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Boris reports on the Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

It's just more Fabulous

Boris Mihailovic by Boris Mihailovic
July 27, 2020
in MotoGP, Motorcycle News, Motorcycle Racing
Home Motorcycle News Motorcycle Racing MotoGP
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2020 MotoGP Round Two – Jerez
Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

With Boris Mihailovic

The anticipation for this round was off the scale.

The reigning world champion, Marc Marquez, broke his humerus the week before, and yet the Spanish media was convinced about his intention to race.

People were agog with incredulity. No way could such a thing occur, could it? The effects of anaesthesia alone take a few days to wear off, and yet here was Marquez, sauntering into Jerez, trundling his suitcase behind him with his injured arm not in a sling, a mere two days after Dr Mir plated his broken bone.

Marc Marquez was passed fit to ride in Jerez

Social media was alive with speculation. Was it a publicity stunt by HRC? Was Marquez just screwing with the field’s heads. Was he even human to make this attempt?

We were forced to wait until Saturday. Marquez chose to sit our FP1 and FP2 on Friday. A smart call given the teams had all the data they needed from the previous week, and conditions would be much the same this round, if not a little hotter.

So he held his fire and waited, and the anticipation grew greater as a result.

On Saturday Marquez duly wheeled his Honda out of the garage and joined the field for the crucial FP3 – which sets the riders up for Q1 and Q2.

His fellow riding-wounded were Rins and Crutchlow, but all eyes were on Marquez.

He did not disappoint…well, maybe a little. But he still managed to bang out a few fastish laps, which put him into Q1 for the first time in living memory. He was obviously uncomfortable and it seems it was his elbow giving him grief, and there was more talk of possible nerve issues.

Marc Marquez was passed fit to ride in Jerez but ultimately called it quite during qualifying – Click to read what he had to say

Qualifying One was the clincher. Marquez rode out, then rode right back in again, and went straight to his trailer out the back. Within minutes, HRC had declared he would not race on Sunday.

As magnificently Herculean as his effort was just to have a go at muscling a MotoGP bike around a stinking hot Jerez, the prospect of actually doing an entire race was a bridge too far. There is footage of his arm looking like an egg-plant – both in size and colour.

This screenshot from TV footage shows the technicolour bloated rainbow that is the right arm of Marc Marquez

Crutchlow and Mir soldiered on, but once again, Quartararo was all-conquering. He positioned himself on pole as the air temperatures rose into the high thirties and the track, hovering at about 60, promised to fry the marrow out of everyone’s bones during the race. It was brutal, and the attrition rate was high.

Next to Fabulous on the front row sat Vinales and Bagnaia, once again shaming the factory Ducati boys who were back in eleventh (Petrucci) and 14th (Dovizioso). Miller was sat in seventh on row three.

Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

Rossi had surprised everyone, including his fans, by finding fourth, beside KTM’s Oliviera – and anyone who thinks the acquisition of Dani Pedrosa by the Austrian factory isn’t paying dividends is not paying attention – and Fabulous’s Petronas team-mate, Franco Morbidelli in sixth. Takaaki Nakagami, had clearly been shown the special cupboard where HRC keeps its special motorcycle things (actually just Marquez’s data), and had secured eighth, just ahead of Brad Binder.

Hole-shot devices are all the rage, and they do work a treat, but there was a slight cloud hanging over the Yamahas – all the Yamahas – as the race kicked off.

Rossi had been sidelined with a mechanical fault the previous round. Vinales has allegedly used four of his five allotted engines, and engines had apparently been shipped back to Japan for forensic spanner-banging. Would the feral heat of Jerez further conspire against Yamaha?

Not really.

Miguel Oliveira got spat off at turn one

The first corner saw Fabulous, Vinales, and Rossi, with Miller hot on their wheels, commence battle. The first corner also saw Miguel Oliviera bring sadness to KTM, when Binder nudged his back wheel, then rammed him with his bike, and ended his race, almost taking Smith out in the bargain.

As they started Lap Two, Fabulous was still in front, followed by Rossi who had done Vinales in Turn 12, while Bagnaia rounded up Miller.

Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

And then Quartararo just piled it on. And on. And on some more.

Behind him, Vinales discovered Rossi is a thousand sons-of-bitches to pass, but that did not stop him trying. Maverick later said he had trouble breathing during the race. Sucking in Rossi’s blazing exhaust fumes through the 60-degree filter of hot air rising from the track could not have been helpful. In fact, Rossi looked by far the fresher of the two in Parc Ferme after the race.

Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

Five laps in, and Fabulous was three seconds clear of Rossi and riding smoothly. Iker Lucuonoa crashed for the third time this weekend, while Maverick drifted back into the clutches of Miller and Bagnaia. It was wondrous to see the Pramac Ducati blokes riding like they were the factory team, as Dovi and Petrucci floundered about mid-field.

Emboldened by his own performance, Miller then lunged past Maverick, ran super-wide and surrendered his third place to Bagnaia.

Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

Asparagus A sent his Aprilia into the gravel as Fabulous put four seconds between him and Rossi. Vinales, who had worked himself back into third, then made one of his usual race-errors, ran wide on Turn Six, and suddenly Bagnaia found himself in third place. Vinales was clearly unsettled, and Miller passed him at the end of the main straight and set off in pursuit of Bagnaia.

Their jousting over third had allowed Morbidelli to start tormenting Maverick, and then helpfully, Miller fell off. Bagnaia was now on Rossi’s tail, while Petrucci also helped everything and saw himself off into the gravel.

Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

Then Rossi, like so many others, ran wide in Turn Six, and allowed Bagnaia through.

The gap to Fabulous was now 4.5 seconds, and it was now Morbidelli’s turn to torment Rossi.

Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

Binder, who had been working his way forward after seeing off Oliviera, high-sided himself into space and drove his nuts into his thick South African neck on the way down.

With ten laps to go, the field was down to 15 riders, so everyone was in the points.

And then there were 14 riders.

Morbidelli’s Yamaha failed to proceed in exactly the same place Rossi’s had a week earlier.

Behind him, Crutchlow, livid with suffering and pain, pulled into the pits, had his team threaten his LCR Honda with tools, then rejoined the race.

Fabio Quartararo

Fabulous was uncatchable at the front – and nothing but a major error or a crash would stop him claiming a back-to-back victories.

Vinales was back to threaten Rossi for third, while Bagnaia was having the race of his life in second – and it was all glory and wonder…until his Ducati began to spout smoke like a Kenworth.

The track temperature was now 63-degrees and Rossi was cleverly fending Vinales off at almost every corner as Bagnaia finally pulled out of the race.

Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

Rossi was now in second and Yamaha had a stranglehold on the podium.

It took Maverick until the second-last lap to get around Rossi, who ran a little wide on a corner, and then it was done.

Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

Fabulous first, Vinales second, and Rossi third, his 199th premier class podium and his 235th career podium.

MotoGP podium
1 Fabio Quartararo – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha – 41:22.666
2 Maverick Viñales – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +4.495
2 Valentino Rossi – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +5.546

Nakagami claimed a wonderful fourth, followed by Joan Mir and a sweat-flayed Dovi, who is making himself more affordable to Ducati with each passing race.

Takaaki Nakagami – P4

Rossi celebrated like he’d won the title – even climbing the tyre wall and waving to a non-existent crowd. The Doctor’s sense of humour remains intact, it seems.

Valentino Rossi and crew were pretty happy

The real hero was, of course, Fabulous, who now has 50 big-arse points. Vinales is ten behind him, and Dovi is 24 shy in third.

Fabio Quartararo

Brno is next in two weeks’ time, which will give Marquez time to heal. He has no points going into Round Three. And that’s not something he has experienced before.

Fabio Quartararo and Valentino Rossi

Quartararo is oozing confidence at the seams and keeps taking his clothes off at every opportunity. Rossi is talking about finding a new direction with his set-up, and Maverick is very much in touch with the lead. For Yamaha, it will all come down to reliability.

Valentino Rossi – P3

The rest seem to have their work cut out for them.

Maverick Vinales – P2

I think the best is yet to come from this amazing season.

MotoGP Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 41m22.666
2 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha +4.495
3 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +5.546
4 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +6.113
5 Joan MIR Suzuki +7.693
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +12.554
7 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +17.488
8 Alex MARQUEZ Honda +19.357
9 Johann ZARCO Ducati +23.523
10 Alex RINS Suzuki +27.091
11 Tito RABAT Ducati +33.628
12 Bradley SMITH Aprilia +36.306
13 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda +Lap
Not Classified
DNF Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 6 Laps
DNF Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 9 Laps
DNF Brad BINDER KTM 13 Laps
DNF Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 14 Laps
DNF Jack MILLER Ducati 15 Laps
DNF Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 17 Laps
DNF Iker LECUONA KTM 20 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
DNF Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 0 Lap

 

MotoGP podium
1 Fabio Quartararo – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha – 41:22.666
2 Maverick Viñales – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +4.495
2 Valentino Rossi – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +5.546

MotoGP Championship Points Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 50
2 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 40
3 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 26
4 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 19
5 Pol ESPARGARO KTM 19
6 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 16
7 Jack MILLER Ducati 13
8 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 12
9 Johann ZARCO Ducati 12
10 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 11
11 Joan MIR Suzuki 11
12 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 9
13 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 8
14 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 7
15 Tito RABAT Ducati 7
16 Alex RINS Suzuki 6
17 Bradley SMITH Aprilia 5
18 Brad BINDER KTM 3
19 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 3
20 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 0
21 Iker LECUONA KTM 0
22 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 0

 

Tags: BorisBoris MihailovicMotoGP
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Boris Mihailovic

Boris Mihailovic

Boris is a writer who has contributed to many magazines and websites over the years, edited a couple of those things as well, and written a few books. But his most important contribution is pissing people off. He feels this is his calling in life and something he takes seriously. He also enjoys whiskey, whisky and the way girls dance on tables. And riding motorcycles. He's pretty keen on that, too.

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