As the leading two crossed the start-finish line at the end of the opening lap there was absolutely nothing between them, having already swapped places, and paint, a good few times. Bagnaia would once again dive past Alex Marquez into Turn 1, but the Spaniard responded immediately after as the Italian ran wide.
Meanwhile, chaos was breaking out behind the leading two. Mir was the first to crash out after getting an almighty shunt from his teammate Rins, of all people, and Quartararo wasn’t too far behind, tucking the front at Turn 1 for the second lap in a row. However, the Frenchman respawned on track... before Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) then rode straight into him and the pair crashed out, dropping the polesitter even further down the order.
Onto Lap 3 and Alex Marquez was beginning to edge further and further clear of Bagnaia at the front, with the gap starting to stretch to over half a second. The Pramac rider wasn’t throwing in the towel just yet, however. Just behind them, Viñales was recovering well from his earlier incident and had Marc Marquez in his sights after taking advantage of a mistake from Rins to take fourth.
Alas, Viñales then crashed out after braking too late into Correntaio and running into the gravel trap, the factory Yamaha rider visibly annoyed at himself as he slapped his controller in fury. Seconds later though, Marc Marquez would have a crash of his own, allowing Viñales to blast back ahead of the Repsol Honda and into the final podium place.
As the pack filtered through to start the penultimate lap, the podium looked decided but there a battle heating up between Marc Marquez and Quartararo for fourth place. The first MM93 vs FQ20 fight of 2020 would unfold with the Frenchman coming out on top thanks to a move at Casanova-Savelli, despite Marquez throwing everything he had into Arrabbiata 1 as he tried to stop the Yamaha man breaking clear...
Back at the front, Alex Marquez kept his nerve on the final lap to take victory by over seven seconds, joined on the podium by Bagnaia and Viñales. Quartararo ended up fourth, despite setting the fastest lap of the race with his final lap, with Marc Marquez completing the top five. Rins came out on top in the battle of the Suzuki teammates after he took sixth, ahead of Mir in seventh, with Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), Lecuona and Espargaro completing the top ten.
An incredible and historic #StayAtHomeGP had pretty much everything: crashes, clashes and a rookie taking the victory! The good news is we don’t have to wait long for the next Virtual MotoGP™ installment either, with a handful of other premier class stars getting their chance to shine in the coming weeks...
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