PETRONAS Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli took his third MotoGP race win after overcoming a last-lap charge from Jack Miller. PETRONAS SRT takes the independent title and Joan Mir becomes 2020 MotoGP World Champion.

It was yet another dominant ride from Franco Morbidelli who controlled the pace from start to finish. However, despite having a comfortable lead, Australian’s Jack Miller made it hard work for the Italian, mounting a last lap charge on the Italian but couldn’t out-smart the cool, calm and collected 25-year-old.

Miller got the early advantage, but a mistake into turn one saw him slip back behind Morbidelli, whilst his team-mate Fabio Quartararo saw his title chances slip away, running off the track at turn two – slipping to last.

The Frenchman left everything on track, eventually getting up to 14th before another mistake saw him slip down the order. Eventually, Quartararo’s race was decided after crashing out at turn six.

It was a tough race from start to finish, with riders using last week’s race to their advantage. Takaaki Nakagami and Johann Zarco were both in the hunt for podium finishes, however both crashed out after making progress. Zarco moved passed Rins for sixth place and aimed to chase down the front group but the Frenchman tucked the front into the infamous turn one – ending his race.

Nakagami had similar fortunes. The Japanese rider made the pass on Pol Espargaro for third but tucked the front at the final corner with the KTM rider narrowly avoiding the sliding LCR Honda. That left Espargaro to take third place ahead of Alex Rins and Brad Binder, who with another excellent performance moves 20 points clear of Alex Marquez in the Rookie of the Year title chase.

However, all eyes were on Suzuki’s Joan Mir, who with a quiet race, in which he finished eighth, secured his second World title, his first in the top flight.

Mir’s season of consistency, with one single race win, was enough to overcome his rivals, securing the title by four points.

It was a double celebration in the MotoGP paddock as PETRONAS joined Joan Mir in their title celebrations as the Malaysian team secured their second Independent title. However, the PETRONAS riders are split by 17 points ahead of the final round as the independent riders’ trophy is to be decided.

Joan Mir now heads into the final round of the season with no pressure after becoming the 2020 MotoGP World Champion in Valencia.

Featured images: MotoGP.com