ROUND 16 / OCTOBER 22-24, 2021
MISANO WORLD CIRCUIT MARCO SIMONCELLI / MISANO, SAN MARINO
P68
clear of Marquez's attacks at turn 15—the same
place teammate Jack Miller crashed early in the
race—ending any hope he had of taking the title
fight with Quartararo to the penultimate round in
Portugal in two weeks' time.
With Bagnaia out, it was immaterial where
Quartararo finished in terms of the champion-
ship as his 52-point buffer going into Misano
was more than the 50 potential points on offer
at the upcoming Portimao and Valencia rounds.
Still, the champion-elect had picked off Aleix
Espargaro (Gresini Aprilia), Alex Rins (Suzuki
Ecstar) and Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) to
sit a comfortable fourth, which then became
third, by the time of Bagnaia's crash.
But he did not count on Enea Bastianini rid-
ing like a banshee in the final laps in front of his
home crowd, closing on Quartararo and putting
a fine block pass on the Frenchman with three
corners remaining for his second podium at
Misano this year.
Out front, Marquez cruised home to victory
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
MYOWNRACE
20 FABIO QUARTARARO
4TH MOTOGP
"I already don't have my normal voice
just a few hours a er, I've cried a lot and
screamed a lot!" Quartararo said a er the
finish. "It feels amazing. When I crossed
the finish line I thought about all the
tough moments I had, and to be World
Champion in MotoGP is something I never
expected when I was in bad situa ons only
a few years ago. So right now I feel like I'm
in a dream and I don't realize what's hap-
pening to me right now!"
93 MARC MARQUEZ
1ST MOTOGP
"We keep improving and this is the best
way to finish the 2021 season as we
prepare for 2022," Marquez said. "When
you look at the gap compared to the first
race here, we've made a step. I also want
to say a big congratula ons to Fabio for his
tle, he has been incredible this year and
he really deserves it. Today is his day but
I look forward to figh ng with him again
next year."
Francesco Bagnaia did
everything right until lap
23. That's the moment he
lost the 2021 MotoGP World
Championship.
Marc Marquez's
win marked two in
a row and his first
on a clockwise
circuit since his
accident at Jerez
in 2020.
