The MotoGP field gathered for a minute’s silence before the 23-lap race to commemorate 19-year-old Moto3 racer Jason Dupasquier, who died of injuries in qualifying on Saturday.
The drama of the race began before the lights went out, when Avintia rookie Enea Bastianini Johann Zarco ran into the rear while warming up his brakes on the warm-up lap.
As a result, Zarco suffered some damage to the tail unit while Bastianini had to miss the race, but the start was not delayed. The race management will investigate the incident after the race.
Bagnaia took the lead at the start to San Donato, but Poleman Quartararo was not swallowed up in the field thanks to Yamaha’s new front holeshot device.
The Ducati’s performance meant Quartararo couldn’t do much to keep Bagnaia within range on the 1.1km first straight as they started on lap two.
Behind them, Marc Marquez from Honda met with Brad Binder from KTM and crashed in the Poggiosecco right-hander – Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli fell back to the bottom as he had to run off the track to evade.
The drama continued a few corners later when the leading Bagnaia crashed in Arrabbiata 2 after running a bit offline, giving Quartararo clean air to take advantage of the cornering speed of his Yamaha.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team leads to the start of the race
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Quartararo had to deal with Pramacs Johann Zarco in laps three and four, with the Yamaha rider making a decisive move in Poggiosecco.
From there, Quartararo steadily expanded his lead at a rapid pace, with the Frenchman three seconds ahead of the others in no danger to claim his third win of the 2021 season.
Zarco stayed in second place until lap 16 when KTM’s Miguel Oliveira got through while the Pramac rider was soon threatened by the Suzukis behind.
Alex Rins and Joan Mir fought tightly for fifth place in the early stages, but the strong late pace put them on the podium in the closing stages.
World champion Mir whizzed past Zarco in the Palagio left turn and took third place on lap 17, while Rins further demoted the French on the following tour in the Saveli left turn.
But after falling from strong positions in the last three races, Rins’ miserable run continued when he slipped on lap 19 on the final corner.
On the final lap Mir closed the revived Oliveira’s KTM but couldn’t do anything to overtake the Portuguese.
Oliveira was downgraded from second to third because he had slightly exceeded the track limits at the exit of Borgo San Lorenzo directly in turn 5 on the last lap.
Oliveira’s runner-up, however, was reinstated after it was assumed that Mir had also exceeded the track limit in the same spot on the last lap.
Miguel Oliveira, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Zarco held fourth place, 1.3 seconds ahead of Binder, while Jack Miller’s only remaining factory Ducati team was only sixth.
Aleix Espargaro finished seventh on the Aprilia ahead of a battered Maverick Vinales, who had to recover from 16th place after a bad start.
Danilo Petrucci finished ninth on the Tech3 KTM ahead of Valentino Rossi on the Petronas SRT Yamaha, while Iker Lecuona (Tech3) beat Hondas Pol Espargaro in eleventh.
The final points went to Pramac’s deputy Michele Pirro, Alex Marquez from LCR and Lorenzo Savadori from Aprilia, while Morbidelli took 16th place ahead of Luca Marini from Avintia.
Takaaki Nakagami was a late crash on the second LCR Honda.
Quartararo’s victory now lifts him 24 points ahead of Zarco in the overall standings, Bagnaia is now 26 behind him after his fall.
Results of the MotoGP Grand Prix of Italy