The abbreviated 2020 MotoGP season is winding to a close. We are now at a dozen races. This is the 12th race of the 2020 championship out of a 14-race schedule. Welcome to the first of two back-to-back races at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain. It is crunch time for the 2020 MotoGP World Championship. Time is of the essence, no doubt, as we look at the starting grid for this motorcycle race. Pol Espargaro for Red Bull KTM and their factory team, joined on the front row by Suzuki's Alex Rins, and by Takaaki Nakagami on the LCR Idemitsu Honda.
Joan Mir, Rins' Suzuki team mate is in the middle of row two, and the Spaniard is leading the world championship at this juncture. Fabio Quartararo, the Frenchman, who had a storming beginning to 2020, he has work to do if he wants to mix it up with the front runners. He is starting from the middle of the fourth row inbetween both Brad Binder and Andrea Dovizioso. Brad Binder, the South African, he is tenth on the grid, but he must serve a long lap penalty at some stage during this race. Third place man in the World Championship, Yamaha rider, Maverick Vinales, from Spain, he is going to start the motorcycle race from pit lane.
Alex Rins aims for a hat trick of podium finishes. This is something he's never done before. All the talk is over. It's time for the first of two races in two straight weekends at Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, Spain. We look to the lights, and away we go! Red lights extinguished and the MotoGP riders are racing! Pol Espargaro rockets away from his pole position spot, and Joan Mir, too, gets a flyer of a start. Takaaki Nakagami is in the game too, as they scream towards turn one for the first time of asking. Rins is trapped in second spot, so, Pol Espargaro is your race leader.
Nakagami and Mir nearly touch! Miguel Oliveira, too, has a good start, moving up three places from his starting position of eighth, into fifth. Now then, Maverick Vinales accelerates out of the pit lane and he will join the rest of the field. Fabio Quartararo, too, is making up spots, a race winner from earlier on in the year, moving his way past Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia. Miguel Oliveira has been gaining places hand over fist. Joan Mir moves inside Takaaki Nakagami at turn six. Mir is into the podium places already. Your top six includes Pol Espargaro, Alex Rins, Joan Mir, Takaaki Nakagami, Joan Mir, and Johann Zarco.
Oh dear! Rider down! Fabio Quartararo has thrown it away on lap one of this motorcycle race! Dear oh dear! Wow. This changes everything and takes the Frenchman out of championship contention! He has crashed and so has Aleix Espargaro! Fabio Quartararo's championship aspirations are now in tatters. We look at the points table as they run. Joan Mir leads on 153 points. Alex Rins is second with 125, 28 markers in-arrears. Fabio Quartararo goes from first, to third in the standings on 123 points, 30 markers back, and in fourth place, 32 points behind and just two behind Quartararo, on 121, is Franco Morbidelli.
Unreal! How many more twists and turns will we see in this championship? Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro have crashed out of this motorcycle race at turn eight. Pol Espargaro leads on the KTM and just as we saw at both Aragon races, we have two Suzuki's in podium contention, with Rins followed by Mir. Rins wants by Pol Espargaro, and yes, he is on the inside, and making the pass as we speak! Bish, bash, bosh. That was easy. Rins now leads the European motorcycle Grand Prix! Mir isn't going to let rins out of his sites and we only have three laps on the board. There's lots of racing left in this one.
Joan Mir looks like he will have enough oomph, enough speed in that motorcycle to move around Pol Espargaro and begin the pursuit of Rins, his Suzuki Ecstar team mate. Joan Mir goes by Miguel Oliveira. He just didn't want to continue to be monstered by Pol Espargaro. So, we have a Suzuki 1-2 at the moment and that bike turns on a sixpence through corners ten and 11. Or, if your prefer, the bike does indeed turn on a dime. In the background, look, Brad Binder, the South African rider for Red Bull KTM, is serving his long lap penalty that was assessed to him by the FIM stewards.
We move ahead to lap number ten if I have my counting right. Make that lap 11. Fabio Quartararo and the Malaysian backed Petronas SRT Yamaha Team have been the ones to beat in 2020, but as of late, it has all gone pear shaped for this team. Pol Espargaro is running some very consistent laps. We see a message on the screen to Joan Mir from the Suzuki pit box. Mapping 2. So, this has to do with fuel, with fuel management and how the motorcycle's computer, the engine's brain, is managing the fuel. Joan Mir actually ran into tire issues in the last couple races.
Fuel should not be a concern in a MotoGP race. These events are usually fairly short and the bikes are pretty much mandated to carry on the race on full tanks without having to stop for petrol. We can see that Pol Espargaro is reeling in Joan Mir hand over fist. Valentino Rossi has been having a fraught race and it could be game over for the legend. "The Doctor", his factory Yamaha, the bike cut out on him and stalled. This may be usually attributed to an electronics issue with how advanced in a technical sense these MotoGP motorcycles are in that department. However, the root of the issue can be traced to something mechanical.
Reports from the pit lane are that Rossi's fuel pump is gone. The fuel pump is busted, and so, it is game over for the Italian. Poor old Franco Morbidelli is having trouble as he is dusted by Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati. Dovizioso now ninth, demoting Morbidelli to tenth. Working lap 15 and Mir is pushing very hard indeed. Boom. Takaaki Nakagami has moved into fourth place, passing Miguel Oliveira, and meanwhile, it is game over for Tito Rabat. He has retired the 2019 spec Ducati Desmosedici that he rides for Esponsorama Racing. Nakagami moves to fourth, but as you can see, Oliveira is about to go wheel to wheel with him.
The last thing poor old Nakagami needs is for Oliveira to whistle by him. Well, Oliveira is denied as Nakagami tells him, "no you don't sunshine. You can't pass me!" Nakagami must be like Muttley the dog (Dick Dastardly's foil), snickering inside his helmet. Dear me, blokes. It's time for another championship update. Joan Mir as they run now, is 27 markers ahead of Alex Rins. 157 points to Mir, and his team mate at Suzuki Ecstar is on 130. Fabio Quartararo drops back further, on 124 points, 33 behind. Fourth place, is in possession of Maverick Vinales, 37 markers down, on 120. This is getting spicy, look. It's mano e mano between the two Suzuki boys.
Mir wants it, or rather, he wanted it. He thought about making that pass, but then decided wisely, discretion is the better part of valor at this moment. What a cool slow mo shot of the two Suzuki's. Mir doesn't have to do anything. He could just cruise in second spot, and be in for the money as the season is drawing to a close. Don't do anything silly. Keep your powder dry. Mir is as clever as a fox though, and he has deflected any questions from motorcycle racing journalists about pressure. Clever as a fox and cool as a cucumber. He's going for the championship, and speaking of going for it, he takes the lead of this motorcycle race!
Just as we were saying he's as cool as a cucumber, he fires one and lands on the bullseye, taking the lead with 11 laps to go. He was sitting pretty but he knew he had to go for it, and now, he is going to try and pull away. Are we staring down the barrel of Mir extending his lead in the championship, and doing so from the top step of podium? We'll find out in ten laps or so. Hang in there with us, ladies and gentlemen. This race ain't over yet. We see in replay, that lead was handed to Joan Mir on a plate! Poor old Alex Rins, got into that corner hot, and there was nothing he could do but let his team mate whistle by.
Mir says, "muchos gracias, amigo. I'll take all of that." That's when you see the plate, and you scarf down all the cookies at once. The poor bloke managing the Suzuki team, Davide Brivio, hands on his head thinking, "oh brother! These guys, my riders, are going to drive me crazy!" We move ahead now, look, to lap 19, and Mir, with eight laps left, doubles down. He sets the fastest lap of the motorcycle race to this point. There's no stopping this bloke! An update on the lower placings, as former FIM Superbike and Superstock 1000 rider Lorenzo Savadori is caboose on the field, with four riders officially retired. Tito Rabat, out. Cal Crutchlow, out. Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia, out. Valentino "The Doctor" Rossi, out of race.
Rins has nothing for Mir. Mir was 3/10ths of a second quicker on the most recent lap of this motorcycle races lads and lasses. This is a textbook ride. Jack Miller moves around Johann Zarco for sixth place. The Suzuki, unlike any of the other five brands of motorbike here, can keep grip in the tires for the last third of these races, and that's part of what makes the bike so good. A good rider needs a good motorcycle, and so, we know that Joan Mir has the tools to succeed. Will he succeed today? Pressing the fast forward button on the DVR, now we have just five laps to go. Mir remains in the lead. You've missed nothing.
Should Mir win today, he will be the ninth different race winner in a dozen MotoGP races in 2020. Brad Binder sets fastest lap of this race at 1:31.884, which is slower in comparison to the record lap, set last year, by Marc Marquez at 1:31.116. Still, Binder has uncorked a good one, running tenth, with four laps left in the race. Binder is chiseling away at his rival, giving Andrea Dovizioso aboard the factory Ducati a king size headache here. Dovizioso in the meatime has his hands full with Alex Marquez on the second factory Repsol Honda, normally teamed with his brother, Marc Marquez. But, of course, with Marc recovering from injuries, Stefan Bradl is still riding that second Repsol Honda bike.
Nine different winners in 2020 would equal and tie the mark set in 2016 of the same number of different riders to win in MotoGP racing. Four to go now and Andrea Dovizioso pulls out to pass Alex Marquez. Dovizioso breezes past the Honda rider. Oh no! Marquez loses the bike and falls down! Marquez was within inches of taking out Andrea Dovizioso and dragging the Italian down with him! That was hairy! This doesn't look good for Alex Marquez's chances of winning the Rookie of The Year award.
Marquez, right up behind Dovizioso hit a damp patch on the road and was set down hard. Blimey! That was ugly! One lap to go. Four kilometers of racing remains for Joan Mir here in Spain at the European Grand Prix. He could become the ninth different winner in MotoGP 2020. No worries through the first few turns. 11 corners away from the biggest moment of his career. Suzuki has a gorgeous motorcycle with a coupole of really good riders, and Joan Mir, he is about to win his first race. Davide Brivio looking on, nervously. But Suzuki are going to score a 1-2 in Valenvia. Nakagami and Oliviera are going for third and fourth. For the first time since 1982, Suzuki has a 1-2 in a World Championship race! In 1982, Suzuki had (in the halcyon days of the 500cc class), Italian riders Franco Uncini and Marco Lucchinelli. Joan Mir wins Valencia and is in control of his destiny for a championship! Pol Espargaro third. Takaaki Nakagami fourth. Fifth for Miguel Oliveira.
#36 Joan Mir ESP. Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki GSX-RR
What a race! We are back here in Valencia, next Sunday, for another race, the penultimate round of the championship. Join us to find out what happens. Will it be as exciting as today's thriller? We'll find out together, next weekend. Adios, for now, from Spain.
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