Friendly fire among the Ducatis in an Aragon GP which began with mayhem and turned into a classic
Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) has beaten Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) to victory by just 0.042 seconds in the Gran Premio Animoca Brands de Aragon but that was just one talking point in an astonishing MotoGP™ race. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) made his competitive return at MotorLand Aragon and the eight-time World Champion unwittingly set off what could prove a season-defining moment when Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) crashed heavily on Lap 1.
The current World Championship leader escaped serious injury but walks away from Aragon with a zero. In a small consolation for him, Bagnaia was unable to fully capitalise because of the exploits of his future team-mate. The two Italians traded hot laps before Bastianini made his move on the 23rd and final lap and went on to score victory number four of 2022. Bagnaia closes to 10 points behind Quartararo at the top of the table – but it could have been just five with five races to go. Still, Ducati scored another 25 points towards the constructors’ championship – and it has now already won that title for another year.
Bagnaia headed the field into Turn 1 after a dream start off pole position but it was a nightmare for several riders behind him. From 13th on the grid, Marquez was already up to sixth position when he had a moment exiting Turn 3 and closed the throttle, leaving Quartararo with nowhere to go. The Frenchman rammed the back of the RC213V and was thrown from his own YZR-M1 in sickening fashion.
The contact left Marquez’s Honda wounded and there was essentially a repeat incident a few corners later when he was hit by Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). The Japanese pilot’s fall sent the following riders scattering every which way but thankfully, once again, everyone missed the man who was stranded on the race track. While Quartararo and Nakagami were out on the spot, Marquez did not get much further, pitting at the end of the lap in an early conclusion to his comeback.
UNMISSABLE: the Marquez and Quartararo crash in 360°