Jack Miller guided his Ducati to first place in the Spanish MotoGP at Jerez, taking his first race win with the manufacturer.
Starting from third on the grid, Miller got off to a flying start and lead the field in the early stages, with pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo slipping down into fourth. However, the French championship leader soon upped his pace and used the final corner to pass Miller and retake the lead. The situation continued with Quartararo looking comfortable in first and Miller equally assured behind him until, with 11 laps remaining, the Frenchman suddenly looked to be in pain, rapidly gave up his 1.5-second cushion to Miller and slipped down the field, finishing in 13th.
Miller held on to claim his first race win in the dry, his first win for Ducati and his first since Assen in 2016, beating team-mate Pecco Bagnaia and Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli into second and third respectively. Speaking after the race, Miller said: “I could see Fabio was struggling, so I knew if I could get past him, get my head down, not make any mistakes and just punch out the laps [I could win]. Those last seven, eight laps were the longest I’ve ever had in my career. It’s just indescribable what I’m feeling right now, it’s a flood of emotions.”
Narrowly missing out on the podium was LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami who enjoyed a successful ride after switching back to his bike’s 2020 chassis.
Marc Márquez came through two high-speed crashes earlier in the weekend unscathed, and improved on his qualifying position of 14th to finish ninth, one place ahead of team-mate Pol Espargaró, on what was his second race back after an extended injury lay-off.
Johann Zarco took eighth on his Pramac Ducati, while Miguel Oliveira in 11th was the only Red Bull KTM Factory rider to finish, with team-mate Brad Binder falling early on and rejoining the race before falling again. KTM Tech3 duo Danilo Petrucci and Iker Lecuona finished in 14th and 15th respectively, while LCR’s Álex Márquez was another DNF after a fall on the opening lap.
Earlier in the day, the Moto2 race had ended with victory for Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Pedro Acosta triumphed in Moto3.
Spanish Grand Prix result
1. Jack Miller AUS Ducati
2. Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati
3. Franco Morbidelli ITA Yamaha
4. Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda
5. Joan Mir SPA Suzuki
2021 MotoGP standings after round 4 of 19
1. Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati 66 points
2. Fabio Quartararo FRA Yamaha 64
3. Maverick Viñales SPA Yamaha 50
4. Joan Mir SPA Suzuki 49
5. Johann Zarco FRA Ducati 48