Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales got off to a perfect start at the Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain on Sunday and was the fastest to finish the morning warm-up. The biggest talking point, however, was another pair of falls for Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro – the eight-time world champion suffered a quick front-end fold at Turn 4 and the former KTM man crashed hard at Turn 10.
COMING UP: Can anyone disturb the chances in Jerez? 05/01/2021
Fabio Quartararo fires from pole position with a huge target on his back as the premier field field tries to chase the championship leader
Viñales’ 1: 37.642 was only half a tenth ahead of Johann Zarco from Pramac Racing, while Pole man Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was third, another tenth behind. The top five were completed by Brad Binder from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Joan Mir from Team Suzuki Ecstar.
With temperatures a little cooler than we’ve seen all weekend, the 20-minute session quickly became exhausting. The first to fall was a seething Pol Espargaro at Turn 10, with HRC stablemate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and runner-up Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) falling on the final corner both moments later.
After Marc Marquez had already saved a front-end crash in the last corner, followed by his younger brother Alex Marquez (LCR Castrol Honda), Marc Marquez’s RC213V finally let go, this time at Turn 4. The scene of his epic parade on At the beginning of stages of the Spanish GP 2020, the eight-time world champion was unable to save himself by the elbow this time, as the front was washed away without warning and he flew into the air fence again at some speed. Fortunately, he was fine after the incident, but he was visibly furious.
Three Yamahas were in the top six as the Iwata factory prepared to write a piece of MotoGP ™ history by winning the first four races of the season for the first time. The lights are off in Jerez for the Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain 2021 at 2:00 p.m. local time (GMT + 2) – you don’t want to miss a second of it!
Top 10:
1. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) – 1: 37.642
2. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 0.046
3. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.157
4. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.330
5. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.368
6. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.372
7. Enea Bastianini (Avinitia Esponsorama) + 0.505
8. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.506
9. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 0.628
10. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) + .645
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