Alcañiz (Spain) (AFP)
Opposite destinies: the Italian Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha-SRT) won the Teruel Grand Prix in the MotoGP category on Sunday, while his French teammate Fabio Quartararo, 8th, again lost ground on the championship leader Joan Mir (Suzuki), 3rd.
This weekend and the previous one at MotorLand Aragon in Alcaniz (Spain) were costly for Quartararo.
Previously, he led the riders with a ten point lead over Mir.
The Niçois set off again in the runner-up position at quarter-lengths, three rounds from the end of the season.
"I am happy to leave Aragon because we fought every day for two weeks", does not hide "El Diablo".
"We must now focus on Valence (the scene of the next two events on November 8 and 15, editor's note). I'm sure it will be a better track for us and that we will be faster and more consistent."
On Sunday, Mir, on one side, moved up from 12th position on the grid, while Quartararo, on the other, fell back from 6th.
“I couldn't give much more,” assures the first in the championship.
"The guys in front were a bit too far at the start. This podium is already almost a victory, so it's okay."
The Spaniard added that he began to think about the title when he realized he would have a hard time catching up with the leaders and "managed his race intelligently."
- "Attacking permanently" -
The other Suzuki of the Spaniard Alex Rins, winner last week, completes the podium and the second Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ducati-Avintia) is 5th in the 11th round out of fourteen in the 2020 program.
Fifth at the start, Zarco moved to 3rd position until the middle of the race before falling back.
"I started to lose control of the bike and was left alone for a long time and unable to keep up a high pace," he says.
Japanese poleman Takaaki Nakagami (Honda-LCR) fell on the first lap, leaving the field open to Morbidelli ahead of Rins.
"It was incredible, a pleasure," comments the winner.
"I knew you had to be aggressive. I gave it my all on every lap. The feel on the bike was fantastic. I had a blast."
This second victory this year - his second in MotoGP - allows Morbidelli to climb to 4th place in the drivers' standings ahead of his compatriot Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), 13th only on Sunday.
"I'm back in the game and plan to attack all the time," said "Franky", who is 25 points behind Mir.
- "No problem for the future" -
Among the other headliners, the Spaniard Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) is 7th and remains 3rd in the championship 19 points behind the leader.
Valentino Rossi was absent for the second race in a row after testing positive for Covid-19.
In Moto2, Briton Sam Lowes won his third race in a row and took the lead of the world championship with a lead of seven points over his Italian runner-up Enea Bastianini.
In Moto3, the Spaniard Jaume Masia, already winner last week on this same circuit, won to climb back to 4th place in the championship, 24 points behind Spanish leader Albert Arenas but above all five units from 2nd place in the Japanese Ai Ogura.
While the health situation is deteriorating in Europe and the restrictions to fight against the coronavirus tighten, the promoter of MotoGP assured Sunday that he "(saw) no problem for the future (...) at the actual hour".
"For the moment, nothing has changed. The state of alert in Spain, in particular, has no impact on our situation (...) If there are restrictions on movement after 10 p.m. and until the morning, it has no impact on us. For the moment, we can continue, "says Carmelo Ezpeleta.
© 2020 AFP