Rider Ratings: What score does Marquez's elbow 'save' deserve?

Francesco Bagnaia - 10

(Qualified 1st, finished 1st) 

Full marks go to a brilliant Bagnaia. The Ducati rider led every lap from pole on a weekend where he smashed the outright lap record during qualifying. Despite intense pressure from Fabio Quartararo, Bagnaia looked unfazed as he was mistake-free throughout the 25 lap race. Bagnaia is officially back! Last season’s title runner-up was also in a league of his own compared to other Ducati riders, something we saw a lot of towards the latter part of 2021.

• Full Race Results
• Valentino Rossi avoids first-lap crash to finish 13th 
• Francesco Bagnaia holds his nerve to beat Fabio Quartararo

Fabio Quartararo - 9 

(Qualified 2nd, finished 2nd)

Although Quartararo would have wanted more after showing the strongest race pace leading up to the Jerez MotoGP, the Yamaha rider had to settle for second despite applying late pressure. Throughout the race Quartararo and Bagnaia exchanged fastest laps, while the gap between both riders fluctuated on a regular basis. Quartararo’s last charge for the win appeared to be his most promising as he closed a ninth tenth disadvantage down to four on the penultimate lap, however, the 23 year-old was unable to get into an overtaking position at any stage. What his P2 finish has done is open up a seven point lead in the championship. 

Aleix Espargaro - 9 

(Qualified 3rd, finished 3rd)

After losing three places at the start to Jack Miller, Marc Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami, the Aprilia rider produced a stunning final five laps. Espargaro was helped through to fifth by Marquez pushing Nakagami wide on lap one, but after studying Marquez and Miller for much of the race, the canny Spaniard positioned himself in the right place at the right time, so that when Marquez nearly crashed, he was already down the inside of Miller to take third. Espargaro then stretched his legs as he went on to gap those behind him. 

Marc Marquez - 10

Qualified 5th, finished 4th)

After struggling all weekend to find the pace he needed, the two most important sessions of the Jerez MotoGP are where Marquez showed his qualities. The Spaniard put his Repsol Honda in fifth for the Grand Prix, but even then, not much was expected from the eight-time world champion, But once the race began, Marquez found another gear (excuse the pun) to not only stay inside the top five, but become a legit threat for the podium. A late front-end tuck appeared to have cost Marquez, but the 29 year-old produced a stunning save, something we haven’t seen much of since his return to racing. Marquez, who had to give up third and fourth during his turn 13 moment, came back at Miller on the final lap in order to take a very strong P4. 

Jack Miller - 8

(Qualified 4th, finished 5th) 

A very solid bounce back weekend for the Australian after losing vital championship points in Portimao. Miller was third for most of the race, however, a lack of pace compared to Espargaro and Marquez was clearly visible at sections of the 2.7 mile circuit. 

Joan Mir - 8 

(Qualified 9th, finished 6th)

Like Miller, a much needed points score for the Suzuki rider who had to overcome a ninth place start. Mir, who never seems to go backwards in a race situation, once again moved forward during the early laps, however, his progress was stopped after getting through on Nakagami. 

Takaaki Nakagami - 8

(Qualified 7th, finished 7th)

By far his best weekend of the season, Takaaki Nakagami made a brilliant start as he went from seventh to fourth. The Japanese rider was harshly moved aside by Marquez on the opening lap, but aside from that, and losing a further position to Mir, the LCR Honda rider was very consistent during the race. More performances like this will be needed if he’s to remain in MotoGP for next season. 

Enea Bastianini - 7

(Qualified 11th, finished 8th)

A decent damage limitation ride from Bastianini as the Gresini Ducati rider was unable to show the same level of performance as Qatar and Austin when he dominated both races.

Marco Bezzecchi - 8

(Qualified 8th, finished 9th) 

Once again the top rookie, Bezzecchi was impeccable throughout the 25 lap race as he fought hard with Bastianini and Brad Binder. The Italian is the only rookie to record more than one top ten result so far this season, after he matched today’s ninth in Argentina. 

Brad Binder - 7

(Qualified 15th, finished 10th)

Mr Sunday once again delivered KTM’s best result of the weekend, however, the South African struggled to keep pace with the Ducati’s in front. 

Pol Espargaro - 6

(Qualified 13th, finished 11th)

Nowhere in the race, nowhere compared to his team-mate, Pol Espargaro endured a very disappointing home Grand Prix after only moving up to places in the race.

Miguel Oliveira - 6

(Qualified 21st, finished 12th)

The joint biggest mover in today’s race, Oliveira recovered from a poor 21st place in qualifying all the way to P12 - finished just three seconds off Binder.

Alex Marquez - 6

(Qualified 22nd, finished 13th) 

Like Oliveira, Marquez also moved up nine places during the race, however, the LCR rider was last of the four Honda’s as his difficult season continued.

Maverick Vinales - 5

(Qualified 12th, finished 14th)

Hoping to channel his inner ‘Top Gun’ after sporting a new Maverick helmet design, Vinales suffered a disastrous Spanish Grand Prix, The former Yamaha rider was only the second rider in the points that finished lower than his qualifying position, while he was also 17 seconds off Espargaro. 

Who was the lowest rated at MotoGP Jerez?

Franco Morbidelli - 5

(Qualified 16th, finished 15th)

Despite his team manager Massimo Meregali saying morning warm-up was Morbidelli’s best session of the year, the Jerez MotoGP did little to hammer home that opinion. The Italian was again nowhere close to the Morbidelli that finished second in 2020.

Luca Marini - 4

(Qualified 19th, finished 16th)

29 seconds off the win, Luca Marini had a weekend to forget in Jerez after qualifying and his race performance left a lot to be desired. 

Andrea Dovizioso - 4

(Qualified 23rd, finished 17th)

It’s fair to say Andrea Dovizioso’s return to MotoGP hasn’t worked out at all, and with retirement a very real possibility after this season, the Italian is facing a very sad end to what’s been a great career. The RNF Yamaha rider has scored just eight points through six races.

Fabio Di Giannantonio - 5

(Qualified 17th, finished 18th)

Another tough outing for Di Giannantonio who remains scoreless so far this season.

Alex Rins - 3

(Qualified 14th, finished 19th)

Level on points with Quartararo heading into the race, Rins had an absolute stinker of a home race. The Suzuki rider, who already missed out on Q2 for the second consecutive weekend, got  a poor start as he lost a further two places. Rins then made a mistake at turn 11 which resulted in him running through the gravel and re-joining in 21st. 

Remy Gardner - 4

(Qualified 18th, finished 20th)

The Moto2 world champion’s struggles aboard the Tech 3 KTM continued after losing two places in the race. 

Lorenzo Savadori - 5

(Qualified 24th, finished 21st) 

Taking part in his second round of the season for Aprilia, test rider Lorenzo Savadori mixed it with Gardner during the 25 lap race, eventually finishing a second behind. 

Jorge Martin - 3

(Qualified 10th, finished 22nd)

A total disaster for Martin as the Pramac Ducati rider, who is being heavily tipped to replace Miller at the factory team in 2023, suffered his fourth race crash of the season. Martin also crashed in qualifying. Although Martin got back underway, the former Moto3 world champion was too far back to make any impact. 

Johann Zarco - 4

(Qualified 6th, finished DNF) 

If Martin crashing out wasn’t bad enough, team-mate Zarco suffered his own fall at turn five. Unlike the Spaniard, Zarco’s crash left his Pramac bike completely wrecked as he failed to finish for the second time this season.

Darryn Binder - 4

(Qualified 25th, DNF)

Binder’s steep learning curve continued at Jerez after qualifying last. The South African then suffered an early crash in the race, which like Zarco was enough to see him retire. 

Stefan Bradl - 3

(Qualified 20th, DNF) 

Never something you want to have attached to your name, Honda test rider Bradl crashed not once, but twice in the same race. Bradl initially crashed on the same corner and lap as Martin (turn 13), before going down again at turn 1.