With five different winners to date, the MotoGP World Championship will land this weekend at the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans, wide open. Fabio Quartararo will arrive at the seventh round of the championship, the French Grand Prix, leader of the classification and wanting to shine in front of his public, but Aleix Espargaró is on his heels in the table.
The fight for pole position will begin this Saturday, May 14, with Q1 at 2:10 p.m., followed by Q2, at 2:35 p.m., and will be seen live on DAZN. You can also follow minute by minute on the La Vanguardia website.
Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) became the fifth different winner of the current MotoGP season in Jerez. Last year’s runner-up, he imposed his law from start to finish and joined the list of riders who have already climbed to the highest step of the podium this year, a list that also includes Miguel Oliveira (KTM), Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia ), Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) and Enea Bastianini (Ducati). The latter has been the only one capable of prevailing, to date, on more than one occasion.
Quartararo, champion in 2021 and second on the Andalusian track, is currently in first place in the standings, with 89 points; with a seven advantage over Aleix Espargaró. The Italian Enea Bastianini holds third position thanks to his two wins, although he has not been on the podium since then, followed by Álex Rins (Suzuki), fourth. Joan Mir (Suzuki) is sixth and Marc Márquez (Honda), regaining his best form after the eye injury, ninth.
In the last edition of the MotoGP French Grand Prix, Quartararo did not miss the opportunity to shine in front of his fellow citizens and obtained pole position with a perfect drive. At 81 thousandths of a second was his brand partner, Maverick Viñales. However, in the race, it was Jack Miller who rode the fastest in the rain that sprayed the asphalt and managed to beat Johann Zarco and Quartararo in a survival test with multiple crashes.
This week, Suzuki announced that it will leave MotoGP at the end of the 2022 season. The car company lamented that the difficult economic situation has forced it to “concentrate its efforts” and reduce costs and personnel. Dorna Sports, the management company of the motorcycling championship, warned the Japanese company that it must comply with its contractual obligations, which do not expire until 2026, and that it could be sanctioned. This Thursday, Suzuki detailed that it is “in talks” with Dorna about the possibility of ending its participation in MotoGP at the end of 2022.
While the new terms are finalized, the nearly 40 employees of the firm in the premier category of motorcycling, as well as the riders Joan Mir and Álex Rins, are still in a state of shock and looking for a new motorcycle for next season. In addition, there are many firms that are interested in the gap that Suzuki will leave on the MotoGP grid.
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