It was a Ducati 1-2-3 finish as Francesco Bagnaia wins MotoGP Valencia GP from Pramac’s Jorge Martin and Jack Miller.
Pole-sitter Jorge Martin had a solid start abode his Pramac Ducati in MotoGP Valencia GP as he led from Ducati’s Jack Miller and Suzuki’s Joan Mir as the other Ducati of Frencesco Bagnaia dropped back to fourth ahead of the other Suzuki of Alex Rins.
Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo was sixth from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro as KTM’s Brad Binder lost out after a wide moment to be eighth ahead of Petronas SRT’s Valentino Rossi and Pramac’s Johann Zarco to round out the Top 10 riders.
The fight at the front was close as Miller tried a move on Martin but the Pramac rider came back to retake the lead which started the downfall of the Australian. He not only lost to Mir but also Bagnaia and Rins to be fifth. Few laps later, he was sixth behind Quartararo.
At the front, Mir got to second but was passed by Bagnaia as Rins got the better of his teammate too, to be third. There was a gap then to the chasing pack with Miller fighting back on Quartararo to retake fifth, while Espargaro and Binder steadied behind.
Zarco passed Rossi to be ninth as Avintia Ducati’s Enea Bastianini passed the Italian to take 10th after a crash for LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami, leaving only Alex Marquez as the sole rider to represent the Japanese manufacturer – that too on a satellite machine.
Rossi ran 11th from Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli, who had Petronas SRT’s Andrea Dovizioso on his tail with Marquez and KTM’s Miguel Oliveira in the Top 15 points position. At the front, meanwhile, Bagnaia kept pressure on Martin for the race lead.
They created a gap to the chasing pack but Rins binned it after a fall, allowing Mir to be third again. Having fended off Quartararo, Miller got himself back into the podium chase in fourth as Espargaro was sixth from Zarco, Bastianini and Rossi in the Top 10.
With about 13 laps to go, Bagnaia finally got through Martin to take the lead of MotoGP Valencia GP as Mir and Miller got right behind the Spaniard. It was the Australian with the move as he came back on the Suzuki rider to take third from him.
Mir then had Quartararo to fend off as Zarco and Binder got through Espargaro to be sixth and seventh with Bastianini in ninth ahead of Rossi, Morbidelli, Dovizioso, Marquez, Oliveira and Tech 3 KTM’s Iker Lecuona in the Top 15 points position.
By the last few laps, Bagnaia had enough to win MotoGP Valencia GP as Martin fended off Miller for second but it was a Ducati 1-2-3 finish in the 2021 finale. Mir was fourth having fended off Quartararo until the chequered flag in the Top 5.
Zarco was sixth from Binder with Bastianini eighth, Espargaro ninth and Rossi ending his MotoGP career finishing 10th and inside the Top 10. It was points finish for Morbidelli in 11th from Dovizioso, Marquez, Oliveira and Lecuona in the Top 15.
Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales missed on points in 16th with Avintia’s Luca Marini 17th from Tech 3’s Danilo Petrucci, who also signed off his MotoGP career by finishing the race ahead of his Dakar switch with KTM from 2022.
DNF: Rins, Nakagami.