Bagnaia wins ahead of Quartararo in Spain

Under brilliant weather and in front of packed stands (58.132 spectators), it was Francesco Bagnaia who made the best start from pole position. But the Italian quickly found himself under threat of fabio quartararo determined not to let it fly away. 

The world champion thus completed the first lap in second position ahead of Jack Miller and the Honda of Marc Marquez. From the second row, Johann Zarco somewhat missed his start since he occupied ninth place behind rookie Marco Bezzecchi and Joan Mir.

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At the front, Quartararo was increasingly pressing on Bagnaia, but the Italian took advantage of the power of his Ducati to give himself a little air on the two straight ends of the Jerez track. Third, just over half a second behind, Miller held on against Marquez and the Aprilia RS-GP of Aleix Espargaro. 

Despite all his efforts in the winding sections, the Niçois lost everything in a straight line. After ten laps, Bagnaia had a small lead of half a second over his rival. Behind, however, the fight raged between Miller, Marquez and Espargaro for third place on the podium. 

Meanwhile, Zarco made a mistake at turn 5 while trying to keep up with Bezzecchi. Rins, who started from 14th place on the grid, escaped the worst by shooting straight. The Suzuki representative did not fall, but he fell in the standings to start penultimate in front of Jorge Martin, who fell on the second lap. 

🏁 BAGNAIA IS BACK 🏁@PeccoBagnaia IS VICTORIOUS! 🏆#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/rKSAhcJZOH

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 1, 2022

Faced with much higher temperatures than during testing, tire management played a crucial role. With 10 laps to go from the checkered flag, Quartararo closed a little on Bagnaia, but the Italian widened the gap slightly again to increase his lead to eight tenths. 

Marquez gets scared, but regains color

After a neck-and-neck fight for third place between Miller, Marquez and Espargaro, it was ultimately the Aprilia rider who had the last word. He thus offers himself his second podium in a row (a first for Aprilia in the premier category). Incidentally, with three podiums and a victory in less than a year, the Noale factory lost its concessions (rights granted to factories).

Marquez, for his part, won his duel against Miller to finish just off the podium while the Australian completed the Top 5 ahead of Joan Mir. Takaaki Nakagami was seventh with the status of best independent rider, ahead of Bastianini, Bezzecchi and Brad Binder, first KTM representative. 

Although he did not win, Quartararo maintains the overall advantage ahead of his next home meeting. 

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