Pecco Bagnaia took another extraordinary victory in the MotoGP Spanish GP, held this afternoon at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider did an impeccable race at the Andalusian track, which led him to score his thirteenth success in MotoGP and his second of the season.
As had happened in yesterday’s Sprint race, today’s GP was interrupted shortly after the start due to a crash and restarted after a few minutes. Starting with the fifth fastest time, Pecco managed to move up to third immediately and subsequently overtook Jack Miller (KTM Factory Racing). But then he had to give up his position to the Australian rider due to a questionable race direction decision that deemed his overtaking manoeuvre unfair, even though there was no contact between the two riders.
However, Bagnaia maintained concentration and managed to catch Miller again and then reduce the gap to Brad Binder. With a few laps to go, the rider from Chivasso caught up with the South African rider, passing him with five laps to go. Thanks to today’s success, Bagnaia returns to the top of the overall standings with a 22-point lead over fellow Ducati rider Bezzecchi (VR46 Racing Team). Ducati remains at the top of the constructors’ standings, while the Ducati Lenovo Team is fourth in the teams’ standings.
Francesco Bagnaia (#1, Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“Considering how the weekend had started, this may be my best win in MotoGP. The tussle was really incredible, and I had a lot of fun. We learned a lot from this GP, and it can help us grow as a team. Friday was a difficult day, but my team did an incredible job of allowing me to regain a good feeling with the bike. They understood my requests well, and today, thanks to the latest changes on the Desmosedici GP, we were able to win. Doing it here was really special, given the great warmth of the fans, so I’m thrilled.”
Luigi Dall’Igna (General Manager of Ducati Corse)
“All of Pecco’s victories are beautiful, but this one is perhaps even more so! After the crashes in the last two GPs, we needed a race like this! We had a tough start to the week, but we turned things around together, taking one last step forward today that allowed us to compete in the race. I am very pleased with the work done by the whole team, and congratulations again to Pecco for handling today’s race like a true champion.”
