It was a Sunday to remember, led into by something of a weekend to forget. With so many storylines coming together across all three classes – two world titles on the line, a number of farewells from local heroes and more – it was rather disappointing to have the majority of sessions ruined by rain conditions. The forecast let us know that it would by sunny and dry come race day, rendering all of the wet weather sessions fairly pointless. All that mattered was finding single lap pace in order to master qualifying, and hoping that the dry setup you had from the previous race at Misano would work well enough to carry you through the 27 lap showdown.
The two title protagonists had rather different experiences with the wet weather. Bagnaia looked in control from the go, seeming very comfortable in the conditions and consistently showing up in the top positions on Friday. Championship leader Quartararo had the opposite experience, struggling to achieve any kind of consistency and falling back into the lower positions as the track conditions changed with every session. In a rather surprising twist, however, both riders failed to make a meaningful impact in the final practice session on Saturday, and both riders found themselves in the Q1 session alongside such names as Joan Mir, Alex Rins, and practically every Yamaha and Honda rider on the grid.
Bagnaia showed grit, and with his back up against the wall was able to snag a position into Q2, and convert his knowledge of the conditions into an incredible fourth consecutive pole position. Quartararo wasn’t so lucky. The Frenchman could only manage fifteenth on the grid ahead of one of the most important races of his career, his worst qualifying performance of the season by a wide margin. His primary issues appeared to be with mixed conditions; when the track was wet and the rain was coming down, he could still work some heat into the wet tires, but in the trickier mixed conditions the Yamaha simply wasn’t on the same level as his opponents.
The equation for the weekend was a simple one, thankfully. With a 52 point advantage heading into Emilia-Romagna, Quartararo needed only to finish ahead of Bagnaia to be crowned champion. Should the Italian win, or at least beat Fabio by three points or more, then the showdown rumbled on to Portimao. Given Bagnaia’s recent vein of form and the stark contrast between their qualifying positions, it seemed almost a given that the title would not be decided here. Even if Fabio could climb up through the ranks, a win was certainly off the cards, and a podium for Bagnaia would likely be enough to keep the contest alive.
What no-one predicted was just how dramatic Sunday’s race would be. The race itself was something of a slaughter, with only 14 of the 23 riders making it to the finish line without crashing at least once. The issue was simply the lack of experience under dry conditions: without any relevant information to work with, the teams and riders were forced to gamble with their tire choices and simply hope they were making an adequate call. The Ducati riders all opted for a Hard front tire when the rest of the grid had not, and several riders further down the order went for the softest rear option available despite the rest of the pack choosing the Medium instead.
These tire decisions ended up costing Pecco Bagnaia not only a race win, but the title as well. The Italian stormed into the lead on the first lap and pulled the pin instantly, with only teammate Miller and the recovering Marc Marquez able to run his pace at the front. Miller dropped the ball after just a few laps, making himself the first of many to fall. Marc was able to hang with Bagnaia, but simply didn’t have the pace to get ahead or even show him a front wheel. The win was Bagnaia’s for the taking, but he crashed out in the dying stages of the race in shockingly similar conditions to his teammate. A left-hand corner, without enough heat and grip in the Hard compound front. Had he and his team chosen differently, perhaps things would have gone differently.
With Pecco out of the race, the championship fight was over. Fabio Quartararo held his nerves for the remaining laps, and though he conceded a podium place on the final lap to the hard-charging Enea Bastianini, fourth place was still a fine finish to be crowned World Champion for 2021. The Frenchman has been the epitome of consistency this season, taking wins and podiums at a shocking rate and only settling for lower points finishes when he knew he had to. To describe his world title as thoroughly deserved would be one of the understatements of the year. He has been cool, calm and collected, and he is well deserved of all the accolades and attention coming his way as a result.
Bagnaia was heartbroken, and with good reason. I am firmly of the opinion that having a single tire manufacturer is important for stopping championships from being decided by a single tire brand, but it must still hurt when a simple choice like what front option you want for a race can cost you so much. The good news for Pecco is that he is still very much the in-form man of the second half of this season, with four pole positions on the trot and his first two wins in the premier class still very fresh. Make no mistake, he will be a contender for the title once more in 2022, and I expect the rivalry between him and Fabio to extend onwards for many more seasons. For now, his goal will now reset to simply nailing down his position as runner-up for 2021.
With Bagnaia out of the race, it led to a somewhat unexpected podium of Marc Marquez, Pol Espargaro and Enea Bastianini. The Repsol Honda team managing a 1-2 on the podium was a welcome relief, given the struggles that team has faced in recent times, and the win for Marc on a circuit he isn’t favoured on must be a huge boost of confidence for the ex-champion. Marc is undergoing an evolution in his riding style and approach towards the championship, something that he has been forced to do once before in his career already, and his sights will surely now be set on a full-fitness return in 2022. No longer can he expect to be a contender at every single circuit as he was in 2019, but he has proven now that he still has the drive and the raw talent to pull off a win when things go his way. That will surely be the confidence boost he needed moving forward.
For Bastianini, a second podium for 2021 puts him squarely back into contention for rookie of the year, and deservedly so. The Italian has taken top six finishes in the past four races, results that are particularly impressive when you remember that he is currently riding a year-old bike. Are these results enough to force Ducati to provide him with a factory machine for 2022? That remains to be seen, as the manufacturer has already agreed to supply 5 of their 8 riders for next year with factory-spec bikes. If he can acquire a proper bike for next year then he could become a real problem for the championship contenders. If he can’t, then he could easily become hot property for another manufacturer to steal away for future campaigns.
In addition to the emotionally charged championship celebrations, two stalwarts of the sport said goodbye to their home crowds this weekend. Valentino Rossi, having announced his retirement earlier in the season, had one final opportunity to race in front of his local fans in Misano on Sunday, and clearly took great pride and pleasure in doing so. It was an emotional weekend for everyone involved, as fans flocked to the track to see their hero perform for one last dance, and his VR46 Academy riders paid tribute to his career with a special one-off livery on their motorcycles for Sunday’s race. Regardless of any individual’s feelings towards Rossi, it has to be said that his career has been nothing short of spectacular, and he was truly deserving of the send-off he received on Sunday.
For KTM’s Danilo Petrucci, it was a more quiet affair. The Italian rider had his retirement from the sport forced upon him somewhat when Raul Fernandez was announced as his successor in the midst of the Austrian grand prix in an attempt to ward off interest from the Yamaha factory. Petrucci has been one of the longest standing members of the class in recent history, and has acquired a reputation as one of the best wet weather riders modern-day MotoGP has ever seen. To have his career ended by a social media announcement was something of an indignity, but Petrucci has taken it all in good stride, enjoying his birthday celebrations this weekend and revelling in the cheering of the local fans. Despite his race ending early thanks to a collision with outgoing champion Joan Mir, Petrux will surely look back on his final home race with fondness when his career comes to a close.
With all the emotions that came with this weekend, it’s almost hard to believe that there is more racing left to go in the 2021 season, but we do still have two races left to go. The final races in Algarve and Valencia will play no role in deciding the championship, but there is still plenty left to fight for for many riders in the grid, and we still have junior and intermediate class champions left to crown. Regardless, the second race in Misano will be remembered for everything that it brought us: heartbreak, glory, farewells, and a whole lot of drama in-between. Just how we like it.
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