Sunday 22nd November
Before we dive into the race at the incredible Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, or as most are calling it Portimao, we need to look back to:
Valencia: Although the race itself was generally a bit drawn out, it became very feisty towards the last few laps. The three contenders for the race were Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller and Pol Espargaro as they held station for the entire race. Then it became a corner by corner fight between Miller and Morbidelli, tough but fair, and over the line, it was Franco first, Miller a close second and Espargaro third. Franco’s teammate Fabio Quartararo had crashed out, ruining his chances of the World Title. Ah yes, the World Championship, we forgot to say, this race had the pundits out with their calculators, because there were a number of riders still able to take the title.
With this in mind, there was Joan Mir, not having a good race, or was he? He had won the previous race at Valencia one as we call it, so the spotlight was on him. However Joan was running his own race, an intelligent race, and as the race progressed it became clear this very bright young man was calculating the win, not for the day but for the year. He took his agile Team Suzuki Ecstar across the line in seventh and was crowned World Champion. No Trumpster to contest the result, this was out and out victory for the likeable, calm and capable young man from Palma de Mallorca. Joan shone like a diamond in Moto 3 winning the World title in 2017. He had a steady year in 2018 in Moto 2, where Suzuki saw something and took the punt, and gave him the factory ride for 2019. He rewarded their faith with the World Championship, the first for Suzuki in twenty years, Kenny Roberts Jnr the last to do it.
At the beginning of this crazy Covid season Fabio Quartararo seemed to be on for the win and has shown brilliance, but seemingly lost his cool along the way, and had problems with the Yamaha. He took the most poles award and a nice new BMW M2 which we believe he is giving to his dad! So congratulations to Joan, who became Mr Consistent for this season, and World Champion.
Back to Portimao: This race was a bit lacklustre. Miguel Oliveira shot away at the start and never had to look back. In his wake was Franco Morbidelli and Jack Miller, the protagonists from Valencia. It was these two who once again gave us the edge of the seat last few laps, this time Miller got the better of Frankie in some last corner action. 1. Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Tech 3 2. Jack Miller Pramac Racing Ducati 3. Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha SRT and Vice World Champion.
With ten laps to go Joan Mir’s bike decided it had done its work at the last race, and he retired with a mechanical failure. This left Ducati to take the Constructor World Title. Dorna has done an amazing job bringing racing to us this season, an organisation with heart and passion, a huge shout out to them.
And now that it’s all over, the birds can nest again,
I’ll only snow when the sun comes out, I’ll shine when it starts to rain.
Elton John/ Bernie Taupin
It has been a difficult year, we hope you all stay safe and see you here for more reports in 2021. Stay tuned to the site though, as we have exciting news for Bike Directory which we will announce soon.
Photo by @motogp
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Author: Martin Northern
Founder of Bike Directory
