LIVE UPDATES: Quartararo suffers an early crash in Jerez MotoGP FP1
Round six of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship takes place at Jerez, Spain.
Aiming to pick up where he left off in Portugal, reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo heads into the weekend as a heavy pre-race favourite following his first win of 2022.
Quartararo, who did the double at Jerez in 2020, produced an unbelievable performance in Portimao as he won by over five seconds despite starting fifth.
The Frenchman’s win also sees him join Alex Rins atop the championship standings with 68 points.
Claiming his second podium of the season, it was another strong performance from Johann Zarco at Portimao. The Pramac Ducati rider’s only MotoGP podium at Jerez came in 2018 when he finished second for the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team.
After a difficult round four in America, Aleix Espargaro bounced back in style as he collected podium #2 of the season, that includes his win in Argentina. The Aprilia rider is just two points off Quartararo and Rins in the championship.
Jerez promises to be a big weekend for Ducati as rumours surrounding who will join Francesco Bagnaia in the factory team for 2023 heat up.
Jack Miller did himself no favours in Portimao as the Australian threw away a possible podium when he crashed and wiped out Joan Mir at turn one.
On the other hand, both Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin, two riders who are considered the favourites to replace Miller, also crashed out.
Of the current riders Marc Marquez has the most MotoGP wins at Jerez (3), which is one more than Quartararo. The Yamaha rider should have made it three in 2021, however, arm pump issues saw him drop back down the field as Miller instead went on to win his first of two consecutive races.
For Marquez, the Repsol Honda rider returns to the scene of his huge accident in 2020, a race that also saw him produce one of the greatest fightbacks in history before crashing out at turn 3.
The Spaniard was sixth last time out, a result that would have been disappointing after showing much better potential throughout practice.
