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Score cleared! Miller wins wild flag-to-flag in France
Zarco and Quartararo complete the podium on home soil, but Miller rules Le Mans delivering a flag-to-flag thriller
Jack Miller (43). Photo courtesy of Dorna.
Sunday May 16, 2021
On the back of his helmet it says Thriller and Twice on the Go, which is now a fitting nickname for Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team). This time it was a spectacular race at the SHARK Grand Prix de France, in which he prevailed as the winner. He overcame two penalties in the long lap and became the first Australian since Casey Stoner in 2012 to win consecutive races in the premier class. He said on Thursday that he still had a score to settle with Le Mans, and that is a lot now. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) chased his compatriot Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) into second place in the last stages. The French completed the podium on their home turf and Quartararo is now back in the points lead.
Johann Zarco (5). Photo courtesy of Dorna.
Before the premier class ended, the race was declared dry. No rain had fallen since the warm-up, but there were some dark clouds in the area and tensions were understandably noticeable on the grid. The entire field had picked the soft-soft-slick Michelins to start the race, with some predictions suggesting that there might be some rain along the way …
It was dry for the time being, however, and as expected, Miller drove his Ducati off the line for the holeshot from third on the grid, with both Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Quartararo holding onto to stay in the top three. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) had two bites for P4 against Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), first in Turn 7, then in Turn 8.
Fabio Quartararo (20) and Jack Miller. Photo courtesy of Dorna.
Then, not long after coming out of Turn 10, Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) had a big moment. The Spaniard stayed with it but gave Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and his teammate Franco Morbidelli a look inside at Turn 11, but three to one didn’t work and the door was closed for Morbidelli when the Italian ran far before the accident in the gravel. This meant that Rossi and Pol Espargaro also lost places, with Morbidelli able to get back on, but at the rear.
Meanwhile, Miller, Viñales and Quartararo were in the top three while quick starters Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Marc Marquez were in the top five … but it started to rain. It was easy at the beginning and Quartararo made a phenomenal two-in-one move against Viñales and Miller at Turn 3, but then it got tougher. On lap 5 the sky really opened up and it was time for the field to come into the pit lane to swap bikes. For the first time in four years we had a flag-to-flag.
Miller ran too far at Turn 11 when the riders struggled to finish the lap on slicks and reigning World Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) unfortunately found out. The number 36 crashed on lap 5 when the rain started pouring in, and more drama followed elsewhere in the pit lane. Both Miller and his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia received two long lap penalties for speeding the pit lane, and Quartararo accidentally drove into Viñales’ boxing slot to earn a long lap. Then Marc Marquez emerged as the leader in the shuffle …
Rins finished second when the drivers got back on the track, but at Turn 4 the Spaniard was down. That kept Marc Marquez and Quartararo in the lead ahead of Miller, but the eight-time world champion was shortly afterwards in another drama in the last corner. The 93 managed to get back on the track, but Quartararo was again the front runner. Miller got close quickly, but the Australian had two long laps to go. He did this quickly on rounds 9 and 10, got out again and turned his gaze back to Quartararo, who was soon able to return home.
On lap 12 Quartararo dived through the Long Lap penalty area but still came out on P2. His lead over third place, then Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), was 12 seconds and Miller was ahead of the pack to take Quartararo four seconds ahead. However, Zarco came and the Pramac driver soon took P3 from Nakagami at Turn 3. The Frenchman then also began tying his compatriot Quartararo at a high knot rate, almost two seconds per lap, when dry lines appeared. It wasn’t raining either, so could we actually see the riders coming into the pit lane for another bike swap?
Marc Marquez then crashed again at Turn 6, his second of the race, and retired on lap 18. Then we saw Miller kick his right leg on the front straight – did he signal to get the dry bike ready? He and Quartararo were on the soft and Zarco on the middle, and the Pramac rider stumbled his compatriot at least 2.5 seconds behind the end …
Amazingly, the sun was shining too. Zarco was again 1.8 seconds faster than Quartararo when Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) and Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) defeated Nakagami in 4th and 5th respectively, displacing the Japanese in sixth. Bagnaia was also on her own after a terrible start and two long laps, overtaking the Japanese with six to go.
Further up the street, Zarco had arrived at the crime scene and raced past Quartararo on the home straight to reach P2, seven seconds behind Miller. Quartararo, on the other hand, had 12 seconds behind Alex Marquez, so it seemed like the podium could be decided, aside from further dramatics.
Five to go and Zarco chased Miller, and there was no time to get into the pit lane, drive out again and take advantage of the slick tires – not for the leaders anyway. Miller held out with a cracking effort, however, his lead remaining just over the five-second mark as Bagnaia climbed his way down the road to P4.
Three to go. Miller’s lead was 4.9 seconds, Zarco held Quartararo in check by almost seven seconds and Bagnaia was eight seconds off the final podium in fourth. Before the 26th of 27th lap, the gap between the leading duo had fallen to 4.3 seconds and Bagnaia reduced the gap to Quartararo by almost two seconds per lap. However, Miller lost on the last lap, his lead was still over the four-second mark. Quartararo’s gap to Pecco was 3.4 seconds and that was all she wrote after a tense, learned, and rather dramatic French GP.
Having banished the demons at the start of the season at Jerez, Miller is now just 16 points away from the title lead, while Zarco is returning to the podium after a few tougher races in Portugal and Spain. He and Quartararo make it two French riders on the podium at the French GP – not bad from the latter, who underwent arm pump surgery after the Spanish GP and suffered heartache in the wet at the venue last year. Bagnaia’s fourth race was a better drive and a better result after his two penalties in the long lap and a start from P16, in which he also lost a few places behind the line. He lost his world championship lead, but only by one point …
Petrucci had a difficult start in life as a KTM rider, but the 2020 Le Mans race winner delivered by far his best run of the season, finishing it on an impressive P5. LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez also takes his best result of the season at a track where he took a podium last year. Two-time world champion team-mate Nakagami crossed the finish line in sixth and seventh place for LCR. Pol Espargaro achieved his best result of the campaign with P8. Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) grabbed Viñales P9 on the final lap and landed on P9 to improve morale. Viñales had to settle for P10 at the checkered flag, a subdued result after leading the race in the early stages.
Rossi lost valuable time in the early stages and The Doctor couldn’t make up ground in the rain and finished in P11 at Le Mans. Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia) was 10 seconds behind his half-brother in P12, and the Italian easily beat 13th place Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) after a tough weekend for the South African. Reigning Moto2 ™ World Champion Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) and Tito Rabat (Pramac Racing) were the last to collect points, with Morbidelli managing to finish the race but on a lonely P16.
Both Aleix Espargaro and team-mate Lorenzo Savadori of Aprilia Racing Team Gresini suffered mechanical problems on Sunday afternoon, and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed along with the Suzukis and Marc Marquez.
It was another absolutely breathtaking MotoGP ™ race and our first flag-to-flag in four years. On an incredible afternoon in northern France, the top four are only 16 points apart in the title race and now Quartararo is in the lead ahead of Bagnaia, Zarco and Miller. Next up: the spectacular Mugello… Ducati home turf.
MotoGP podium
1 Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team – Ducati – 47: 25.473
2 Johann Zarco * – Pramac Racing – Ducati – +3,970
3 Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +14,468
* Independent team driver
Jack Miller: “Hectic, very hectic, I mean, shortly before it was completely quiet, but halfway through the race the rain came, the wind came with us and it was…. Honestly, when I got into the pit lane the barrier flew into the pit lane and I said they’ll definitely put a red flag on it, but then it fell off relatively quickly. The first few laps were seedy on the wet tires but I got going and then I had the long laps, I wasn’t sure why, apparently because of overspeeding. I usually get speeding tickets in France, not the ones I want! I could kick her out pretty quickly and work on Fabio and I stood in front of him and just felt good, to be honest, I was just driving under the conditions, I saw Johann coming, so I had to run her up a bit the last five laps, but the track was pretty dry again. I thought should I pit or not because it’s such a long pit lane and you lose a lot of time so I just counted the laps but yeah, absolutely amazing, I can’t believe it. Wins in a row are just fantastic and I can’t thank the team enough, they are great and yes! “