Jerez de la Frontera - Reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo is the form rider as the tightly-fought MotoGP season moves to Jerez for the Spanish GP.
The season has already brought wild and unpredictable swings in form. In six races there have been four different winners.
Quartararo put his early season woes behind him to clock victory on his Yamaha in last weekend's race in Portimao, the Frenchman's first win since Silverstone last August.
"In Portimao we were lucky because the circuit suits our bike well," Quartararo said on Thursday.
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That win put him top of the standings alongside Suzuki's Alex Rins on 69 points, three ahead of Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro who collected his first victory in Argentina earlier this month.
Enea Bastianini, who has won two races this year, has 61 points with his Ducati teammate Johann Zarco a further 10 points back in fifth.
Quartararo has a great relationship with the circuit.
His first two MotoGP wins came in Jerez - the Spanish and Andalusian Grand Prix which, because of Covid restrictions, were run back to back in 2020.
"El Diablo" is the holder of the fastest lap in the race (2021) and the best time for a pole position (2020).
Including his performance in Moto2 in 2019, he has taken pole position on this circuit each of the last four years.
Last year, the Frenchman was leading when he began to suffer an arm problem which saw him drop down to 13th and necessitated surgery.
"Jerez is another of those circuits that play to our strengths," said Quartararo.
"Last year, I could have won easily if it hadn't been for my arm problem. I'm going to try again this year."
Rins, who has not won a race this season, does not enjoy such a warm relationship with Andalusia. The Catalonian has a single podium in 2019 from four races in Jerez.
Bastianini won in Qatar and Texas, venue for the GP of the Americas, but came off in Portugal which and lost top spot in the standings. He remains a threat to Quartararo but the circuit may not suit the power of the Ducati.
Six-time world champion Marc Marquez is another lurker who could pose problems.
The 29-year-old Spaniard is 11th in the standings with 31 points but missed the races in Indonesia and Argentina through injury.
Marquez also missed four races in 2021 as well as the entire 2020 season after a very heavy fall at... Jerez.
A three-time winner of the Spanish GP, Marquez will be eager to put that particular ghost to bed.
AFP