MotoGP: Miller goes back-to-back in flag-to-flag Le Mans race

Round five of the 2021 Moto2 World Championship took place at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, France. The track was dry at the start of the race, but heavy clouds were never too far away, as Fabio Quartararo started from pole position.

Holeshot devices were questionable in Le Mans. They deactivate on heavy braking, but at turns one and two in Le Mans, there is almost no braking at all, especially off the start. Even still, it was a Ducati, with the #43 of Jack Miller on front, that made the holeshot. 

The Australian led the opening stages from Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo, until turn six on lap two when Vinales took the lead. Vinales, in turn, went on to lead for two laps, until the rain started to fall and he began to lose confidence and slip backwards. Miller then resumed the lead for a lap, before Quartararo went to the front on lap five. 

Quartararo took the lead at turn three on the fifth tour, but by the end of the lap he was in pit lane, along with everyone else who made it, to switch to the wet bike, as the rain had arrived in a fairly sudden way. 

Unfortunately for the Frenchman, Marc Marquez had arrived on his rear wheel a few corners before they arrived in pit lane, and then Marquez, being Marquez, took as much advantage as he could on the brakes for the pit lane. He levelled with Quartararo, who stopped in the wrong box – the Vinales side of the factory Yamaha garage – and had to run to his second bike, and then came out in front of him. 

Alex Rins also beat Quartararo out of pit lane, but the #42 did not last long in second place, as he lost the front immediately on leaving pit lane, going down at turn four. 

Marquez then had only Quartararo behind him in any kind of close proximity, although Jack Miller – who ran into the gravel at turn 11 before pitting – was also closing. It was looking good for the Spaniard to take his first win since 2019 in Le Mans, until with 20 laps to go he high sided at the final corner and gave the lead to Quartararo. 

The #20 Yamaha rider still had Miller bearing down on him and, even though Miller had been given two long lap penalties for speeding in pit lane, his pace was such that was able to catch and pass Quartararo with relative ease, taking the lead on lap 12 at turn six. 

Quartararo then had a long lap penalty of his own to serve for stopping in the wrong pit box, which gave Miller even more breathing room. 

The fall of Marquez had lifted Takaaki Nakagami into third place, but he soon had Johann Zarco arriving to steal the podium away. Ultimately, Nakagami did not have the pace of Zarco, who had a bike more suited to the conditions and a better tyre combination (medium-medium for Zarco whereas Nakagami had gone for the soft rear). 

Tyre combinations would become quite critical, as the rain eased and the track began to dry. This would suit the medium tyres better than the soft ones, and both Miller and Quartararo had one soft tyre each fitted to their respective machines – on the rear for Miller and on the front for Quartararo. 

As Quartararo’s soft front tyre began to die, Zarco’s pace advantage over him increased, and soon the Frenchmen exchanged places. The question, then, became whether Zarco could close in on Miller, who was six seconds in front. 

As it turned out, he couldn’t. Even Zarco’s medium tyres began to die as the track increasingly dried, and that levelled the playing field somewhat with Miller who, despite running on at turn eight with four laps to go, was able to hold on for his second win in succession, and to move to within 16 points of the championship lead. 

That championship lead returned to the hands of Fabio Quartararo, but only by a single point. The Frenchman, though, was clearly ecstatic to have claimed a podium in his first ever flag-to-flag race, perhaps mostly because the conditions were those which are not supposed to suit the Yamaha, which generally doesn’t work as well as its competitors in mixed conditions. 

As great as the rides of Miller and Quartararo were, Johann Zarco’s was a match. He had been slow in the beginning of the race, and also at the initial changeover to wet tyres, as he suffered among soft-shod runners while trying to get his mediums up to temperature during the period where the track was at its wettest. From there, and over 10 seconds adrift of Quartararo and Miller, to come back into victory contention and finish on the podium was very impressive, and it moved him to within 12 points of Quartararo atop the championship.

Francesco Bagnaia was another Ducati rider who made a strong recovery. He started 16th, then got the same penalty as Miller for speeding in the pit lane, but was able to recover to fourth place at the end of the race with some outstanding pace in the latter stages that almost had even Quartararo concerned. Bagnaia’s fight back keeps him within range of Quartararo, and he is the top Ducati rider in the championship ahead of their home race in Mugello in two weeks. Bagnaia sits at a one-point deficit to Quartararo.

In fifth was last year’s Le Mans winner, Danilo Petrucci. The Italian always goes well in Le Mans, and especially when it rains. He made the most of his opportunity to take a good result, and finish as top KTM in fifth place. He was ahead of the two LCR Honda riders: Alex Marquez (6th) and Takaaki Nakagami (7th). Behind the two satellite Hondas was Pol Espargaro on the factory bike in eighth, ahead of Iker Lecuona who just pipped Maverick Vinales to ninth at the end of the race, while Vinales was 10th – disappointing after leading in the beginning. 

Behind Vinales was Valentino Rossi, who is still waiting for his first top 10 of the season; then Luca Marini, Brad Binder, Enea Bastianini and Tito Rabat who took the final point in 15th. 

Franco Morbidelli was classified 16th, after an incident with Pol Espargaro and Valentino Rossi on the opening lap sent the #21 into the gravel at turn 11, in which he lost a lap. 

There were plenty of retirements, firstly Joan Mir, who crashed just before coming into the pits on lap five. It’s a major blow for his championship, as he now misses 31 points compared to Quartararo. 

Lorenzo Savadori was the next to retire, as his Aprilia expired 16 laps from the flag, a fate that would befall his teammate, Aleix Espargaro, later on. 

Alex Rins, Miguel Oliveira and Marc Marquez also retired. Marquez was able to remount after his high side at the final corner that took him out of the lead, and was lapping faster than anyone when he crashed at turn six with 10 laps to go. The Spaniard’s championship chances were looking slim anyway, after his complicated start to the season, but now he sits 64 points behind the championship leader.