A topsy turvy weekend!
It turned out to be a chaotic weekend on the Italian coast for the MotoGP teams, not only due to the weather, but also as a result of the twists and turns that the championship battle would have over the few days we were there for.
We are not starting with either of the title contending teams though, as Honda had a superb weekend, well more so in the race than any other part. Yes, they got lucky with circumstances and wrong tyre choices that affected other riders, however, you have to be in it to win it, and Marquez certainly did that. He stalked Bagnaia all race, and would probably have just been dropped by him before the race ended, and on a clockwise track, that was excellent for him to do. The win is deserved, and sends an ominous message to the rest of the grid for 2022. Pol also had a great weekend, as he clearly prefers the bike in cooler conditions, which allowed him to finish 2nd . Hopefully with more input on the 2022 bike, he can make it suit him better, as long as the team don’t make a bike just for Marc.
Bastianini did his best to save face for Ducati, on a weekend where everything was set up perfectly for them, until it fell apart. It was a costly tyre choice for the factory riders, as that seemed to be the cause of their demise at Turn 15. It is much harder to keep the harder tyres warm, so after multiple right handed corners, the first left caught them out. To be fair, all they were doing with Bagnaia was delaying the inevitable championship loss, as Fabio never really cracked this weekend. Bagnaia will be hurting after that, as it was his mistake really, at a point when he had just broken Marquez, and looked so comfortable. Miller meanwhile was probably not in a comfortable position when he crashed either, as he was doing all he could to hold off Marquez. As I mentioned, Bastianini rode another excellent race, after his weekend looked over on Saturday. If he had qualified with his teammates, it could have been so much better for him. I can’t wait to see what he does next year. Zarco rebounded well too, after a series of poor races, as he looks to be more consistent in 2022.
All of 2021, Quartararo has really been in a league of his own, he has worked so well with the bike, and even caused a teammate to move teams! After missing the open goal in 2020, it has been incredible to see the work he has done on a personal level, to become a well rounded and self-assured rider, who doesn’t crack. This weekend was perfect evidence of that, as Friday and Saturday were disasters for him, but he came back on Sunday, with a cool head, fought his way through the field to nearly get a podium, and secure the world title. With Honda and Suzuki bringing major improvements for 2022, KTM likely fixing their tyre issues, and Bagnaia coming on strong, it won’t be easy for him to do it again in 2022, yet he will surely be the favourite! Morbidelli may not have stayed up in 5th all race, however, there are clear signs of improvement for him, which is all that matters right now. Rossi may have got lucky with so many crashes, but 10th is still 10th, and is a great way to say farewell to Misano!
It was another trying weekend for Suzuki, with Mir struggling all weekend, and ended up taking out Petrucci in the race. He may even end up falling back from 3rd in the rider’s championship. Rins on the other hand continued to collect points, showing what could have been if the first half of the year had gone better. It has been a humbling year for the team, after doing so well last year.
This may be the first time that Aprilia have got a double top 10 finish, as Aleix and Maverick finished 7th and 8th. They weren’t able to gel with the wet conditions as well as I thought they would, but they can take solace in their run of points scoring finishes, and that Vinales is right there too. They could be a dark horse for 2022.
Not even Brad could save this weekend for KTM, and for most of the race he didn’t need to, as Olivera was up on the podium, in no mans land really, showing great pace. That was until he crashed, leaving just Binder left, in a lowly 11th place. It is really confusing to see the variation in pace between riders at each event for KTM, I hope this is one of the things they solve for next year!
With the championship now sown up, it is every rider for themselves in the final 2 rounds. There are many good riders out there who have not won yet this year, and will want to show everyone what they can do!
-M
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