Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia put on the performance of his life at MotorLand Aragón on Sunday, defending a race-long battle with Marc Marquez to take his first MotoGP victory.
The Repsol Honda rider was in the hunt from the outset, storming through to challenge from second at the start. No less than seven attempts in the closing laps left the Spaniard wanting, with Joan Mir securing the final podium celebrations, in third.
Johann Zarco was the only rider to opt for the medium front Michelin tyre as the grid lined up, the entire field utilising the soft rear alongside the hard front combination. Maverick Viñales looking to his first race on the Aprilia as Bagnaia headed the Ducati Lenovo dominated front row.
Desmosedici power won out as the lights went out and Bagnaia maintained his advantage but the lightning quick Marquez was straight up to second. Fabio Quartararo heading in the opposite direction as he dropped to sixth by the middle of the first lap, Aleix Espargaro and Mir picking up the pieces. Alex Marquez was down and out by turn five, Jake Dixon kickstarting his second adventure in the top class by advancing on his teammate Valentino Rossi.
The delight was short-lived for the Brit, however, as he crashed out at turn nine.
Jorge Martin was the next to better the championship leader, Brad Binder battling the Frenchman for seventh position as lap three got up to speed.
Marquez was honing in on Bagnaia out front, the gap less than two-tenths, with Jack Miller a further half-second back, in third. Alex Rins making his way through the pack, to 13th, after his dismal qualifying performance at the track he won at last year.
Iker Lecuona circulated as leading KTM by lap four as he advanced to eighth, just ahead of the South African as Miguel Oliveira and Danilo Petrucci sat on the edge of the points. Zarco’s tyre gamble failing to pay off in the opening stages from 14th.
Enea Bastianini’s impressive weekend continued as the Avintia ran just inside the top 10, Takaaki Nakagami, Rins and Pol Espargaro narrowly behind.
Bagnaia was pushing the pace out front as he looked to break the imposing figure of Marquez behind. The pursuing pack spreading out as the race unfolded with Lecuona besting the title leader at the start of lap seven.
Quartararo was fading as the race developed, the Frenchman running ninth after just a third of race distance and lapping over a second off the leader’s pace as Bastianini took a look. There were similar issues for the second Monster Yamaha as Cal Crutchlow circulated in 17th. The Avintia/Yamaha battle replicated in the standings before Viñales and Rossi joined the fight with Luca Marini at the back of the field.
Mir began to close in on Espargaro in the fight for fourth on lap 11, the Suzuki running slightly faster than the Aprilia and Ducati ahead. Miller dropping to fifth at the halfway stage after running wide at the final corner. Mir capitalised as Espargaro was distracted by the Ducati, claiming third as lap 12 got underway but with more than a three-second gap to Marquez was that as far as he could go?
Bastianini briefly won the battle with 10 laps to go before the more experienced M1 hit back at the first corner, Nakagami joining the fight as he slid into 10th and the Ducati rookie slipped back, but not for long.
Lap 15 saw the standings shuffled across the board as Binder bettered Lecuona, Bastianini hit back at the LCR and Crutchlow advanced on Zarco. Lecuona running hot into the reverse corkscrew with seven to go as he dropped from seventh to outside the top 10.
The pair out front were inseparable as lap six fired up, Marquez carefully watching the young pretender as he hunted for his maiden win.
Binder made moves on Martin for sixth as the race counted down, Bastianini once again advancing on Quartararo two places back.
Four to go found the eight-time world champion hassling hard on the Desmosedici, Bagnaia seemingly handling the pressure with ease but as the grip levels came into question Marquez was lining up the move. A turn five lunge next time around saw the lead change for just a matter of seconds before the Spaniard made a second into turn 15. Bagnaia holding fast to maintain control as the penultimate lap began.
The battle resumed as the climax approached, the pair repeatedly swapping positions throughout the long 5kms layout but each block pass was undone by the Ducati. The fight for victory was neck and neck as the final half lap played out, Marquez running wide with his final attempt as Bagnaia dug deep, crossing the line to take his first victory as a MotoGP rider, the first Italian victory of the year to the delight of the factory Ducati garage.
Mir claimed third from another stellar performance from Espargaro as Miller consolidated fifth. Bastianini shone in sixth with Binder, Quartarao, Martin and Nakagami completing the top 10. A somewhat disappointed Lecuona came home in 11th from Rins, the second Repsol Honda of Espargaro, Oliveira and Petrucci, Crutchlow missing out on a point by six-tenths of a second ahead of Marco, Viñales , Rossi and Marini.
