Impeccable Pecco claims maiden MotoGP win in Spain

Pecco Bagnaia’s (Lenovo Ducati) first-ever premier-class victory will be remembered as a classic battle with one of the sport’s greats. The Italian went to toe to toe with eight-time world champ Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) at a circuit the Spaniard has been victorious in five of his seven attempts, and he came out on top.

The day after Bagnaia smashed Marquez’s six-year-old pole record by three tenths of a second, the Span-iard shadowed the Italian for every one of the 23-lap race trying to force the less experienced Ducati rider into a mistake. And while Pecco has buckled in the past, this time he held firm, even holding off seven lunges for the lead from Marquez in the last three laps to become the eighth different winner in the 2021 season.

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Under a blazing sun, the pair were in a league of their own, with third-place getter Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) crossing the line almost four seconds down on the leading duo. And for a while it looked like there may be two factory Ducatis on the podium. After a strong showing all weekend, Aussie Jack Miller (lenovo Ducati) started from the middle of the front row and was in a comfortable third place during the first half of the race, before an issue with his gear lever forced him to run wide on Lap 12 in the final corner, relegating the Queenslander back to fifth allowing Silverstone podium getter Aleix Espargaro (Gresini Aprilia) and Mir through. Mir immediately snatched third place from his compatriot, but that was the best the reigning world champ could hope for; Bagnaia and Marquez were already 3.4s up the road.

Championship leader Fabio Quartararo blamed an “iffy” rear tyre for his eighth-place finish. The French-man started from the outside of the front row but found himself down in ninth place by the end of Lap 8. It was a mistake by a rejuvenated Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM), who had battled through to as high as seventh from 13th on the grid, which allowed Quartararo back up to eighth, where he eventually crossed the line 16.575s down on Bagnaia.

“These things can happen sometimes,” he said. “It’s a bit sad that this time it was during the race, but it’s not a total disaster.”

Not at all, given he came into this round with a 65-point advantage. And despite his lacklustre result, still has a buffer of two race wins – or DNFs – in his pocket with just five races left.

Despite Pecco’s impeccable performance, the ride of the weekend must again go to Avintia Ducati’s Enea Bastianini who all weekend posted some hugely impressive results on his two-year-old Ducati GP19. Earn-ing a place directly into Q2, the Italian qualified ninth before battling some big names during the 23-lap race to eventually finish sixth ahead of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), Quartararo, Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) and Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu LCR Honda).

Maverick Vinales made his much anticipated race debut with the Aprilia Racing squad at Aragon and fin-ished the race in 18th place, over five seconds ahead of Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha). Johann Zarco, who rode a 1981 Ducati 900 SS 950km from home in France to get to the Aragon circuit last week, had a weekend to forget, he held off Vinales for 17th place, finishing behind the retired Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha), picking up zero points.

Pecco’s win moves him two spots higher and into second place in the standings and reignites his title hopes as he reduces Quartararo’s advantage to 53 points. The Frenchman is still way out in front on 214 points to Bagnaia’s 161, Mir drops a spot to third on 157 points, with Zarco (137) and Miller (129) rounding out the top five.

Four days after surgery to pin a broken bone in his right hand, Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) rode through the pain to take a dominant win in the Spanish Moto2 Grand Prix, proving he’s got the mettle to take it to the world’s best in the premier class next year.

Pole man Sam Lowes (Marc VDS) was the only rider capable of running Fernandez’ early pace, sitting on the Spaniard’s rear tyre as he waited for fatigue to take hold of the rookie’s race. But as the Brit tried to respond to yet another fastest lap of the race set by Fernandez, he slid off on Lap 13 handing Fernandez a runaway win.

His teammate and championship leader Remy Gardner crossed the line in second place, albeit it 5.4s be-hind, an excellent result given the Aussie doesn’t gel particularly well with the Aragon circuit and struggled to keep a clean line all race. However, the 1-2 finish did seal the 2021 Team World Championship for the successful Red Bull KTM Ajo squad.

With a newly signed Red Bull KTM Ajo contract in his pocket for the 2022 season, Augusto Fernandez (Marc VDS) rode from 12th on the grid to round out the podium places in a race of attrition that eventually claimed 12 scalps. As well as Lowes, Marco Bezzechi (Sky Racing VR46) was another high-profile faller, effectively putting paid to his 2021 title hopes.

Gardner still leads with 251 points to Fernandez’ 212, Bezzechi (179) and Lowes (127) still remain in third and fourth, while Augusto Fernandez rounds out the top five with 108 points.

Sergio Garcia (Gas Gas Aspar Team) threw away a huge opportunity to benefit from Moto3 championship leader Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo) late race crash when he, too, crashed out of podium contention on the penultimate lap of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Deniz Oncu (Tech 3 KTM) had done all the hard work out front and looked set to celebrated his first win in the category before being pipped by Leopard Honda’s Denis Foggia in the final turn and relegated to second. Oncu’s teammate Ayumu Sasaki joined the Turk on the podium, beating Garcia’s teammate Izan Gue-vara, Avintia VR46 rider Niccolo Antonelli and Andrea Migno (Snipers Honda) to the line, with just 1.1s covering the top six finishers. Garcia remounted but finished out of the points in 18th place.

Acosta’s strong hold on the title remains intact with 201 points to Garcia’s 155. Foggia’s (143) win moves him to third ahead of Remano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Husqvarna) and Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo).

Round 14 at Misano kicks off with the pre-event press conference in just three day’s time.