MOTOGP: QUARTARARO GOES BACK TO BACK

MotoGP: Fabio Quartararo goes back to back – Photo: LAT

Fabio Quartararo repeated his performance from a week ago to take his second MotoGP win in another race dominated by attrition in scorching conditions at Jerez.

By RHYS VANDERSYDE

The 21-year-old Frenchman cleared away from the field after starting from pole position to lead a Yamaha sweep of the Andalucian GP podium on the satellite Petronas SRT entry.

Yamaha’s factory entries of Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi survived the harsh conditions that claimed their rivals to round out the podium. The pair were involved in a race-long battle to get ahead of each other with Vinales finally getting the upper hand on the penultimate lap.

It wasn’t a Yamaha domination though, Pramac Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia had been comfortably sitting in second place until he was forced to pull off the circuit in a plume of smoke.

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas SRT) was also in contention for a podium result until the engine on his Yamaha expired with 9 laps to g

Aussie Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati) had been fighting hard for a podium position when he crashed out at Turn 9 on Lap 11.

LCR Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami was the best of the non-Yamaha finishers with a career best result of fourth ahead of Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati).

Pol Espargaro (KTM), Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda), Johann Zarco (Avintia Ducati) and the injured Alex Rins (Suzuki) rounded out the top ten in a race that only saw 13 riders finish.

Cal Crutchlow who also returned to the circuit just days after surgery was the last of the riders to finish the race.

MotoGP teams will now head to the Czech Republic for the next round of the championship at Brno on August 7-9.

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