Ducati’s Jack Miller ousted his teammate Francesco Bagnaia and took his first MotoGP win in five years at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez on Sunday.
Australian Miller used the power of his Ducati to push pole sitter Fabio Quartararo off the starting line. On the first lap, the Frenchman slipped to fourth place behind Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli and Bagnaia.
Quartararo, who won both races at Jerez last season, recovered from the lead over the next two laps and extended his lead to up to two seconds at the front.
However, the Yamaha rider was plagued by a motorcycle problem that caused his pace to slow significantly, allowing Miller to regain the lead with less than 10 laps remaining.
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While Miller extended his lead to over 1.5 seconds, Quartararo crashed the order as he was overtaken by his championship rivals.
Miller held Bagnaia to see the checkered flag for the first time since winning the 2016 Dutch Grand Prix, while Morbidelli rounded off the podium.
“It’s just amazing what I’m feeling right now,” Miller said emotionally. “I did a lot of laps on my own this weekend and I knew I had the right pace. After Fabio took the lead, I didn’t expect him to come back to me, but he did.”
“When I passed him, I just bowed my head and got as much out of the last seven to eight laps as possible – it felt like it was the longest I’ve ever had in my motorsport career.”
Bagnaia now leads the world championship with 66 points, two ahead of Quartararo, who finished 13th. The championship will continue in two weeks at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.