The Winners And Losers From The Catalan GP

Once again, you’ve got to hand it to the MotoGP riders for making the race as unpredictable as possible, considering no one had pegged Miguel Oliveira and KTM to win the race. And while his race was nothing short of exemplary, it became even closer in the championship. Here are our winners and losers:

Main Winner: Johann Zarco
Had there been a lap or two more in the race, Zarco would’ve stolen Oliveira’s well-deserved victory. Nevertheless, Zarco’s second-place finish has helped him close the gap with championship leader Fabio Quartararo— about whom we will talk in just a few moments — to just 14 points. It is shaping up to be a thrilling championship once again, with Zarco leading the Ducati brigade.

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Other winners
Miguel Oliveira
After bringing subtle tweaks to the RC16’s chassis and now finally being able to make the hard tyre work, KTM has found a spring in its step. Portuguese Miguel Oliveira surprised everybody by heading out to the front of the pack in the initial phase of the Grand Prix. Even when Fabio got past him, Miguel made sure to stick to his tail and zoom past the Frenchman down the long home straight. Miguel has had a couple of fantastic races and has surely done enough to earn a contract, like his teammate Brad Binder who finished eighth.

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Factory Ducatis
Not a particularly brilliant outing for Ducati but Bologna’s finest managed to keep Fabio honest in the championship. Jack Miller bagged yet another podium and now sits third in the championship, 25 points adrift of Fabio. Francesco Bagnaia, who still seemed to be in a bit of a shock from the tragic passing of his friend Jason Dupasquier last weekend, could only salvage a seventh-place finish. He is 27 points behind Fabio, which keeps his championship challenge very much alive. Could this finally be the year that Ducati reclaim the MotoGP crown?

Major loser: Honda
Another disastrous race from the most successful manufacturer in MotoGP history. Seven-time world champion Marc Marquez crashed out again from a highly promising position. It is the first time in his career that Marquez has failed to finish three races on the trot. His teammate Pol Espargaro didn’t fare all that well either. Pol was hot on the heels of Marc and the top riders when he lost the front of his RC213V, ending up once again in the gravel trap.

Over at the satellite Honda team, 11th and 13th positions for Alex Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami isn’t that assuring for the progress that the Japanese manufacturer is making.

Other losers
Fabio Quartararo
It was Fabio’s race to lose and he ended up losing it in a not-so-great fashion. He struggled to get past the steamrolling KTM. Then his airbag inflated mid-race, which led him to open up his leathers, ditch his chest protector and ride at speeds in excess of 340kmph with his safety being compromised. He incurred a post-race three second penalty for this which was after the first three-second penalty that race direction slapped him for taking a shortcut at the first two turns. His lead has been slashed to just 14 points. If he is serious about winning his first title, he cannot afford such race weekends.

Petronas Yamaha
We could’ve made it Yamahas in general but in all honesty, Maverick Vinales had a typical Maverick Vinales race: fall back at the start only to scythe through the field and capitalise on early fallers to earn a decent race finish, this time in fifth. However, it was a wretched weekend for the Petronas Yamaha boys. Franco Morbidelli, who seemed to be the main challenger for Quartararo on Sunday, fell right down the order and was nowhere close to challenging for the win. And Valentino Rossi suffered yet another crash, this time due to what seemed to be a bizarre rear suspension failure. Time to regroup and erase the race from their memory.

Aleix Espargaro
The sole Aprilia rider who is jostling it out with the big boys, Aleix had a miserable end to his race. He was running as high as third and slipped down to sixth there on. However, the resurfaced turn 10 caught him out as he washed the front of his RS-GP away into the gravel trap. Aleix has shown signs of positivity from the Noale-based outfit. Hope he sorts out his mid-race psychology, as he has proven countless times to be the top man in the team.