feel the same when I have cameras around me in difficult times. But it’s going to be good for the show. When I’m going to watch it back its going to be good to have a laugh. It’s a great thing for us, it’s a great thing for MotoGP and it’s a great thing for the viewer. We are in the documentary era. Why shouldn’t MotoGP make it?”
Rossi v Binder – Round 2
Valentino Rossi had a few things to get off his chest on Thursday. The first was his reaction to 1981 500cc champ Marco Lucchinelli’s midweek comments that it was time for the 42-year-old to hang up his leathers. “Every time I see Marco he’s super nice with me,” Rossi said. “I want to say he kisses my ass, but this probably isn’t the best way to express myself…”
Brad Binder and Valentino Rossi are at it again, and the South African doesn’t think there’s much of a problem. Rossi disagrees.
The nine-time champion also had words for Brad Binder. Rossi had felt plenty of the South African’s aggression in race one when the KTM rider forced Rossi to sit up at turn one on lap 12, losing him four positions in the process. “There are a lot of riders that are cleaner and ride with more respect for their opponents and have some other riders like Binder that ride a lot harder and don’t care about the rival,” he said.
Binder was nonplussed. “I’ve had two moments with him,” he recalled. “One time in Austria (in 2020) and we both went completely off the track which is understandable so I think a second time is normal to be upset! But to be fair I didn’t touch him at all. Maybe he is a bit sensitive. I don’t feel that I did anything wrong. I went in next to him he released the brake and he wanted to close the line, I released the brake too, end of story.”
Friday
Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) used the power of his Ducati Desmosedici and a few frustration flames of his own to blast to the fastest time of day one of the 2021 Doha MotoGP, the Aussie setting a 1:53.145s lap to finish 0.313s ahead of teammate and lap record holder, Francesco Bagnaia.
Jack Miller laid down the speed late in FP2 to go fastest overall on Friday and book a place in Q2.
Miller was mired down in the bottom half of the top 20 for much of the second Free Practice session and nearly threw himself over the highside on the first of his time attack runs, pitting to fit a fresh soft tire and eventually top the timesheets.
Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) picked up third in FP2 with his rookie teammate Jorge Martin claiming fifth, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) splits the Pramac duo in fourth.
Aleix Espargaro was once again fast on Friday, topping FP1 and sitting atop of the FP2 standings for much of the session until dropping to sixth when all the time attack runs commenced. The Aprilia correctly rider stayed in the garage, confident he wouldn’t need a tie attack run to secure a place in Q2 and thus to have another set of soft tires at his disposal.
Espargaro bested Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Sprinta Yamaha), with the top 10 rounded out by Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar), round one winner Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha) and Repsol Honda’s Stefan Bradl.
2021 Doha MotoGP Results—Friday
| 1 |
Jack Miller |
(Duc) |
1:53.145 |
| 2 |
Francesco Bagnaia |
(Duc) |
+ 0.313 |
| 3 |
Johann Zarco |
(Duc) |
+ 0.392 |
| 4 |
Fabio Quartararo |
(Yam) |
+ 0.438 |
| 5 |
Jorge Martin |
(Duc) |
+ 0.448 |
| 6 |
Aleix Espargaro |
(Apr) |
+0.501s |
| 7 |
Franco Morbidelli |
(Yam) |
+ 0.554 |
| 8 |
Alex Rins |
(Suz) |
+ 0.568 |
| 9 |
Maverick Vinales |
(Yam) |
+ 0.727 |
| 10 |
Stefan Bradl |
(Hon) |
+ 0.769 |
Moto2
Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) continues to take the Moto2™ class by storm as the rookie ended Friday at the Tissot Grand Prix of Doha over half a second clear of his rivals. A simply sensational 1:58.541 leaves the Spaniard 0.517s clear of second place Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), with Fernandez’s teammate Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completing the top three.
This kid is very good indeed. In just his second Moto2 race, Raul Fernandez topped Fp2 for Red Bull KTM.
Americans Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) and Cameron Beaubier (American Racing Team) finished fifth and 14th, respectively.
2021 Doha Moto2 Results—Friday
| 1 |
Raul Fernandez |
(Kal) |
1:58.541 |
| 2 |
F.Di Giannantonio |
(Kal) |
+ 0.517 |
| 3 |
Remy Gardner |
(Kal) |
+ 0.647 |
| 4 |
Marco Bezzecchi |
(Kal) |
+ 0.667 |
| 5 |
Joe Roberts |
(Kal) |
+ 0.672 |
| 6 |
Ai Ogura |
(Kal) |
+ 0.702 |
| 7 |
Sam Lowes |
(Kal) |
+ 0.724 |
| 8 |
Celestino Vietti |
(Kal) |
+ 0.774 |
| 9 |
Marcel Schrötter |
(Kal) |
+ 0.821 |
| 10 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Kal) |
+ 1.066 |
Moto3
With an automatic slot in Q2 on their minds, the Moto3 field left it late to try and make one last dash count in FP2 at the TISSOT Grand Prix of Doha… but many didn’t even make it to the line in time. That left Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) on top of the pile, although the South African held onto it by just 0.040 ahead of Sergio Garcia (GASGAS Gaviota Aspar Team) as the Spaniard just made it over the line to improve. Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) slots into third, another key name from the front group in the Qatar GP making his presence felt on Friday.
Darryn Binder was once again fast on Friday to take top Moto3 spot.
2021 Doha Moto3 Results—Friday
| 1 |
Darryn Binder |
(Hon) |
2:04.781 |
| 2 |
Sergio Garcia |
(GasGas) |
+ 0.040 |
| 3 |
Gabriel Rodrigo |
(Hon) |
+ 0.112 |
| 4 |
John McPhee |
(Hon) |
+ 0.187 |
| 5 |
Tatsuki Suzuki |
(Hon) |
+ 0.242 |
| 6 |
Jaume Masia |
(KTM) |
+ 0.297 |
| 7 |
Izan Guevara |
(GasGas) |
+ 0.323 |
| 8 |
Jeremy Alcoba |
(Hon) |
+ 0.362 |
| 9 |
Pedro Acosta |
(KTM) |
+ 0.388 |
| 10 |
Romano Fenati |
(Hus) |
+ 0.490 |
For more MotoGP news and results, click here
