European GP – Joan Mir’s first MotoGP victory at the European GP (report and rankings) –

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Joan Mir’s first MotoGP victory at the European GP (report and standings)

European GP - Joan Mir's first MotoGP victory at the European GP (report and rankings) -

Joan Mir will not be the first world champion in history in the premier class! The Suzuki official, leading the provisional MotoGP 2020, wins his first success at the European GP in Valencia ahead of his teammate Alex Rins and Pol Espargaro’s KTM. Bad operation on the other hand for Yamaha with the fall of Quartararo and the abandonment of Rossi. Summary, analysis of highlights, results and rankings.

The start of this antepenultimate race of this funny 2020 MotoGP season is given under blue skies and 23 ° C in the air, on a dry track. Ideal conditions in contrast to the humid and cool environment of the Friday morning tests then the day on Saturday, which notably saw Jack Miller, Johann Zarco then Pol Espargaro stand out. 

  • European GP – Qualifying: 
  • MNC special file : 

The poleman Pol Espargaro presents himself with hard and medium tires on the grid, against mediums front and rear for Alex Rins who follows him. Takaaki Nakagami, for his part, retained a hard-medium combination on his Honda-LCR in 3rd position, while the GSX-RR of championship leader Joan Mir started from 5th place on medium tires. Interesting variety of bikes in the front row with a KTM, two Suzuki and a Honda for this 27 lap race !

The holeshot goes to Pol Espargaro ahead of Alex Rins and Takaaki Nakami. Joan Mir wins a place ahead of Miguel Oliveira, while Johann Zarco loses two (6th) and Fabio Quartararo climbs up two positions (9th). 

Serial disasters for Yamaha !

But the efforts of the young Nice are poorly rewarded: Fabio goes to the mat in turn 8, just after seeing Aleix Espargaro lose the front in front of his eyes. "El Diablo" undoubtedly triggered a slight braking on the angle in reaction to the fall of the Aprilia, which earned him a one-way trip in the gravel of the circuit Ricardo Tormo…

This fall is catastrophic insofar as the French occupied the second place in the championship 14 points behind Joan Mir (123 against 137): "if I do not take risks, it’s over for the title", he noted on Saturday evening after staying in the bottom of the standings Saturday in the wet and drying. "I don’t understand: I’m not the best in the rain, but not bad at this point", he regrets.

"I must be very aggressive tomorrow and I will be. If I fall, too bad: it will be a good reason", explained the young French: alas, this strategy full of panache ends badly for the n ° 20 who finishes the race in the 14th and last position behind Maverick Viñales…

The Spaniard, forced to start from the pit lane after exceeding his engine quota, did not work miracles from this unfavorable position: Viñales finished penultimate more than 25 seconds behind the winner. Not very incisive "Mack" scores points mainly thanks to the numerous abandonments on crashes and technical problems in front of him.

Starting with Valentino Rossi, still victim of a problem on his M1 when he was just getting back on the handlebars after two "isolated" races because of the Covid-19! The Doctor records his second white result caused by a technical problem after his engine failure in Jerez (Spain), a race for which Yamaha is also accused of cheating for having used non-regulatory valves.

  • European GP: 
  • MNC of 6 November 2020 :  
  • MNC of 6 November 2020 : 

Other drivers are also experiencing setbacks: Pecco Bagnaia falls on his Ducati, followed by Cal Crutchlow on his Honda: frustrating for the Briton, who was found to have a ligament tear after the Teruel GP. The native of Conventry pays a heavy price, he who injured his arm at the GP of Spain before suffering from compartment syndrome and infections linked to poor recovery from this injury.

No luck either for Esteve Rabat, who has just learned that a contract is worth nothing in the structure of Raul Romero: the Spaniard is fired bluntly to make room next year for Rossi’s half-brother, Luca Marini, at Ducati-Avintia! "Tito" – suddenly deprived of the handlebars in MotoGP for 2021 – also cedes his position to the two Yamaha following a problem before giving up.

First Suzuki double since 1982 !  

While Yamaha – outright accused of having "cheated" with its pilots by Alex Marquez – recorded disappointment after disappointment in the space of a few laps, Suzuki saw a more favorable scenario unfolding: Alex Rins then Joan Mir overtook Pol Espargaro in turn to lead this 12th MotoGP round, before reversing their positions on the 17th round.

Mir, who was looking for the opening with insistence, found the fault eleven laps from the finish! The 23-year-old Spaniard leads for the first time since the Styrian GP after overtaking Rins following his strange gap in Turn 8 … almost to wonder if the No.42 would not have deliberately made the wrong gear in entering this curve in 4th (instead of second!) to make it easier for his teammate, to whom  ?!

  • MNC of November 4: 

Joan Mir gained in any case an important advantage as soon as he passed, sticking up to eight tenths to Rins and Pol Espargaro, very consistent in third place on his KTM. Nakagami – excellent 4th -, Oliveira, Miller and Zarco follow a few lengths but are out of play for the podium.

Then it was Alex Marquez’s turn to taste the asphalt four laps from the finish, while the young Spaniard struggled with Andrea Dovizioso for 8th place. Passed by the Ducati, the n ° 73 tried to retort from the inside in turn 1: bad choice, because this still wet part caused the immediate loss of the front of the Honda rider who also lost lengths in the classification of the best "Rookie"…

And all the more so as his rival Brad Binder achieved a superb end of the race after receiving a "long lap" penalty: the South African passed Johann Zarco on the penultimate lap, before doing it again just after on Andrea Dovizioso for the gain of the 7th position behind Jack Miller. Fortiche the beginner KTM !

Joan Mir completed the 27th and final lap without being worried and passed under the checkered flag as the winner for the first time in his young MotoGP career. The n ° 36 precedes his teammate Alex Rins and Pol Espargaro, immediately inheriting congratulations for this first success – including those sent by Jorge Lorenzo "himself" on Twitter !

MotoGP Championship update

This first MotoGP victory for Joan Mir – Moto3 world champion 2017 – increases his advantage in the provisional classification, in which the official Suzuki occupies the first place since Aragon (Spain). Mir – 9th winner this season! – now leads with 162 points against 125 for Fabio Quartararo, who keeps tied for second place with Alex Rins.

The Yamaha rider – in tears in his box: a heartbreak … – and his rival Suzuki are at 37 units, a significant gap with only two races still to go: the GP of Valencia next Sunday on the same track then the unpublished GP of Portugal on the "Roller coaster" route of Portimao in 15 days. Suffice to say that Mir has a real advantage that can only delight his employer: Suzuki has not won the supreme title since 2000 with Kenny Roberts Jr !

The Hamamatsu brand would celebrate in style its 100th anniversary and the 60th anniversary of its commitment to Grand Prix! In the meantime, the whole team is celebrating the first Suzuki double since the 1982 German GP and MNC has been repeating it for a few races: the GSX-RR is now the benchmark MotoGP..

Maverick Viñales drops one rank in the provisional: the Spaniard is 4th 41 points behind the leader, just ahead of Franco Morbidelli who also signs the best Yamaha result of this European GP with his 11th place 17.6 seconds behind the winner . A "free" weekend for the Iwata brand and its pilots…

It should be noted that Joan Mir’s victory over the GSX-RR makes Suzuki one of the constructors who have won twice this season with Yamaha, KTM and Ducati. The only major manufacturer missing from this list: Honda, which has no success like Aprilia! Outrageous comparison for the most powerful Japanese brand…

MotoGP results of the 2020 European GP

  1.  Joan MIR Suzuki 41’37.297
  2. Alex RINS Suzuki +0.651
  3. Pol ESPARGARO KTM +1.203
  4. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +2.194
  5. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +8.046
  6. Jack MILLER Ducati +8.755
  7. Brad BINDER KTM +10.137
  8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +10.801
  9. Johann ZARCO Ducati +11.550
  10. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati +16.803
  11. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha +17.617
  12. Stefan BRADL Honda +24.350
  13. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha +25.403
  14. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha +39.639

Not classified 

  • Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia 2 laps
  • Alex MARQUEZ Honda 4 laps
  • Tito RABAT Ducati14 Tours
  • Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 22 laps
  • Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 22 laps
  • Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 23 laps
  • Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 0 lap

MotoGP provisional classification at the European GP

  1. Suzuki 162
  2. Yamaha 125
  3. Suzuki 125
  4. Yamaha 121
  5. Yamaha 117
  6. Ducati 117
  7. KTM 106
  8. Honda 105
  9. Ducati 92
  10. KTM 90
  11. Ducati 77
  12. KTM 76
  13. Ducati 71
  14. Honda 67
  15. Yamaha 58
  16. Ducati 42
  17. KTM 27
  18. Aprilia 27
  19. Honda 26
  20. Honda 16
  21. Aprilia 12
  22. Ducati 10
  23. Ducati 4

Provisional rankings for manufacturers and MotoGP teams

European GP - Joan Mir's first MotoGP victory at the European GP (report and rankings) -

European GP - Joan Mir's first MotoGP victory at the European GP (report and rankings) -

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