MotoGP: Francesco Bagnaia brilliant in Spanish GP

Francesco Bagnaia wins the Spanish Grand Prix after a nail-biting finish

It was the KTM’s who got an incredible start once again, and it was Jack Miller who led the field into turn one. Aleix Espargaro had a tough start to his race, dropping down to fourth position on the first lap.

At turn two, a crash involving Fabio Quartararo, Marco Bezzecchi, and Miguel Oliveira brought out the red flag at turn two. Quartararo and Bezzecchi were allowed to restart the race, with Oliveira taken to the medical centre.

Fabio Quartararo received a long-lap penalty for the incident, meaning that he would have a lot of work to do in the race.

Once again it was a KTM one-two with Brad Binder leading the way at the front of the field and ahead of his teammate. Jorge Martin made his way into third position and was the leading Ducati. 

Honda’s difficulties continued with Alex Rins crashing out of the race, after winning the last round at COTA. Joan Mir would crash one lap later, ending his weekend and ending his chance of scoring points.

Jack Miller hit the front, overtaking his teammate Brad Binder at the final corner. Binder quickly repaid the favour, completing an almost identical just two laps later.

Aleix Espargaro’s second start dropped him down to fifth position, with the Aprilia’s continuing to struggle to get the bike off the line.

Fabio Quartararo took his long lap penalty but was soon gifted a second long lap penalty due to completing his first one incorrectly. Quartararo dropped down to 16^th position after his penalties. Franco Morbidelli also had to complete a long lap penalty, dropping himself down to 17^th.

At the front, Francesco Bagnaia passed Jack Miller at turn six, making his way into second position. He received an order from the stewards, ordering Bagnaia to drop one position to Miller. 

Pedrosa returns to MotoGP

Danny Pedrosa was having a spectacular ride on his RC16, sitting in eighth position on his wildcard appearance. Pedrosa was the fastest rider on the circuit at the halfway point, as he began to reduce the gap. 

Bagnaia managed to find a way through the KTM of Jack Miller on lap 15, allowing Martin to attack Miller.

Johann Zarco crashed out of the race on lap 17, ending his Spanish Grand Prix and his hopes for a podium. Just seconds later, the Championship lead Marco Bezzecchi crashed out the race at turn six. Bezzecchi lost the front in the braking zone, dropping the VR46 rider to third position in the standings.

Binder managed to stretch a gap to seven-tenths of a second with no sign of slowing down on his RC16. Bagnaia had other plans, reducing the gap by three-tenths a lap, beginning to put pressure on the race leader. 

Brad Binder soon ran into tyre issues, struggling to get his RC16’s power to the ground allowing Bagnaia to close. Bagnaia found a way into the lead on his Ducati, with Binder trying everything to match his pace. 

At the line, it was Francesco Bagnaia who took the race win, with Binder coming home ins second after a last lap overtake. Jack Miller came home in third, with everyone in the KTM garage celebrating.

Jorge Martin finished in fourth after his teammate Johann Zarco crashed out the race early on. Poleman, Aleix Espargaro finished in fifth, ahead of Marini and Dani Pedrosa in seventh.

Fabio Quartararo had a great recovery ride, ending the race in 10^th position on his Monster Energy Yamaha machine. Morbidelli ended the race behind his teammate with the Yamaha team completing damage limitation.

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Image credit: motogp.com