MotoGP: Bagnaia Beats Relentless Binder To The Finish Line In Jerez

Ducati's Pecco Bagnaia emerged triumphant in the Spanish Grand Prix, besting the ever-speedy KTM duo of Brad Binder and Jack Miller. The race was a chaotic affair, marked by a dramatic collision between Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira at Turn 2 on Lap 1. Though Quartararo was able to walk away with leg pain, Oliveira was not so fortunate, having suffered a dislocated shoulder and being declared unfit to continue. The incident was investigated, and Quartararo was subsequently penalised with a long lap penalty (LLP) despite many chalking the crash down to a lap 1 racing incident.

Factory Aprilia man, Aleix Espargaro began the race on pole position, but was quickly overtaken by Binder and Miller. Bagnaia moved up to occupy a podium spot on the opening lap, while Miller took the lead from Binder on the second lap. Binder retaliated on lap four to get past his Aussie teammate and opened up a gap of about eight tenths.

Meanwhile, pre-race championship leader Marco Bezzecchi suffered a crash and dropped out of contention.

Despite the commotion, Bagnaia fought valiantly against Binder and Miller, finally taking the lead on Lap 21 and holding on until the end of the race. The Italian rider's aggressive manoeuvre on Jack Miller earned him a one spot penalty from the stewards, who felt due to the minimal contact made during the overtake, it was an unfair move. However, it was all for nought as Bagnaia was able to breeze past Miller once again, the latter eventually settling for third place. 

Meanwhile, Quartararo, who had started from 16th on the grid, finished in 10th place despite being slammed with not one but two long lap penalties. The second LLP was awarded due to “incorrect execution” of the original LLP as Fabio ever so slightly exceeded track limits.

The incident involving Quartararo and Oliveira was placed under investigation, and Quartararo was ultimately found to be at fault. Yamaha Team Director Maio Meregalli expressed his disbelief at the decision, while Bagnaia was delighted to take the win after two consecutive GP race DNFs.

Franco Morbidelli, who received an identical retribution after being judged to have caused a collision during the sprint race, finished 11th behind his Yamaha teammate.

The legendary 37-year-old Dani Pedrosa thrilled both fans and fellow riders after he set the fastest time in the first Friday practice session, finishing sixth in Saturday's sprint. He then went on to finish seventh in the feature race scoring multiple points.

The former triple title runner-up, who typically participates in private tests at empty racetracks for KTM, competed in his first MotoGP since 2021 and was cheered by fans and fellow riders. During the parade lap, Pedrosa stopped in the famous stadium section where he was interviewed, and he almost broke down in tears from the experience.

Gresini's Fabio Di Giannantonio managed a 12th place finish, followed by Tech3 GASGAS' Augusto Fernandez, Honda's guest rider Stefan Bradl, and RNF's Raul Fernandez.

Iker Lecuona, filling in for the injured Marc Marquez on his Honda, finished in 16th place. Meanwhile, his teammate Joan Mir and LCR Honda's Alex Rins had crashes during the race.

Late in the race, there were also falls for Pramac's Johann Zarco, while Maverick Vinales was forced to retire on the final lap when the chain on his Aprilia snapped.