MotoGP LIVE Catalonia Barcelona Race: Oliveira narrowly ahead of Zarco, Quartararo penalized

Article updated until the end of the race

It's the big day for this seventh meeting of the season which will take place near Barcelona for the Catalan Grand Prix. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) will start from his fifth pole in a row. A regularity that had not been seen since Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team). The native of Cervera had a string of seven, between the 2013 Valencia and 2014 Italian Grands Prix. The Frenchman also equals Wayne Rainey in the number of qualifications dominated in the premier category (15).

It is also necessary to go back to Jorge Lorenzo to see a representative Yamaha accomplishing such a feat was in 2010. It has been three years since the tuning fork brand remained undefeated in this exercise in Catalonia. This is the 10th pole achieved by one of its drivers on this track in the premier category, after those of Franco Morbidelli in 2020 and Fabio Quartararo in 2019.

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) is second and first Ducati representative of this Q2, after going through the repechage. The last time he did this well was at the 2020 Valencia Grand Prix.

Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), hoists the first of the four RC16s into fourth position. Which constitutes the best result for the Austrian firm for a Saturday afternoon, since its pole in Portimão last season.

Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), riding the third M1, was credited with the sixth fastest time in qualifying. He will now try to score his first MotoGP podium on this track.

Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) did not do better than ninth. Twice, the Italian had already failed to appear on one of the first two lines: in Portugal and in France. He placed second and fourth there.

Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), who is the rider to have shone the most in Catalonia with his ten victories, will start 11th. These are his best qualifications since this ninth place at Le Mans. But the only time he did worse on this circuit was in 2017. He was 13th on the grid.

Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team), one of the survivors of Q1, qualified 12th in front of the other Hondas. For the second year in a row, there are no RCVs in the Top 10 at this point in the weekend. Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) missed Q2 for the third time, after the 2015 Italian and 2021 Spanish Grands Prix. In Jerez, he had to start 14th.

What will this event have in store for us on the demanding Montemelo track, known to be torture for the tires? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

Catalunya-Barcelona MotoGP™	2020	2021 (New turn #10)
FP1	1'40.431 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'40.378 Aleix Espargaro (See here)
FP2	1'39.789 Franco Morbidelli (See here)	1'39.235 Johann Zarco (See here)
FP3	1'39.418 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'38.929 Franco Morbidelli (See here)
FP4	1'40.315 Maverick Vinales (See here)	1'39.602 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Q1	1'39.399 Jack Miller (See here)	1'39.153 Jack Miller (See here)
Q2	1'38.798 Franco Morbidelli (See here)	1'38.853 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Warm Up	1'40.139 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'39.783 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)
Course	Quartararo, Mir, Rins (See here)	Oliveira, Zarco, Miller
All time lap record	1'38.680 Jorge Lorenzo 2018	1'38.853 Fabio Quartararo (See here)

25° in the air and 39.1° on the track under a sky which will remain mild are the conditions proposed to the drivers for this seventh round of the world championship MotoGP. And we are very happy to see the public again in the stands, even if the numbers remain reduced due to the health gauge to be respected.

Here is the video of the moment…

kick of George Martin during the round set up on the grid!

All drivers will start in medium forward except Petrucci, Nakagami, Binder and Oliveira Hard. Rear in medium for Marini, Vinales, Bastianini, Nakagami, Salvadori, P and A. Espargaro and the two Marquez brothers, all the others hard.

The drivers will have 24 laps to complete.

George Martin will start from the Pitlane.

MMarquez will finally go soft astern due to the presence of clouds causing a drop in temperature.

It's off and it's Quartararo who takes the lead in front of Miller. Very quickly, Miller and Oliveira got the better of Fabio. Mir, A.Espargaro complete this top5.

Zarco is in row 6 and in front of Oliveira puts the brakes on Miller.

Mir and Aleix Espargaro get the best of Quartararo. The Frenchman is now 6th, he has just been passed by a very lively Zarco. Marc Marquez, 8th, he has just got rid of Binder, he has Vinales in his field of vision. He passes it in stride.

21 more laps and the top10 is as follows: Oliveira, Miller, A.Espargaro, Mir, Quartararo, Marc Marquez, Zarco, Vinales, Binder and Bagnaia.

P.Espargaro crashes in turn 5.

In front Oliveira is 1/2s ahead of Miller. Marc Marquez, at the limit passes Aleix Espargaro, Zarco takes advantage and passes the Spaniard, the Pramac driver is 5th.

Petrucci crashes in turn 5.

Quartararo passes Mir, he now occupies rank 2.

Penalty for Nakagami, track limit exceeded: long lap to complete.

Marc Marquez crashes in turn 10

Top10 with 16 laps to go: Oliveira, Quartararo, Mir, Miller, Zarco, A.Espargaro, Vinales, Binder, Bagnaia and Lecuona.

Quartararo pushes and gradually comes back on Oliveira. Duel between Binder and Bagnaia for the gain of 7th position.

Fabio passes Oliveira. Still 12 laps to cover.

Fall of A.Espargaro.

Oliveira regains control of Fabio with 11 laps to go.

Zarco gains the upper hand over Miller, he. is now 4th.

Zarco tries to pass Mir on the slipstream with the power of the Ducati, but in vain.

9 laps from the goal, Zarco ends up passing Mir, he occupies rank 3. In front of Oliveira and Quartararo are racing in the lead.

Mir is overtaken by Miller, the world champion occupies rank 5

Behind Rossi makes a mistake and falls in turn 10.

7 more laps, the top10 is as follows: Oliveira, Quartararo, Zarco, Miller, Mir, Vinales, Bagnaia, Binder, Morbidelli and Bastianini. 

Lecuona crashed in turn 13. The latter was in the top10

Zarco is less than 1s behind Quartararo, he takes Miller in his wake. Binder ends up getting rid of Bagnaia, the KTM rider takes 7th position.

Zarco presents himself as the strong man at the end of the race, he overtakes Fabio who swerves, his combination has opened, he has lost his inside plate. He is 2nd. He will try to get back on Oliveira who is 9 tenths ahead. The Niçois rides with the suit open!

Zarco arrives in the wheel of Bagnaia. Quartararo, Miller and Mir complete this top5

3s penalty for Quartararo for cutting turns 1 and 2.

Victory for Oliveira ahead of Zarco and Miller. Quartararo finishes 4th

Very nice performance from Zarco!

And for Miller!

            MotoGP Catalonia Barcelona Race: classification

 

Classification credit: MotoGP.com