Sunday October 24th 2021
“This is just a dream”
MotoGP champ not a Spaniard for the first time since 2011
Valentino Rossi only played a minor role in the last home race of his motorcycle career. Thanks to the fall of the only remaining competitor, Fabio Quartararo is the new MotoGP world champion prematurely. In doing so, he is breaking a ten-year Spanish dominance.
Motorcycle rider Fabio Quartararo is MotoGP world champion for the first time. In the third last race of the season in Misano, the Yamaha rider benefited from the fall of his last remaining title rival, Francesco Bagnaia, a few laps before the end of the race. “It’s unbelievable! It’s just a dream,” said the 22-year-old after the race: “It feels so good, especially because my family is here too. Tonight we will celebrate and the rest of the season simply enjoy!”
Quartararo finished fourth in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – but that didn’t matter after Bagnaia had squandered his remaining chances for the championship three laps before the end of the race. The Italian started the third last race of the season 52 points behind Quartararo.
The win went to the Spaniard Marc Marquez (Honda). For the first time a Frenchman triumphs in the motorcycle premier class, for the first time since 2011 the world champion is not from Spain. Nine-time motorcycle world champion Valentino Rossi finished tenth in his last home race. Rossi, who comes from the region and ended his impressive career after the season, started from last place.
Gardner extends Moto2 lead
Marcel Schrötter finished 15th in Moto2 and secured at least one point again after two races without points. Schrötter started the 16th race of the season from 21st place.
In the Moto2 World Championship, front runner Remy Gardner (Australia) increased his lead a little with seventh place. His direct competitor Raul Fernandez (Spain) crashed while in the lead with eleven laps to go and retired. Gardner is now 18 points ahead of Fernandez with two races still to go. The victory went to Sam Lowes (Great Britain).
In Moto3, the fight for the world championship also continues. World Cup runner-up Dennis Foggia (Italy) reduced the gap to World Cup leader Pedro Acosta to just 21 points with his victory in Misano. The Spaniard finished third at noon.