Since starting this blog, I’ve tried my best to remain objective while watching MotoGP races, but I couldn’t contain my excitement for the first race of 2021. After months of waiting, the shortest pre-season I can recall, and the topsy-turvy season that was 2020, my joy upon watching the first race of this year was palpable.
That being said, there was good reason for my excitement. The first race of 2021 kicked off the season in style, with a thrilling showdown under the floodlights of Qatar. We were promised that this year would be one with many contenders and a tight championship battle, and if Sunday’s race is anything to go by then those promises may come true. It was a race that saw multiple riders throw down for the win and the podium, unexpected results, and a very deserving but mildly unexpected winner.
So yes, let’s start with Vinales. ‘Top Gun’ started the race from the front row, and though he was mugged off the line by a slew of Ducatis he managed to remain in the front pack in the early stages, an improvement from his recent history of poor starts. Once he got heat into his tires, Vinales was able to start scything his way through the leaders, using impressive cornering to get ahead of the Ducatis before they had a chance to blast back past him on the straights. He was nothing short of dominant in the second half of the race, and was a very deserving winner.
Where did this form come from? Well, it’s hard to say given the performances of his Yamaha stablemates. Quartararo stuck in the lead pack early on but faded, Rossi made a number of mistakes and struggled with late stamina issues, and Morbidelli’s holeshot device got stuck and essentially ruled him out of the race from the first lap. For all intents and purposes it was a mediocre weekend for the factory, yet Vinales was clearly the best rider on Sunday night. Most likely this is a result of his improved mindset or confidence rather than something to do with his bike.
That being said, the fact that Vinales was able to tangle with the Ducatis at all is something of a surprise. The Italian manufacturer had a dream start, with all four of their GP21 machines taking a 1-2-3-4 from the first corner after an incredible start. This was the exact scenario the other manufacturers feared: with their unbelievable top speed advantage, letting the Ducatis get out in front at the start of the race would make any chances of winning on a different bike extremely challenging.
Not all of the Ducatis were able to retain the pace at the front, however. Rookie Jorge Martin had an incredible jump off the line to make up ten places before the first corner, but used tires and inexperience led to him fading back through the pack. Factory rider Jack Miller was a bigger disappointment, as he struggled with maintaining the pace at the front and fell back all the way to ninth. Given how well he performed in testing and during the weekend leading up to the race, it’s a difficult result to explain, and a poor start for the Australian’s season.
Zarco and Bagnaia had a better time of it. The experienced Frenchman and the fresh factory rider kept the fight going at the front all the way to the end, finishing second and third respectively. Given the highs and lows Ducati faced last year, this is the perfect way for them to kick off 2021; taking two thirds of the podium positions up for grabs in the first race is a strong sign for them, and an even stronger one for the riders in particular. Zarco is running out of chances to perform at the peak of his game, so a second place must be a welcome relief for him. Bagnaia, meanwhile, caps off the weekend he scored his first pole position with his second podium in the premier class.
This is all well and good, except it nearly didn’t happen. Reigning world champion Mir entered the last corner of the last lap in second place, having battled his way forward from tenth on the grid. It was the kind of performance one would expect from a champion, turning a difficult weekend into a strong result, and 20 points would have been a great way to kick off his title defence. Unfortunately for Mir, he went wide into the final turn and lost critical drive up the long start finish straight. The Ducatis behind him pounced, using the slipstream and their far superior horsepower to steal both second and third place away from the Spaniard.
It’s a tough loss for Mir, but it could have been avoided. It was an impressive show for him to fight his way through the midpack the way he did, but if he had simply qualified better it might’ve been a different story. The Suzukis have proven they are more than capable of working their way through a string of riders, but they have also proven to have a truly shocking qualifying record, and this has to change if they want a repeat of last year’s success. Qualifying better would make life easier for both riders, and would allow them to potentially have more run-away wins like Aragon or Valencia last year.
Speaking of the Suzukis, Rins was another rider who suffered in the closing laps of the race. After staying ahead of his teammate and fighting forward to the top four, he struggled with grip issues and never really managed to launch a challenge for the podium. Not the best outcome for the rider who has to share a pitbox with the reigning world champion, and one he will be hoping to better in the coming races if he wants to take a shot at the title himself.
Further down the order, it was a strong weekend for both the Espargaro brothers. Aleix got a strong seventh place on the Aprilia, coming close to equalling the Noale manufacturer’s best ever result, while Pol was right behind him in eighth. Pol’s performance stood out to me in particular as it was his first race on board a Honda, but both brothers deserve credit for the hard work they’ve been putting in for their respective factory teams. It’s early days yet, but this could end up being a strong season for either or both of them.
KTM continued to struggle on race day. Having not made any real inroads in testing or during the practice sessions, they failed to put a single bike in the top ten and only barely scraped some points in. It’s disappointing to see, especially since they showed so much promise last year and were able to bring a new engine to the start of 2021. I have hopes that Binder and Oliveira will make some kind of a comeback as the season progresses, but I imagine it will be much of the same in Qatar 2 this weekend.
In fairness to those who struggled, it is likely that this Qatar double header will not be representative of the season at large. All we’ve done so far this year is five days of testing and a single race weekend, and all of that has happened at the Losail circuit, so it’s almost impossible to predict how things will change once we hit the European circuits. This might be frustrating for newer viewers, but it’s actually the way things have been for a while now in MotoGP championships. You get a couple crazy races in Qatar, Argentina and the USA, then we travel over to Europe and things settle down. This year will likely be much the same on that front.
One last mention has to go to the rookies, particularly Bastianini and Martin. This year, rookies have had far less time on board the bigger, meaner MotoGP bikes, yet all of them have adapted quickly. Martin had one of the best starts to a MotoGP race I’ve ever seen, and both he and Bastianini were able to take points on their first attempt in the premier class. It bodes very well for the future of the premier class that youngsters like these guys are able to make such an impact from the get-go.
Not long to wait until another article comes out – we go racing again on Friday, once again at the Qatar circuit. Who will take the honours in round two?
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