MotoGP™: back-to-back Jerez glory for Quartararo

Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) picked where he left off at Jerez, Spain, last week to collect his second win of the year at the Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía. The second round of the 2020 MotoGPTM saw Yamaha monopolise the podium thanks to Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi who came second and third. The grip and consistency of the MICHELIN Power Slick contributed to the establishment of a new lap record for the Spanish venue. 

Quartararo’s perfect weekend kicked off with a third straight pole position at Jerez (the eighth of his MotoGPTM career) and continued with an assertive, lights-out to chequered flag win on Sunday running on hard and part-worn soft MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear. On his way to victory, he even bettered the best effort of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) at the same circuit last Sunday (1m38.372s) to clock the fastest race lap (1m38.119s) on the third of the afternoon’s 25 laps.

The Frenchman continued to post consistently quick times and eventually completed the distance a safe 4.495 seconds clear of Viñales who had posted a new lap record (1m36.584s) during FP3 before qualifying second the grid.

By the race’s halfway point, however, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider had fallen to fifth, but he managed to fight back to second at the finish, aided by a mechanical problem for Pecco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) – who held the position with six laps remaining – and a successful move on team-mate Rossi on the penultimate lap.

Rossi himself followed up fourth in qualifying with a solid race-day performance to make it an all-Yamaha top three.

The top five was rounded out by Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) and Joan Mir (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR).

With the exception of Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR), all the riders opted for a combination of hard and soft MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear as the track temperature soared to 59°C. Rins, who is still recovering from his recent accident, chose soft MICHELIN Power Slicks all-round and, along with Quartararo, Viñales, Rossi and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT), was one of five riders who ran a part-worn rear.

Two races into the championship, Quartararo (50 points) tops the Riders’ standings, chased by Viñales (40) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team, 26) who was sixth today.

Despite undergoing an operation on Tuesday to the broken arm he sustained last week, Marc Marquez took part in qualifying but preferred not to play a part in the race.

The MotoE clash saw pole-sitter Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) harvest his first victory in the all-electric series, ahead of Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) and Mattia Casedei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse).

Next round: Monster Energy Grand Prix České Republiky, Czech Republic (August 7-9).