Francesco Bagnaia and Ducati Lenovo Team are triumphant in the Sunday race of the Spanish GP at “Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto” courtesy of a scintillating performance by the reigning, two-time world champion who, while rewriting 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. 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 Martín, until the latter crashed out of the race with fifteen laps 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. Pecco 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, the rider #23 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 teammate Bastianini right behind him and five points further in arrears. Ducati leads the manufacturers standings (133 points), with the Ducati Lenovo Team sitting atop the team standings (145 points).
The standard bearers of the Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow for a day of official testing at Jerez, while the next event on the calendar will take place at Le Mans (France) on May 10-12.
Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1º
“It was simply fantastic. We needed such a win, not only for myself but also for the team and everybody working with me. 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.”
Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 5th
“It was a difficult race as I couldn’t repeat the same type of start as in the sprint race, so I lost some ground. I tried to bounce back, but just like yesterday I didn’t manage to overtake Brad (Binder) throughout the race as he managed to hit the brakes later than me. Too bad, because I was expecting something more, but the result is still a good one. Surely I need to improve under braking, because I’ve been struggling a bit more compared to recent past and that makes my life a bit harder when it comes to try and overtake other riders. It’s a thing I’ve been noticing in most tracks this year. We were good about the rest and we improved throughout the weekend, so I’m quite happy.”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“Pecco’s race was one of the best, I would say the best, I’ve ever seen in MotoGP, and honestly speaking I’ve seen many of them. He overtook two riders under braking on the outside, he reacted in an incredible way to the attacks coming from Marc (Márquez) and managed to put together a superb lap time at the end of the race with the tyres completely worn out. He did everything he could to show once again how much of a great champion he is and that he deserves the two titles he has won so far. Enea did well in making the most of what was not a simple race, after a not-perfect start and considering the lack of feeling he experience with the front-end. We will keep working starting from tomorrow’s test, to make sure he re-join the battle for the podium from Le Mans already.”
