Enea Bastianini wins at Aragon after a hectic race start.
Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) has taken the win at the epic Aragon MotoGP just 0.042sec ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) after a hectic first lap that saw both Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) crash and retire respectively.
Both Lenovo Ducatis of Jack Miller and Bagnaia headed the field into Turn 1 after a dream start with Jack ready to play wingman for his championship contending teammate.
But it was further back in the field where the mayhem began. Marc Marquez made an aggressive start charging from 13th on the grid to sixth position when he lost rear grip on Turn 3 and backed-off to prevent a highside. At this very moment, Quartararo was right on Marc’s rear wheel and had nowhere to go, colliding into the back of the Repsol Honda and crashing out of the race in what could prove to be a season-defining moment.
Marquez was able to continue for several corners with smoke coming from his rear tyre before colliding again, this time with Takaaki Nakagami. Taka was knocked off his LCR Honda and slid down the middle of the track causing riders to take avoiding action and essentially splitting the field. Marquez was forced to retire immediately after with major damage to his Honda, prematurely ending what was to be his competitive return to MotoGP… and that was just the first lap.
A lightning start from Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) saw him move up to second place on the first lap, ahead of Miller, Bastianini, and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), before then being shuffled back to fourth. Bastianini then pushed past Miller for second on Lap 6, upsetting the Aussie’s rhythm and allowing Binder and Espargaro to benefit, dropping Miller back to fifth position in as many corners.
The Beast was in fine form once again, pressuring Pecco, and he managed to pass on Lap 9 before running wide and returning to second position. Bagnaia and Bastianini, the future Lenovo factory pairing, then broke away from the field, trading fastest laps before Bastianini sprung a surprise move on the final lap at the tight Turn 7 right-hander. Bagnaia gave chase but the Beast hung on to cross the finish line just 0.042sec in front.
Aleix Espargaro was lucky enough to pick up the last podium place ahead of Binder, with Miller following closely behind in fifth.
At the end of the Aragon MotoGP round Bagnaia is now only 10 points behind Quartararo in the title fight as we look forward to Round 16, the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, Motegi on 23-25 September.
Aragon MotoGP Race Top 10:
- Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP)
- Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
- Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing)
- Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing)
- Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team)
- Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing)
- Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team)
- Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing)
- Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar)
- Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team)