Back at the front and it was Viñales who was leading, eight tenths clear of Bagnaia with now just a handful of laps remaining. The win was in sight for the factory Yamaha, but disaster then struck when Viñales tucked the front end of his M1 and he crashed out the lead. Bagnaia didn't need a second invitation to sweep through and retake control of the race, and the gap was quite something... surely it was done and dusted?
Not quite. Viñales found something to little by little cut the three-second gap down to nothing as the pair started the final lap. Remarkably he then took the lead from Bagnaia at Turn 3, plunging downhill and up the inside, but the Italian wasn't tapping out and giving up. He immediately responded with a huge dive up the inside of the Yamaha, even taking a trip across the grass to do so, and that would prove the race-winning overtake. Viñales was able to cut the gap back down again, but a big slide out of the final corner put paid to any chance of him drafting past Bagnaia before the chequered flag...
It wouldn't be another Virtual Race win for Alex Marquez, who came across the line in third place, but it was another trip to the rostrum and ahead of his brother Marc Marquez, who finished fourth. Behind them, three crashes cost Petronas Yamaha SRT's Fabio Quartararo dearly as he ended up in fifth despite showing podium pace once again, just as he had at Mugello.
Sixth place was another tight fight and went right down to the wire as Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team), both making their Virtual Race debuts, slugged it out. In the end, Petrucci came out on top despite The Doctor's best efforts after the number 46 put in an almighty lunge at the final corner, that ultimately ending in the nine-time World Champion crashing out spectacularly and Petrucci able to escape. Nakagami slipped back to eighth after a few more exploits, making no friends on the virtual track in this race but providing some top entertainment, with Ducati Team's Michele Pirro and Reale Avintia Racing's Tito Rabat completing the top ten.
That's it from the second MotoGP™ Virtual Race, and we hope you've enjoyed it! Make sure to stay tuned to motogp.com and social media for more reactions, clips, interviews and #StayAtHomeGP content from MotoGP™, riders and teams.
|