The opening round of the 2021 MotoGP championship series was held earlier today at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. As expected after qualifying, Ducatis dominated most of the race with Yamahas working their way toward the front. The incredible new hole-shot device developed by Ducati saw four of its riders lead into the first turn, including one of its rookies grided several rows back.
The Yamahas piloted by Maverick Viñales and Fabio Quartararo had to work their way up through the Ducati challengers. While Quartararo faded a bit to finish in 5th position, his teammate Viñales took the lead in the race with several laps remaining and built a cushion before taking the win. The Ducatis of Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia finished second and third, respectively.
Defending champ Joan Mir (Suzuki) actually passed Zarco and Bagnaia and led into the final turn of the race. Mir went wide, however, in the final corner and the superior power of the Ducatis meant Zarco and Bagnaia passed him before the checkered flag.
The riders return to Qatar for a second race next weekend. For full results of today’s race, take a look here. You can find additional details on the MotoGP site.
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When I first saw Mir’s Suzuki result at the end I thought it looked like it ran out of gas coming out of the last turn. Sure he ran wide but those Duc’s shot by him like he had a mechanical. This is going to be another exciting year.
Hes a spitting image of a young Ben Spies.
Pretty exciting race. For anyone still holding on to the idea that the horsepower advantage Ducati holds doesn’t amount to anything material in the grand scheme of things, Counselor Mir would like to submit Exhibit A into evidence.
Gotta feel for the guy. He even took a wide entry into the last turn to come across the noses of the Ducatis to slow them down, and Zarco and Bagnaia still out dragged him to the finish line.
Speaking of Zarco, great performance by both him and Peco. But Viñales was masterclass this Sunday. I hope he can find some consistency this year.
It was crazy how easily they out accelerated him. The shot from his bike where he was ahead and they came blowing past was startling.
Earlier in the race when one of the Yamahas – can’t remember at that time if it were Viñales or Fabio – got around Miller and came onto the straight, I thought for a moment the Yamaha suffered a mechanical when Miller came blitzing back by him. The difference in acceleration was startling.
Yep, I saw the Yamaha’s headlight get sucked out when the Duc blew past!
While that power advantage may count for something, it hasn’t counted as much as they’d hope.
Were it not for the good work of Andrea Dovisioso (how did they lose him?!?) they would have only seen one top-5 season finish in the past 5 seasons (Ianone, 2015j.
Were it not for a freak of nature named Marc Marquez, they’d have three titles.
I totally agree with you that the power isn’t everything of course. The rest of the package needs to work – something that Dovi in particular has been trying to stress to Ducati from day one- and these days you need a rider that is beyond elite. But Mir had 2nd place in the bag, then not one but two Ducatis – with roasted rear tires no less – came by him down the straight like he was standing still. Qatar is a unique track, so we’ll have to see how much progress Ducati has made with the rest of the bike as the series moves on. But if you are on a Suzuki or Yamaha, you must have recurring night terrors of red streaks on long straightaways.
Letting Dovi go was a very questionable move. He was Ducati’s best, but he wasn’t good enough to wrestle the title from Marc. He also couldn’t get along with those new tires and let Ducati down during the best opportunity to win the title. And he wanted a big paycheck to continue on. So they throw some new talent in and see what they bring to the table. It’s a gamble, and I’m not so sure it is the right move. But I do understand it. They don’t want a great rider. They want a rider that can beat Marc. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more rider churn at Ducati if Miller doesn’t deliver the goods this year.
Umm, you are forgetting about Lorenzo’s wins. Dovisioso fought against Jorge with tooth and nail.
Only at the very end of Lorenzo’s tenure with Ducati. The majority of those two years, Lorenzo was nowhere to be found. That’s why Dave specified “top-5 season finish.” Despite Lorenzo’s one productive stretch of races during his second season in Bologna, his season-ending points total was still negligible.
Great race. Congrats to Vinales who rode a superb race
Tough luck for Mir who rode his usual come from behind to pass all but Vinales before running a bit wide and losing the drag race to the finish line with Zarco and Bagnaia
Good to see the boys back in action