At the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, Ducati’s Jack Miller beat off teammate Francesco Bagnaia to win his first MotoGP race.
The 26-year-old Australian beat Bagnaia to the finish line for the first time since winning the 2016 Dutch Grand Prix, while Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli finished third.
On the first lap, Miller used his Ducati’s power to pass pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo, with the Frenchman slipping to fourth behind Franco Morbidelli of Petronas Yamaha SRT and Bagnaia of Petronas Yamaha SRT.
Quartararo, who won both races in Jerez last season, recovered the lead over the next two laps and continued to extend his lead to up to two seconds at the front.
However, a bike issue caused the Yamaha rider’s pace to drop dramatically, allowing Miller to reclaim the lead with fewer than 10 laps remaining.
As Miller’s advantage increased to almost 1.5 seconds, Quartararo fell farther down the order as he was passed by his title rivals.
Miller then held off Bagnaia for second place, with Morbidelli completing the podium.
“It’s just undescribable what I’m feeling right now,” Miller said.
“I had done a lot of laps by myself this weekend and I knew I had reasonable pace.
“After Fabio took the lead, I didn’t expect him to come back to me but he did.
“When I got past him, I just kept my head down and got as much as I could out of the last seven to eight laps — which felt like the longest I’ve ever had in my career.”
With 66 points, Bagnaia now leads the world championship by two points over Quartararo, who finished 13th. Miller is sixth, 27 points behind Bagnaia.
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