It took some time to clean up the mess, but eventually, we were good to go again, though not before we had even more drama as Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was penalized with a pitlane start after stalling his M1 on the warm up lap. Eventually, it was lights out for a 27 lap race and Martin took the holeshot, again having to contend with a factory Ducati, this time Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team). Mir got off the line quickly once more and transitioned from third to second over the course of the opening laps at the expense of the Australian, and began his pursuit of Martin.

Just outside the podium places, Quartararo and Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) were engaging in their own Championship top-two battle. The Yamaha man won this one before setting his sights on the top three, with the Frenchman moving past Miller next. It went from bad to worse for the Aussie, who crashed out of the race with less than 10 laps remaining, handing Quartararo a podium on a plate and all but ending his 2021 MotoGP™ Championship hopes.

At this point, there were no Aprilias on track as Aleix Espargaro joined Savadori, who didn’t make the restart, in the box after retiring early. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was another who failed to take the chequered flag, citing mechanical problems as his reason for returning to the pits early.