Fabio Quartararo won the Moto GP Grand Prix of Catalonia on Sunday. The French rider, the reigning world champion, had a brilliant start and dominated the event at the Montmelo circuit to claim his second victory of the season following his success in Portugal at the end of April.
Thanks to this victory, the Nice-born Yamaha rider, who has just extended his contract with the Japanese team, increases his lead in the World Championship standings (147 points) over his runner-up Aleix Espargaro (125 points), who made a terrible blunder when his second place was almost assured. The Spaniard actually thought the race was over with one lap remaining. He ultimately finished 5th in front of his home crowd. His error benefited the other Frenchman, Johann Zarco (Ducati), who finished 3rd behind his teammate Jorge Martin.
Among the other headliners, Italians Enea Bastianini (Ducati-Gresini) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), who were 3rd and 4th in the championship before the Catalan round, had to retire after crashing. While Bastianini maintains his rank, this withdrawal is a major setback for Bagnaia, now relegated to 5th place, ten points behind Zarco, who moved up to fourth with a total of 91 points, just three units behind Bastianini. The next round, the German Grand Prix, is scheduled for June 19.
