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Spanish MotoGP: Miller charges to Jerez victory after Quartararo hits trouble

Jack Miller stormed to his first MotoGP win in five years after guiding his Ducati to victory in the Spanish Grand Prix after long-time leader Fabio Quartararo hit trouble.

Jack Miller, Ducati Team leads

Jack Miller, Ducati Team leads

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Miller last won a MotoGP race in a wet 2016 Dutch TT and has endured a wretched start to life as a factory Ducati rider so far in 2021, but profited from late issues for Quartararo to lead a Ducati 1-2 at Jerez.

Miller used the power of the Ducati to jump Quartararo off the line, with the Frenchman dropping to fourth behind Franco Morbidelli and Francesco Bagnaia.

Quartararo dispatched of Bagnaia at the end of lap two for third and demoted former Petronas SRT team-mate Morbidelli at the same place on the following tour.

The factory Yamaha rider took the lead away from Miller at the final corner one lap later and began to stretch his legs in clean air.

By lap eight Quartararo was close to a second clear and would build his advantage to over 1.5s over the ensuing laps.

Miller’s pace was strong, but he could do nothing to reel in Quartararo, who looked well on course to score his third-straight victory in 2021.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

However, on lap 14 Quartararo’s gap was cut from 1.5s to eight tenths and continued to be decimated as the Yamaha rider was struck by a mystery issue.

This left him powerless to stop Miller from coming into the lead at the first corner on lap 16, with Bagnaia pushing Quartararo back to third two tours later.

As Miller moved into a lead of over 1.5s, Quartararo plummeted down the order as he was mercilessly picked off by those around him.

Starting the penultimate lap, Miller’s lead stood at just over a second as his Ducati team-mate Bagnaia ate into his advantage.

Miller responded over the final lap and a half, though, building his lead back up to over a second to hold onto his first win as a Ducati rider and his first since 2016.

Bagnaia stayed mounted to complete a Ducati 1-2 at Jerez, while Morbidelli found himself on the final step of the podium as comfortably the top Yamaha rider on a two-year-old M1.

Takaaki Nakagami leaped up to fourth late in the race on his LCR Honda ahead of world champion Joan Mir on the Suzuki, while Aleix Espargaro’s early podium charge ultimately ended in sixth on the Aprilia.

Maverick Vinales was seventh on his factory Yamaha ahead of Pramac’s Johann Zarco and the works Honda duo of Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Miguel Oliveira was top KTM rider at the chequered flag in 11th ahead of HRC wildcard Stefan Bradl and the fading Quartararo, with the final points taken by Tech3 pair Danilo Petrucci and Iker Lecuona.

Brad Binder (KTM) crashed twice on Sunday afternoon, joining Avintia’s Enea Bastianini and LCR’s Alex Marquez on the sidelines – while Suzuki’s Alex Rins was 20th after an early fall.

Bagnaia now leads the MotoGP standings by two points from Quartararo, with Vinales a further 16 points adrift in third.

MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix Result - 25 laps

Cla Rider Bike Gap
1 Australia Jack Miller Ducati  
2 Italy Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 1.912
3 Italy Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 2.516
4 Japan Takaaki Nakagami Honda 3.206
5 Spain Joan Mir Suzuki 4.256
6 Spain Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 5.164
7 Spain Maverick Viñales Yamaha 5.651
8 France Johann Zarco Ducati 7.161
9 Spain Marc Marquez Honda 10.494
10 Spain Pol Espargaro Honda 11.776
11 Portugal Miguel Oliveira KTM 14.766
12 Germany Stefan Bradl Honda 17.243
13 France Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 18.907
14 Italy Danilo Petrucci KTM 20.095
15 Spain Iker Lecuona KTM 20.277
16 Italy Luca Marini Ducati 20.922
17 Italy Valentino Rossi Yamaha 22.731
18 Spain Tito Rabat Ducati 30.314
19 Italy Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 37.912
20 Spain Alex Rins Suzuki 38.234
  South Africa Brad Binder KTM  
  Italy Enea Bastianini Ducati  
  Spain Alex Marquez Honda  

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