VOLUME 58 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 17, 2021 P73
and championship contender
Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati)
both crashed out, while Enea
Bastianini was forced to with-
draw after the bodywork on his
Esponsorama Ducati became
disconnected.
In the championship, Quar-
tararo remarkably increases
his lead to 47 points ahead of
Bagnaia and Mir, who are both
tied at 134. Zarco's crash drops
him to fourth at 132 with Miller
fifth at 105.
MOTO2
For the fourth time in 2021, Raul
Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
took the race victory in a pivotal
championship round as team-
mate and title leader Remy Gard-
ner suffered his worst round of
the season.
Fernandez fended off race-
long pressure from Ai Ogura
(Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) as
now appears likely Darryn Binder
will be promoted to SRT's MotoGP
operation for next season.
RED BULL RING TRACK
CHANGES PLANNED
The safety issues surrounding the
Red Bull Ring will be addressed
before the 2022 MotoGP event,
with a chicane likely to be installed
between turns one and two. After
the last three premier class races
were red flagged at this venue,
the track has come in for criticism
for its lack of action ahead of the
2021 races. Friday saw another
close call as American Cameron
Beaubier crashed on the exit of
turn one in Moto2 FP1. Aron Canet,
just behind, somehow avoided the
Californian's stricken machine.
PETRUCCI PONDERING
DAKAR OFFER
Not long after Danilo Petrucci had
learned that he had lost his seat
in the MotoGP class for 2022, he
was pondering an interesting offer
from the factory. The Italian has an
offer to switch disciplines and race
the Dakar Rally for KTM. "It was an
idea from Mr. [Stefan] Pierer [KTM
CEO] and he proposed to me that
on Saturday night," he said. "I
thought he was joking, but he was
not. We started to talk and then
two days ago Pit (Beirer – KTM
Motorsport Director) called me
and repeated to me more or less
what they told me on Saturday. "He
said, 'We are ready for 2022,' but
he did say, 'We can send you there
if you like to just watch the panora-
ma and the landscapes, because
we think it's quite dangerous if
you go there to make the race and
make results [straight away].' Then
I have all of one year to make
training and do some races, and
from 2023 maybe be more com-
petitive. It's one of the options of
my future that I have, and for sure,
I really want to thank them for this
kind of option."
Marc Marquez
was charging
but dropped the
Honda with two
laps to go.
The top five head to the pits
for new tires, with Binder
staying out to roll the dice.
