MotoGP – Gran Premio Animoca Brands de Aragon
Qualification:
Top form from Francesco Bagnaia saw him in pole position in Aragon. Teammate Jack Miller was P2 and Enea Bastianini was P3. Championship leader Fabio Quartararo was down in P6, needing a good start to have a chance in the race, against the swarm of Ducatis that surround him. Marc Marquez was back but way down the field, finding his feet in baby steps on his return.
The Race:
The front row of Ducatis, as expected, shot away from the start. Marc Marquez made his way past Fabio Quartararo into fifth, but as the group went into the next corner Marquez backed off as the riders bunched up, and Fabio hit him full-on, leaving the current world champion down and out on the tarmac. A disaster for his championship with Bagnaia up ahead. Within a couple of more corners, Marquez had another incident with Nakagami who also went down, Marquez’s bike now wounded twice, and retired. Meanwhile, Bagnaia was in the lead with now Brad Binder in P2 and Miller in P3.
The race settled into an almost boring format with Bagnaia leading for most of the race. However, there was one spark that could ignite, and that was Enea Bastianini who had stayed with Francesco all the way.
On the last lap, it was ignition time as Enea sliced past Pecco to take the lead, and it was the perfect overtake Enea’s timing was also perfect, as Bagnaia could not get back at him. Once again, the second tier Ducati team, that of Gresini, showed how it’s done, and took the win from the factory he will ride for next year. No team orders then!
The Result:
P1, Enea Bastianini, Gresini Racing MotoGP. P2, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Lenovo Team. P3, Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing.
Author: Martin Northern
Founder of Bike Directory
