2021 MotoGP Post-season Awards: Star Performer, Most Crashes, Top Rookie & More

And it’s a wrap! The 2021 MotoGP season has ended and it was surely a mesmerising one to witness. From heartbreaks to sheer joy, this season was high on anything and everything we could expect. And to round off the season in #ZigWheelsFashion, we present to you our version of the MotoGP awards:

Star Performer: Fabio Quartararo

The man of the season was…..you guessed it, the 2021 MotoGP world champion, Fabio Quartararo. Even though there were some alerting times towards the final races, the factory Yamaha man was untouchable throughout the season showing excellent consistency on almost all the circuits, which ultimately led to him becoming the world champion. It was a truly impressive season by Quartararo as he proved Yamaha did the right thing by promoting him to the factory team.

Mr Consistent: Francesco Bagnaia

In a close second to Fabio was the factory Ducati man, Francesco Bagnaia. If Fabio’s season was a 10, Pecco’s season was nothing short of a 9.9. The Italian showed supreme consistency right from Qatar to Valencia, especially in the second half where he took four consecutive pole positions. The only chinks in his armour were the DNFs in Misano and Mugello, and even then he was leading the races. All in all, Ducati and Pecco both have to be nothing short of proud of the season they’ve had, especially after last year’s controversies.

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Surprise Package: Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin

There were only two rookies this season and boy, did they surprise! Both, Enea Bastiniani and Jorge Martin, were super impressive in their first seasons, showing immense speed. While Bastianini took his time and came on strong in the second half taking two podiums, Martin shocked everyone at Qatar where he took his first of many pole positions. The experienced riders better watch out for these two next year!

Top Rookie: Jorge Martin

While both rookies were impressive, Jorge Martin won our hearts (and the Rookie Of The Year award). Not only was he super quick astride his Ducati, the Spaniard also dealt with some career-threatening crashes and injuries, which showed his grit and dedication. Had he not crashed and missed a few races, he would’ve sealed the Rookie Of The Year title effortlessly, even before the championship ended. 

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Hardest Charger: Joan Mir

2020 MotoGP world champion Joan Mir was surely the hardest charger in this year’s field. And a lot of the credit goes to his poor qualifying. Nevertheless, the factory Suzuki rider always came out as a hard charger, slicing through the field (no matter his starting position), finding himself in the hunt for the podium positions in just a few laps. He was even on course to defend the title at one point, which faded towards the end due to tyre woes and a lack of consistency.

Most Controversial: Maverick Vinales

Rarely do we see a rider switch to a different manufacturer mid-season, but Maverick Vinales is an exception. After some controversial comments about his team and openly admitting he didn’t want to be there, Vinales and Yamaha terminated their contract mid-season. And to everyone’s surprise, the Spaniard soon signed up with Aprilia, making a comeback astride the RS-GP a few races later, joining an exclusive club of riders who rode for two manufacturers in a single season. All in all, it was a year of ups and downs for the factory Aprilia rider, and we hope to see more of him at the front of the grid in 2022. 

Biggest Disappointment: Alex Rins

It was a disastrous season for factory Suzuki rider Alex Rins. With numerous DNFs to his name, the Spaniard finished way down in thirteenth place in the championship. For someone who beat Marc Marquez in a duel at one point and was in the running for the title last year, this was an extremely humbling season.

Moreover, some serious questions have been raised about him and with his contract ending next year, there’s massive pressure on his shoulders to bring home good results to keep his seat in the future. 

Most Crashes: Pol Espargaro

Pol Espargaro has a rather aggressive riding style, which usually leads to at least two or three crashes here and there. But we bet even Pol wouldn’t have thought he’d crash SO much on board the Honda RC-213V.

His most gruesome crash came at the last race in Valencia, where he was on course for a good qualifying, but ended up highsiding at the last corner. This left him shaken and he was ultimately declared unfit to race. Luckily, even after all these crashes, looks like Pol is finally getting a hang of the RC-213V as he’s shown good speed at a few circuits.

Honourable Mention: #GrazieVale

One of the highlights of the 2021 MotoGP season was Valentino Rossi’s retirement. The nine-time world champion finally hung his leathers this year and bid adieu to full-time racing (we’re not crying, you’re crying). Lucky for us, though, he’ll still grace the paddock as a team manager for the Sky Racing Team VR46. Here’s to seeing more of The Doctor!