With five laps to go, Zarco had closed the gap to the front two to under a second. We were deep into the Catalan GP, tyre wear was in full effect, and it was fourth place Miller who was the fastest of the leading quartet. And with four to go, Oliveira was suddenly 0.9s clear of Quartararo, the latter having his closest title rival right behind him – Zarco.

Zarco passed Quartararo on the straight, the Yamaha star was now all of a sudden struggling and he was almost down at Turn 1. The polesitter was forced to run wide at Turn 1 with three to go, he returned back to track in P3, as we saw a unique situation unfold – Quartararo’s leathers were undone, his chest protector was thrown away and Miller was all over the back of him.

Meanwhile, Zarco was now just half a second down on Oliveira as the riders headed onto the last lap. Zarco was 0.4s quicker on the penultimate lap, and it was down to under 0.4s through the second split between the top duo. The Ducati man wasn’t close enough into Turn 10, the last real overtaking spot, as Oliveira held his nerve to claim a phenomenal Catalan GP victory. Zarco took the flag just 0.175s behind in a marvellous second place, as Quartararo was handed a three-second penalty for gaining an advantage when going wide at Turn 1. This, therefore, handed Miller a hard-earned rostrum. Late drama for Quartararo, who doesn’t even stand on the podium after displaying such a strong pace all weekend.