Fabio Quartararo enjoys championship boost as Jorge Martin revels in maiden win
Monday, 9 August 2021
The Frenchman extends his standings lead.
MotoGP™ championship leader Fabio Quartararo enjoyed a "good day" at the Styrian Grand Prix, as his podium finish and Jorge Martin's win extended his lead at the top of the standings.
Quartararo finished third in a race that was suspended for half an hour due to an early crash, which saw two bikes engulfed in flames.
Both riders – Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo Savadori – escaped relatively unscathed, though the latter was unable to restart the race.
The restart benefited Martin, who had set a record time at the Red Bull Ring to take pole position in Saturday's qualifying session.
Francesco Bagnaia had overtaken the Pramac Racing rider but, despite an early attack from Jack Miller after the restart, Martin recovered to cruise to his maiden MotoGP™ triumph.
Behind Martin, Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) claimed second, with Quartararo nipping into third – Miller's hopes fading when he skidded off the track at Turn 7 with 10 laps remaining.
Quartararo (172) now has a 40-point lead over Johann Zarco, who finished sixth, in the championship standings, with Mir further behind on 121.
"It feels so good because when there is a red flag it is always tough," said Quartararo.
"I was extremely good on the braking on Turn 3. I knew that there was a possibility to overtake and did it.
"I don't really know the position of the other guys apart from Joan and Jorge finishing in front. I am so happy. The best goal was to finish on the podium and we did it. So happy for Jorge, he took some points off Joan, so a good day."
A first premier class victory for rider and team! 👏
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 8, 2021
Your #StyrianGP winner, @88jorgemartin! 🏆#MotoGP pic.twitter.com/SYJOJccmad
Martin, meanwhile, was ecstatic after achieving what he labelled the first step on his path to pushing for world championship glory.
"I can't believe it, I don't believe it, that's why I'm not so excited! I think the ride was amazing. I kept a really constant pace. I was super focused," said the 23-year-old.
"Even if I did some mistakes, my target was to win the race. Joan was impressive today, he was behind me almost all the race but then in the last laps I tried a bit more and I took a gap for the lead.
"The last laps I was thinking about things – everyone who has helped me to be here – that's why I did worse in the last laps but I had this gap to manage. Thanks to all my family, this is one big step towards my big area to be world champion."
Reigning world champion Mir said: "Today was close. I'm happy because all weekend we have been there, overall.
"I needed a couple of faster laps to fight with Jorge, he did a great job. We must push a bit more, find something more for next weekend if we want to be on the top of the podium.
"I am proud of the team, they have done a great job and finally, the performance is higher, so happy and proud of them."
