Fabio Quartararo won his first MotoGP world title on Sunday after his closest rival Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Bagnaia, who was 52 points behind Quartararo with three races including this race remaining, was comfortably leading when he fell with just a few laps left to hand the Frenchman his country's first-ever MotoGP championship.

Quartararo, 22, surged from 15th on the starting grid to finish fourth behind race winner Marc Marquez, who had been pursuing Bagnaia for almost the entire race.

Marquez's Honda teammate Pol Espargaro was second and Italian rider Enea Bastianini of Ducati came third.

Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta

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