Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1469992
counter clicked one, causing the 32-year-old to think a single lap remained. "But I didn't remem- ber that here in Barcelona the last lap is '0,' not '1,'" he offered. The incident had Espargaro finishing fifth rather than second, handing Quartararo an extra nine points in his pursuit to retain the world crown. Not even the Frenchman could have dreamed this up. "The only thing I can do is say sorry," said Espargaro after a lengthy spell in the Aprilia box with head in hands. Outside, there were a few smirks, with Mir stating he owed his compa- triot "a bottle of wine" for all but handing him fourth place. Perhaps humor was all that was left in the tank after a gruel- ing afternoon in hills above the Mediterranean Coast. The Cir- cuit of Barcelona-Catalunya was resurfaced as recently as 2018. But the degradation of the track surface from last year to this was The race had been won long before Espargaro crossed the finish line for the penultimate time. But with Quartararo 6.1 seconds ahead and Jorge Mar- tin (Pramac Ducati) half a second behind, the Aprilia man assumed he had earned second place and a fifth consecutive podium finish. In one of the more bizarre scenes of recent times, he duly sat up and waved to the crowd as he cut across the tarmac between turns one and two. The only thing was a further lap of racing remained. Only when Martin, Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati), Joan Mir (Ec- star Suzuki) and Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati) had ridden by did the penny drop. It later emerged Espargaro had been using the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya's iconic control tower, which dis- plays the lap count at the end of pit lane, to judge what remained. As the leader crossed the line for the penultimate time, the ROUND 9 / JUNE 3-5, 2022 CIRCUIT OF BARCELONA / CATALUNYA, SPAIN P82 MOTOGP I MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MYOWNRACE 4 SEAN DYLAN KELLY 21ST MOTO2 American Racing's Sean Dylan Kelly started 29th on the grid but made some headway during the race and took some posi ves from it. "It feels like I'm racing again!" Kelly said. "This was a big step forward from Mugello. Obviously, I'm s ll learning things and the most important thing is that every me out I'm making some sort of step or I'm learning some informa on. I'm happy with the race, but I felt like I was lacking something in the last two or three laps to be figh ng with the two guys that were just in front of me, but I'm happy that we got to the finish for our best finish and what I think is our best race so far." 6 CAMERON BEAUBIER DNF MOTO2 "It was a pre y rough weekend, to be honest," said American Racing's Cameron Beaubier, who crashed out on lap five. "I came in here a li le nervous because I struggled last year on pace, but I was a bit more confident because we're coming off a good result in Mugello. I knew I'd Quartararo had plenty to get excited about after winning again and extending his points lead.