For the 10th meeting of the season, the little world of motorcycle racing was traveling to Aragon. After a promising Friday and a Saturday full of ups and downs, Fabio Quartararo endured a nightmarish race.
Despite a violent crash during free practice 3 (hip pain) and grip issues throughout the weekend, the Nice native Fabio Quartararo started from pole position for the second consecutive time following the French Grand Prix. After a very tight start, Viñales muscled his way to the front ahead of Quartararo and Morbidelli. After a few laps, the Frenchman lost pace and was overtaken one by one by Rins, Morbidelli, and particularly Johan Mir, his main rival in the championship. Up front, Alex Rins, significantly faster than the competition, took the lead of the race on the ninth lap.
By the end of the first third of this Grand Prix, Fabio was losing more than half a second per lap to the leaders and was eventually overtaken by Alex Marquez. Sliding through most of the circuit’s corners, Quartararo was overtaken by several riders, leaving him in ninth position.
Fabio lets go of the championship reins
Probably struggling with his hip, the descent continued after the midway point of the race. Nine laps before the finish, the Frenchman made a mistake, putting him in 14th place. The ordeal continued as Quartararo eventually dropped out of the points zone.
To salvage his Grand Prix, he had to rely on fate and hope that his main championship rivals didn’t score many points. For this, he could count on the two Alexes, Rins and Marquez, who were leading the race. Ultimately, it was the Suzuki rider Rins who won his first race of the season after a thrilling finish.
Finally finishing 18th, the very disappointed Nice native will have the opportunity to redeem himself next weekend, once again on this track in Aragon. Let’s hope he can find the key to perform well in the race.
