The MotoGP racers lit up the track at Jerez in Spain at the weekend, with Italian defending champion Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia best of the bunch.
The Ducati Lenovo Team was triumphant in the Sunday (Monday morning NZ time) race of the Spanish GP, round four of the series at “Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto”, courtesy of a scintillating performance by the reigning two-time world champion.
He re-wrote the race lap record with a 1’37.449 with three laps to go, stormed off to race success and – at the same time – significantly narrowed down his gap to the top of the championship standings.
His team-mate Enea Bastianini put together a solid comeback as he climbed up to fifth place at the finish line.
Bagnaia had a perfect start from seventh place of the grid as he entered turn one in fourth position and, courtesy of a spectacular double overtake on the outside at turn six, followed by a precise pass at the last corner, he took the lead at the end of the opening lap.
After a hectic first part of the encounter, Bagnaia found himself on the tail of the then-leader Jorge Martín, until the latter crashed out of the race with 15 laps still left.
From then on, he had to defend first place from a resurging Marc Márquez, who bridged the gap to the lead with five laps left.
Bagnaia was the absolute protagonist of what was an epic battle for the win, as he set the new race lap record in the third-last lap and pushed to the limit up to the chequered flag.
Enea lost some ground at the start but managed to recover several positions as the race progressed. After being down to tenth place in the early stages, Enea made his way back to sixth and eventually took fifth place at the chequered flag, despite a lack of feeling with the front-end of his Ducati machine.
With the Spanish Grand Prix drawing to a close, Bagnaia is currently second in the standings and now 17 points away from the leader Martín, with his team-mate Bastianini right behind him and five points further in arrears.
“It was simply fantastic. We needed such a win, not only for myself but also for the team and everybody working with me,” said Bagnaia.
“It was a very intense race, and it was crucial to make it to the lead on lap one. The overtake on the outside was really a nice one, I enjoyed it a lot.
“The race was decided in the last five laps: when Marc closed the gap I only tried to wait and fend off his attacks straight away and after his second attempt I decided to push as hard as I could in order to create a safety margin up to the finish line.
“I managed to set the fastest lap at the end, and everything went perfectly. I’m really happy: this is my third consecutive win in the full race here and that makes everything even more special.”
Photo courtesy Ducati
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Leading MotoGP standings after round four:
