Yamaha factory rider Fabio Quartararo has been crowned the 2021 MotoGP World Champion after the stunning final stages of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix saw Francesco Bagnaia crash out of the lead. While Honda's Marc Marquez won the race, Quartararo finished fourth but managed to extend his lead in the championship standings allowing him to take his first-ever world championship title. Bagnaia needs to score three more points over Quartararo in the race to keep the title fight alive.
Francesco Bagnaia crashed out with just five laps to go sealing the world title for Fabio Quartararo
Quartararo qualified 15th for the Emilia Romagna GP, which made his fight for the world title slim in this race. The rider made his way up the grid over the next 27 laps to finish in the top order. Meanwhile, Bagnaia started on the pole and looked well on his way to winning the race. But a late crash ended the Ducati rider's hopes, while Quartararo went on to become the world champion at just 22 years old.
The race started with Jack Miller being the quicker Ducati rider off the line but Bagnaia managed to hit the brakes later at Turn 1 retaining the lead from his teammate. KTM's Miguel Oliveira became a threat for Miller in the initial stages but the rider managed to work his way back p to P2. However, closing in on Miller was Marquez who had an impressive start and moved up from P7 to P4 and then to P3 as he passed Oliveira on Turn 8. Meanwhile, a slow start for Quartararo meant he dropped from 15th to 17th.
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Nevertheless, the rider found his rhythm and was quick to take down LCR's Alex Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami, as well as Johann Zarco. Both Ducatis decided to stay out on the track for longer and delayed the change to the hard front tyre despite the cold conditions. Miller was the first to crash on Lap 4 while fending off Marquez who now moved up to P2.
At this stage, Quartararo worked his way up the order to P12, whereas Marquez was now putting pressure on Bagnaia with a gap of just 0.2s between the race leaders. Meanwhile, Pol Espargaro was running third but with a 2s gap over the top two riders. By Lap 9, Quartararo moved up to P9 and set much faster lap times than the riders in front of him. The rider managed to move up to P5 on Lap 19 after battling out with Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia. And that seemed the best that Quartararo would be able to achieve in the race with an 8s margin between him and Oliveira.
undefinedFlying the French flag with pride!
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Their first ever #MotoGP World Champion! #ELD1ABLO | #EmiliaRomagnaGP pic.twitter.com/L7qjnVUMAA
However, Bagnaia was under immense pressure from Marquez. The Honda rider was trying to break into the top spot with a gap extended to nearly one second by the 23rd lap. But Bagnaia's hopes of continuing the title fight ended with his crash on the following lap as he lost his front on the same corner as Miller. This allowed Marquez to claim his third win of the season and Pol Espargaro first podium on the Honda as he moved up to second. Quartararo also moved up to the podium after Oliveira crashed later but was beaten by Enea Bastianini who claimed third narrowly getting ahead of the world champion.
But the fourth-place finish was enough for Quartararo to become the world champion, and the first French rider to do so in the premier class. This is also Yamaha's first world championship since 2015.
