MotoGP™: Quartararo and Michelin in shining form at Mugello

The Gran Premio d'Italia Oakley, round six of the 2021 MotoGPTM World Championship, was won by Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Joan Mir (ECSTAR Suzuki Team). The grip and consistency delivered by the MICHELIN Power Slick range helped Michelin contribute to the establishment of several new records for Mugello’s exacting track where four different bikemakers filled the top four places.  

After claiming the 14th premier-class pole position of his career with a new lap record for the Italian venue (1m45.187s), Quartararo concluded the stay in Tuscany by collecting his sixth MotoGPTM victory, 2.5 seconds clear of Oliveira. In doing so, his blistering pace produced a new shortest-duration record for the race after he completed the 23 laps in just 41m16.34s, slashing more than 15 seconds off the previous best!

The French youngster emerged in front on Lap 4 after an early scrap with Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing). He then took advantage of the grip and consistency of his medium MICHELIN Power Slicks to pull as much as four seconds clear of his closest chaser, who ended up being Oliveira.

Having opted for hard and medium MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear, the KTM rider leapt from seventh on the grid to appear in fourth spot on the opening lap and ultimately passed Zarco to go second on Lap 16. He consequently spent the race’s closing stages shrugging off pressure from Mir and was rewarded with his first top-three result of the season, and his first with the KTM factory squad.

Despite posting a new race-lap record (1m46.810s), Zarco finished just shy of the podium but was the first Independent Team rider over the line to make it four different bike manufacturers in the top four, another sign of the versatility of Michelin’s MotoGPTM rubber.

The afternoon’s top five was rounded out by Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) who matched the new MotoGPTM top-speed record (362.4kph) that Zarco had clocked during free practice.

Jack Miller – winner of the last two grands prix for Ducati Lenovo Team – was sixth, ahead of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) and Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT).

The entire MICHELIN Power Slick range was used over the three days, although only four specs were chosen for the race, namely the medium and hard fronts and the soft and medium rears. No fewer than 11 riders bettered the previous race-lap record (1m47.639s) posted by Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez in 2013.

Quartararo’s win has extended his cushion at the top of the provisional championship standings on 105 points, 24 and 26 points better than Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) who led briefly in Italy before being eliminated by a crash shortly after the start.

On a much sadder note, the Gran Premio d'Italia Oakley weekend was marked by the death of Swiss Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier. Everyone at Michelin Motorsport extends its deepest sympathies to his family, team and friends.

Next round: Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, Spain (June 4-6).