Bagnaia back on top at Spanish MotoGP

It was with five laps to go in the shortened 24-lap Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez that Pecco Bagnaia showed exactly why he wears the number-one plate on his Lenovo Ducati GP23. Just as they did in the Sprint, the Red Bull KTM duo of Brad Binder and Jack Miller got off the line brilliantly to lead the field, while Bagnaia disposed of pole man Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) during the frantic opening lap to get himself into third place to chase the men in orange down.

It was a small mistake by the Aussie that forced Bagnaia to pounce on Miller on lap six, making contact with his KTM and quickly raising an apologetic hand. The move also allowed Martin through and, judging by his hand gestures, Miller was angered by the aggressive move. His revenge was twofold, though; the first came one lap later with his own block pass to retake third place from Martin, who was shaking his head in disapproval as Espargaro also eased passed, before Bagnaia was forced to drop one position the next time around, handing Miller back second position on lap eight, as Binder kept his down to eke out a 0.9sec lead.

It wasn’t the first penalty handed down on race day, however. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) was slapped with a long-lap penalty after being deemed responsible for the red flag which stopped the 25 lapper in the opening minutes, with Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia Racing) the innocent victim for the second time in four races. Unable to make the restart, all the Portuguese rider managed to take home for his impressive speed during practice was a dislocated shoulder.

As the restarted race settled down and the leading group began strategising, Quartararo was forced to take another long lap as his first one was illegal, and while Miller and Bagnaia swapped positions a couple of times with 15 to go, they were aware they couldn’t let Binder make a break at the front.

There were 10 laps to go when Bagnaia made a clean move on his former teammate to regain second, which lit up the eyes of Martin in fourth who fancied a podium in front of the 164,000-strong Spanish crowd. And while it looked like Bagnaia couldn’t make any inroads on the South African ahead of him looking to make it two wins from two starts, the reigning world champ was merely biding his time, conserving his tyres and keeping the front hoop cool.

In hot conditions with five to go, as his rivals were doing their best to manage their own worn tyres, Bagnaia banged in the fastest lap of the race to reel Binder in and pass him on the final corner of the 20th lap to lead over the line with four to go. Miller broke the chase of Martin, who settled for a safe fourth, but Binder wasn’t giving up the fight, and despite putting his quickest lap of the race in on the final circuit, he couldn’t get close enough to make any meaningful move on Bagnaia, who celebrated his second GP victory of the season, adding to his second-place finish in the Sprint the day prior. Miller’s third place came after also grabbing the final podium spot in the Sprint.

A quickening Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Ducati) crashed out of fifth with eight laps to go, handing the place to Espargaro. Marco Bezzechi (Mooney VR46 Ducati) crashed out also, relinquishing his championship lead, while Maverick Vinales’ Aprilia RS-GP threw a chain on the last lap ending the Spaniard’s hopes for any points for his 10th place position. Honda riders Alex Rins (LCR) and Joan Mir (Repsol) were also early fallers. 

Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Ducati) finished sixth ahead of 37-year-old wildcard Dani Pedrosa (Red Bull KTM), Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Taka Nakagmai (Idemitsu LCR Honda), while Quartararo rescued 10th place ahead of teammate Franco Morbidelli.

On 87 points, the victory now puts the reigning champ 22 points clear of Bezzechi (65) in second and 25 clear of Brad Binder (62) in third. Miller (49) jumps up seven spots to fourth overall ahead of Vinales (48).

The series now does to Le Man in France which will be the world championship’s landmark 1000th grand prix, held over 12-14 May.