For this new meeting at the Teruel Grand Prix (in Aragon), Fabio Quartararo was eager to make up for his poor performance last weekend. On this same track, the Frenchman started in 6th position.
Following a tumultuous start with the crashes of poleman Nakagami and Miller’s Ducati, which was hit by Binder, the Nice-native came out fairly well, remaining in 6th after the first lap, battling with Mir, the new championship leader.
But soon, the local rider was left behind. Once again struggling like the previous weekend on this same track, Quartararo fought to maintain his position. Uncomfortable with his bike, he made a small mistake that allowed Alex Marquez to seize the advantage.
Meanwhile, his teammate was leading the race, setting lap records. This was expected, considering the tire choices made by the riders. Quartararo started on medium tires while his teammate started on soft ones. This sparked hope for a performance reversal in favor of the Frenchman towards the end of the race. Unfortunately, after definitively losing touch with the front-runners, he was overtaken by Pol Espargaro.
Without a Solution
Mid-race, Fabio, on his Petronas Yamaha, was battling with Olivera to retain points for the 8th place. The Frenchman staunchly defended his position. Ahead of him, his teammate continued to lead the race, while Marquez, in pursuit of a third consecutive podium, crashed, granting Quartararo another position. After fighting for five laps, the “scorpion,” as he is nicknamed, was forced to yield to yet another attack by the Portuguese rider from the French team Tech 3.
In the final laps, A. Espargaro, struggling with the Nice-native, was forced to retire, giving our local rider some breathing room.
In the end, no one managed to challenge Franco Morbidelli, who secured his second GP win of the season ahead of last week’s winner Alex Rins and world championship leader Johan Mir, who increased his lead in the overall standings.
The next meeting is in two weeks in Valencia, on a track that suits Fabio Quartararo well. He will need to regain confidence to stay in contention for the world championship.
