Bagnaia bounces back in Catalan MotoGP

Twenty-four hours after crashing out of the lead on the final circuit of the 12-lap Sprint, Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) redeemed himself by putting together a calculated race to take victory in the full-length Grand Prix of Catalunya – Ducati’s first win at the Spanish circuit in six years.

From the middle of the front row, the reigning world champion grabbed the holeshot from rookie Pedro Acosta (Tech3 GasGas) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), the latter also crashing out of the lead in the drama-filled Sprint. Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) got a strong enough start from seventh on the grid to snatch third place from Binder before the end of the opening lap, with Sprint winner Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) and front-row starter Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing Aprilia) fourth, fifth and sixth.

A mistake from Miller on the opening lap allowed Fernandez through at Turn 1 on lap two but it got a lot worse for the Australian the next time around as he notched up his fifth DNF in six attempts, leaving Fernandez to hunt down the podium that was denied from him when he too crashed out the Sprint lead.

Miller’s crash was at Turn 10, the same place Acosta tried to make the most of his soft-rear tyre choice and had his first lunge at Bagnaia, who grabbed the position back from the 20-year-old, but it was Martin in third place who had the best pace and who relegated Acosta to third on lap four and who passed Bagnaia for the lead on lap five.

Over three seconds further back, Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) was up to eighth from 14th on the grid and looking unlikely to replicate his Sprint podium finish, while Acosta eased past Bagnaia for second, putting a full second between himself and the Ducati man by lap nine as he chased down Martin in search of his first MotoGP victory.

Espargaro, who had set a new all-time lap record to take pole just days after announcing his retirement at the conclusion of the season, took fourth from Binder who looked to be suffering in the warm conditions, as Fernandez also pounced relegating the KTM man to sixth.

Just as it did in the Sprint, Acosta’s front tyre pressure started to rise as he piled the pressure on Martin at the front, but it all came unstuck when the rookie lost the front of his GasGas on lap 11, crashing and rejoining in P20, as Marquez finally found a way past Prima Pramac’s Frankie Morbidelli and then the struggling Binder.

With 10 laps left to run, Martin had a comfortable one-second advantage over Bagnaia who was 5.5 seconds clear of Espargaro, Fernandez and Marquez – the only rider in the top seven on the soft rear tyre – now in fifth. And while it looked like Martin had eventually got the better of Bagnaia, the Italian was simply conserving his tyres and regulating his front pressure, evidenced by the gap to the front that began to drop with each passing lap.

The move on Martin came on lap 19 at Turn 5, the same corner which he crashed out of the lead the day before, and while Martin tried to reapply the pressure, the reigning world champ clearly had the superior pace. Having got past Fernandez, Marquez was now in a battle for third place with Espargaro, albeit a full eight seconds behind the leaders.

The eight-time world champ made his move on Espargaro for third at Turn 1 to start lap 21 and while Espargaro had the pace, the tyre and the determination to snatch third back from his compatriot, he couldn’t find a way through by the flag, missing out on the final podium spot by just 0.082sec. Martin banked the 20 points, crossing the line 1.740sec behind Bagnaia and an eventual 9.1sec in front of Marquez, but the Gresini man celebrated like it was a victory, having scored four podiums in the last two rounds, and all from the fifth row of the grid. 

Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) took fifth from Fernandez in the closing stages, while Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati), Binder and Monster Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo rounded out the top 10. Acosta, who put in the fastest lap of the race despite his lap 11 crash, recovered to an impressive 14th by the line, but was promoted to 13th when Enea Bastianini (Lenovo Ducati) was slapped with a 32-second penalty for failing to comply with his ride-through penalty.

Martin sits at the top of the ladder on 155 points, 39 clear of Bagnaia (116) who moves into second place, two points ahead of Marquez (114). Bastianini (94) and Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Vinales (87) complete the top five.

The series now heads to Bagnaia’s home round at Mugello which kicks off in just five days’ time.