MotoGP: Miller leads Ducati 1-2 in Jerez, Quartararo fades from 1st to 13th

Jack Miller silenced his critics with an emphatic victory at the Circuito de Jerez.

Fabio Quartararo led for the most part of the race, but his pace went away and Miller, who had been stalking the Frenchman, inherited the lead.

Francesco Bagnaia completed a Ducati 1-2 in second while Franco Morbidelli was back to his best in third.

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) used the Ducati launch control to perfection and took the holeshot from third in the grid. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) lined up behind him while polesitter Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) got swallowed into fourth. A great start took Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) into fifth from P8.

Quartararo wasted no time and translated the corner speed of the Yamaha through turns 11 and 12 to line up a move down the inside of Bagnaia at T13. He executed a carbon copy of the manoeuvre a lap later to overtake Morbidelli and took the lead off Miller in the same fashion on lap 4.

With clear track ahead of him, Quartararo put the hammer down and immediately started to pull away from his pursuer. Miller did not have the speed to match his opponent’s pace, but he maintained a comfortable gap to Morbidelli and kept Quartararo honest with constant pressure.

Bagnaia made the best of the Ducati’s top speed to retaliate on Espargaro in the run up to T6 on lap 9. The Aprilia successively fell into the clutches of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) while Bagnaia took huge chunks of time out of Morbidelli ahead of him.

Morbidelli bravely held on to his position, but eventually had to surrender to his countryman going into T1 on lap 15.

Out front, Quartararo had stretched out a comfortable advantage when it suddenly started to all go wrong for the Frenchman. A 1.5 second lead disappeared in less than a lap and Miller moved past going into lap 16.

Quartararo’s pace was gone and he plummeted down the order without a chance to fight back.

Miller held the lead but now faced a challenge from his teammate. Bagnaia found pace in the closing stages and started a late charge. Going into the final lap, the gap was just over a second, but Miller controlled his advantage to take his first dry MotoGP race win.

Bagnaia had to settle for second while Morbidelli completed the podium in third. A brave ride from Nakagami ended in fourth as the top Honda while Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) beat Espargaro to fifth.