That’s two wins in a row for the Aussie Miller with Zarco and Quartararo bring up the remaining Podium positions.

The 2021 SHARK Helmets Grand Prix de France was a bit of a shambles. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) got two long-lap penalties, yet went on to a big win. He is the first Australian since Casey Stoner in 2012 to win back-to-back races in the premier class Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) made up a threesome on the podium.

No rain had fallen since warm up so the race was declared dry. A couple of dark clouds sent the grid into a frenzy. The field chose soft-soft slick Michelins to begin the race on, but some suggested rain might on the wa, which meant drama at a hundred paces.

While dry, Miller rocket from third on the grid. Viñales and Quartararo made up the

It was a frantic start. At the front, Miller, Quartararo and Viñales were your top three with fast-starting Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Marc Marquez inside the top five, as the rain started falling.

Miller ran wide at Turn 11 as the riders struggled to finish the lap on the asphalt. Slick tyres and heavy rain don’t mix, and the reigning World Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) found that out. Mir slid out in Lap 5 as rain poured biblically. Both Miller and teammate Bagnaia got two long-lap penalties for speeding in pitlane, Quartararo pulled into Viñales’ box slot by accident, with Marc Marquez emerging as the race leader.

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ABOVE: 2021 French Moto GP

It wasn’t long before Marquez also crashed out at Turn 6, his second of the race, and he was out on Lap 18. One thing to note: Miller and Quartararo had one soft Michelin rain tyre on, Zarco was on the mediums. The mediums would last longer in these drying conditions as the wet tyres started to overheat, and we saw Miller kick his right leg out on the front straight – was he signalling to get the dry bike ready? We didn’t know for now, but what we could see was Zarco reeling in Quartararo, the gap now 2.5s with seven to go.

Zarco returns to the podium after a trickier couple of races in Portugal and Spain, he and Quartararo make it two Frenchman on the podium at the French GP – not bad from the latter who underwent arm pump surgery after the Spanish GP. Bagnaia’s fourth was a very, very good result after his two long lap penalties and a P16 start. He may have lost his World Championship lead, but only by a point.

“That was very hectic!”- MotoGP™ podium’s first words 16/05/2021

Hear the immediate reaction to the dramatic French Grand Prix from Jack Miller, Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo

Petrucci has endured a tough start to life as a KTM rider, but the 2020 Le Mans race winner delivered by far his best ride of the season to finish P5. LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez also grabs his best result of the season at a circuit he scored a podium at last year, the double World Champion led teammate Nakagami over the line. Pol Espargaro equals his best finish of the campaign in P8, with Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) snatching P9 off Viñales on the last lap to land a morale-boosting P9. Viñales had to settle for P10 at the chequered flag, a relatively disappointing result after leading the race in the early stages.

The Morbidelli incident cost Rossi valuable time in the early stages and The Doctor wasn’t able to make up ground when the rain fell, it’s P11 for the nine-time World Champion at Le Mans. Luca Marini (SKY VR46 Avintia) was 10 seconds behind his half brother in P12, the Italian comfortably beat 13th place Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). Reigning Moto2™ World Champion Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) and Tito Rabat (Pramac Racing) were the final point scorers, Morbidelli managed to finish the race but was a lonely P16.

Both Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia Racing Team Gresini teammate Lorenzo Savadori suffered mechanical issues on Sunday afternoon, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) joined the Suzukis and Marc Marquez in crashing out.

That was another absolutely breathtaking MotoGP™ race, our first flag-to-flag in four years. An unbelievable afternoon in northern France sees the top four in the title race sit just 16 points apart, it’s Quartararo leading the way from Bagnaia, Zarco and Miller. Next up: the spectacular Mugello.

Top 10:
1. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team)
2. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 3.970
3. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 14.468
4. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 16.172
4. Danilo Petrucci (Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing) + 21.430
5. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) + 23.509
7. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 30.164
8. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 35.221
9. Iker Lecuona (Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing) + 40.432
10. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 40.577

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL RESULTS!

Tags MotoGP, 2021, SHARK GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE, RAC, #FrenchGP , #JackMiller, #CaseyStoner #JohannZarco, #fabiaoquartararo

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