2021 MotoGP Mid-season Review: Top Performers, Surprises, Disappointments And More

Published July 12, 2021
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6 min read

A recap of how your favourite MotoGP riders performed in the first half of the 2021 World Championship

With MotoGP hitting half-time and leaving us action-less for more than a month, we thought we’d take a quick look at how the top motorcycle riders are faring in the 2021 MotoGP championship. So here are the top riders who stood out for us in first nine races this year:

Star Performer: Fabio Quartararo

In 2020, Fabio Quartararo was pretty rapid but this year, the factory Yamaha man is in a league of his own. With four wins and six podiums on the trot, he’s without a doubt the star performer till now. Consequently, he goes into the summer break with a relaxing 34-point lead in the championship. If Fabio carries this on, it’ll be pretty hard to keep the MotoGP trophy from him at the end of the year. However, the Frenchman would be hoping that things don’t go downhill as they did in 2020 after the summer break.

Monsieur Consistent: Johann Zarco

Last year was a prime example of how consistency can make and break the championship and it looks like Johann Zarco has taken a good note of that. The Pramac Ducati man currently hovers in second position in the championship thanks to his consistent top-five form, overshadowing the factory Ducati men time and again. However, we’re yet to see the famed Zarco post-win backflip in MotoGP. With the track record, it doesn’t seem too far now.

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The Underdog: Miguel Oliveira

Miguel Oliveira took two race wins last year flying the Tech 3 KTM colours, shocking everyone. Consequently, there were high hopes from him in 2021, which were washed away in the opening rounds. But in the last few rounds, he’s shown speed and taken a race win ahead of the strongest bike in the paddock. Not only this, the Portugese man has jumped to seventh in the championship and is just 10 points behind Maverick Vinales. If he keeps up this consistency, we feel Oliveira can be a real dark horse in the championship and come ever close to KTM’s world championship winning hopes.

Hardest Charger: Joan Mir

Unlike Moto3, it’s pretty hard to overtake and charge through the field in MotoGP. But factory Suzuki’s Joan Mir has made it look pretty easy last year and he’s carried that on in 2021 too. Mir has already taken three podiums, all while starting from the third row of the grid. The reigning world champion currently sits fourth in the championship, just 55 points shy of Quartararo. With Suzuki planning to finally bring their squatter device in the second half, we feel Joan’s only going one way and that’s up. Will he successfully defend his 2020 title? We can’t wait to find out.

The Surprise Package: Aleix Espargaro

Aprilia’s MotoGP project hasn’t really shone in the past few years. But this year, the Aprilia RS-GP is looking stronger than ever. And Aprilia’s top man, Aleix Espargaro, is surely working it well. In the last few rounds, Aleix has put the RS-GP on the front row and he even led the first few laps of the German GP ahead of huge names like Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez. Everyone expected Aprilia to be fast this year but leading races and starting from the front row is a pleasant surprise.

Top Rookie: Jorge Martin

Among the handful of rookies this year, the fastest to adapt to a MotoGP bike is Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin. Martin showed excellent speed from the opening rounds and even took pole position in Qatar, leaving some big names flabbergasted. Sadly, his good run took a big hit when he crashed heavily in Portimao, knocking him out of a few races. Now that he’s back, he’s again building up speed and with the month-long break to recover, we can’t wait to see how he goes in the second half.

Mr Unlucky: Alex Rins

Last year, Alex Rins was one of the most consistent riders on the grid. This year, though, he’s been consistent….ly crashing. The factory Suzuki has had his worst ever run in MotoGP this year having consecutive DNFs followed by a self-proclaimed injury which knocked him out of another race and consequently pushed him down to 14th place in the championship. All said and done, the Spaniard has shown speed but has run out of luck time and again. We hope his woes are behind him and we can see more of him in the coming races.

Biggest Disappointment And Most Controversial: Maverick Vinales

After starting the 2021 title fight by winning the first race, Maverick Vinales has certainly been disappointing lately. Everyone expected him to be the top Yamaha man this year but he failed to deliver as he sits sixth in the championship, having taken just two podiums.

This aside, the factory Yamaha man has been one of the most controversial men in 2021. From bold claims against Yamaha to being part of some major rumours, Vinales has been part of it all. All this started after Vinales openly stated that Yamaha wasn’t listening to him and that he had no option but to use his teammate’s bike setting. This was soon followed by rumours that Vinales was on the verge of exiting the factory Yamaha team, opting out of his two-year contract and switching to factory Aprilia for 2022. Soon after the Dutch GP, Yamaha made an official statement announcing Vinales’ exit, but there’s still no official confirmation whether Vinales is heading to Aprilia. Would this be the right move for the Top Gun? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Most Crashes: Valentino Rossi

The year 2021 hasn’t been kind on the GOAT of the MotoGP world, Valentino Rossi. He’s had three DNFs in nine races and has crashed several times in practice sessions, making this one of his worst ever MotoGP seasons. Moreover, unlike before, the Doctor has failed to show speed altogether and hasn’t even made it to Q2 on many occasions. Now, with his own VR46 Academy team making a debut in MotoGP next year, an important question arises: Will the GOAT call it quits this year and switch to a team manager role or have another go aboard the Ducati?

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