P7 in Valencia sees Joan Mir become 2020 MotoGP world champion

CHENNAI: After a seventh-place finish at the Valencia GP, which saw Franco Morbidelli of Petronas Yamaha SRT beat Pramac Racing's Jack Miller in a phenomenal last-lap battle, Joan Mir of Team Suzuki Ecstar became the 2020 MotoGP world champion. History was made as Suzuki claimed their first rider title since 2000, as Pol Espargaro of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing completed the podium.
The eagerly anticipated Valencia GP got underway and as the lights went out, both Morbidelli and Miller got great launches off the line but it was the Australian who grabbed the holeshot.
However, Miller was way wide into Turn 1 and that allowed Morbidelli to take the lead heading into the tight Turn 2 as Espagraro propelled himself into P2. And just behind, it was a nightmare start for Fabio Quartararo of Petronas Yamaha SRT.

The Frenchman was in way too hot and did well to avoid Maverick Vinales of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP and Mir, as Quartararo ran wide and dropped the last place.
Mir made a steady start from P12 and was up to P10, as Miller grabbed P2 from Espargaro and locked his radar onto the back of race leader Morbidelli.
Elsewhere, Rins had made a fantastic start from P14 to slot himself into P8 – crucial for the Spaniard. Miller set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 2 as he shadowed Morbidelli, but on the next two laps, it was Morbidelli who was slightly quicker. The Italian was in the groove but the gap wasn’t rising too much at this point.

Further back on the road, Rins was entangled in a battle with Johann Zarco of Esponsorama Racing and attempted a move at the final corner. Rins ran wide and the GP20 bullet cruised past Rins on the straight. However, heading into Turn 1, Zarco asked too much of the front and went down. Rins was now up to P6 and Lap 6, Mir was P9. As things stood, Mir was the world champion.
Morbidelli was now starting to stretch his legs at the front. On Lap 8, his lead was creeping up and going with Miller was third-place Espargaro, with fourth-place Miguel Oliveira of Red Bull KTM Tech3 1.3 seconds away from his KTM counterpart.
Takaaki Nakagami of LCR Honda Idemitsu was keeping Rins at bay for now, but the Japanese rider received a track limit warning on Lap 9 – incredibly early to be getting one of those. In P6, Rins was looking – understandably – eager to get through.