Two races from the end of the season, the MotoGP world championship experienced a spectacular turnaround, Sunday, October 16, at the end of the Australian Grand Prix. Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), reigning world champion, after a fall which forced him to retire, gave up his leading position to Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) who finished third behind Spaniard Alex Rins ( Suzuki), winner ahead of Spaniard Marc Marquez (Honda).
The Italian Bagnaia (233 points), who has a fourteen point lead over the Frenchman, could even have had a much more comfortable advantage, since he was still the race leader at the start of the last lap before problems tires do not roll it back.
“I was aiming for victory when I started the race, but when I found out that Quartararo had retired, I thought about the points and I didn’t want to take any risks”explained the Ducati rider to the microphone of Canal +, after the race.
“I will stop thinking about the championship”
Before the Australian round, only two points separated the two pilots. Starting fifth on the grid, Fabio Quartararo was in fifteenth place before his crash which occurred shortly before halfway through the race. The Niçois had already made a braking error shortly after the start, causing him to lose about fifteen positions.
“I had trouble warming up my rear tyre, and then I made a mistake,” he explained on Canal +. “I managed to get back up and by pushing a little too much, (…) I made this mistake”he added.
The French rider still has the Grand Prix of Malaysia on October 23, and that of Valencia on November 6, to retain his world title and prevent the Italian Bagnaia from being, at 25, crowned MotoGP world champion for the first times of his career.
“I will stop thinking about the championship, I will enjoy these last two races”said the Frenchman, touched by the scenario of the day. “We’ll have to win, but that’s easier to say,” he added.
In the race for the title, the Spaniard Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), still third in the championship, is now twenty-seven points behind Bagnaia after his ninth place in Australia.