Aprilia on top again! Aleix Espargaró triumphs in the sprint on home soil, World Champion Bagnaia saves second place in a dramatic finish

This year’s edition of the World Championship of Road Motorcycles series officially entered its second half with the Catalan Grand Prix at the circuit near Barcelona, Spain. In particular, the riders of the royal category will take part in a total of twenty races over thirteen weeks. This gruelling series kicked off with a sprint that was won by Aleix Espargaró on an Aprilia motorcycle. Second place went to championship leader Francesco Bagnaia ahead of another Aprilia rider, Maverick Viñales.

Reigning champion Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia took pole position for the sixth time this year. Behind the 26-year-old Italian, however, three Aprilia machines lined up at the start, led by home hero Aleix Espargar.

During the warm-up lap, white flags with a red cross flew on the circuit, generally signalling the presence of raindrops. The start itself took place in the dry, but ominous clouds nevertheless lingered over the Barcelona track throughout the sprint.

Bagnaia started from first place without losing a position. Factory Aprilia riders Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaróvi managed to hold on to their excellent starting positions, and by the end of the first lap they were struggling to keep pace with Bagnaia. Marco Bezzecchi, one of the biggest competitors for the title, was the best to start the sprint, gaining five positions over his grid position.

Bagnaia’s other biggest rival, Jorge Martín, left the track on the third lap while trying to pass Viñales and instead of threatening the Aprilia rider, he was in a battle with Bezzecchi and Marc Márquez for sixth place.

Aprilia showed promising race pace during the practice sessions. This was confirmed by Espargaró, whom Bagnaia was unable to close the gap to more than a second. On lap six, the Spaniard even hinted at an attack into the first corner, but was not enough for the traditionally great brakeman Bagnaia. However, just a lap later Espargaró got the better of the factory Ducati rider and took over the sprint lead at the start of lap seven.

Bagnaia was visibly unable to match the 34-year-old Spaniard’s pace. Instead, he had to start looking behind him. Espargar’s teammate Viñales was breathing heavily on his back, followed by Brad Binder on the KTM and Miguel Oliveira on the satellite Aprilia. This leading five had built up a lead of around one and a half seconds during the ninth lap.

The biggest moment at the end of the sprint belonged to Bagnaio and Viñales, who were battling it out for the final second place. While Espargaró was fearlessly flying around the track with a lead of more than two seconds, Viñales did what he and his machine could, but Bagnaia was able to block all of his attempts during the braking into the corners.

In the end, Viñales was unable to humble the world champion Bagnaia and the 28-year-old native of Figueres, Spain, had to settle for third place. Espargaró scored his first triumph in Saturday’s sprint, Bagnaia extended his lead at the head of the championship again with a second-place finish, and Viñales’ third-place finish marked a double podium appearance for the Aprilia stable. Bagnaia’s closest pursuers Martín and Bezzecchi finished the race in fifth and eighth place respectively.

The organisers of the VC of Catalonia prepared an unusual surprise for the spectators present. They set up the podium in the backstage area of the circuit instead of on the finishing straight. Thousands of fans enjoyed Saturday’s triumph of Espargar, whose hometown is only a few kilometres from the circuit, to a much greater extent.

Results of the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix sprint (12 laps = 55.884 km; top 10 only):

1. Aleix Espargaró (Spa., Aprilia) 20:02:744
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) +1.989
3. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) +2.040
4. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) +2.857
5. Jorge Martín (Span., Ducati) +4.341
6. Miguel Oliveira (Por., Aprilia) +4.940
7. Johann Zarco (Fra., Ducati) +6.746
8. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) +6.888
9. Enea Bastianini (Ita., Ducati) +8.068
10. Álex Márquez (Span., Ducati) +10.380

2023 MotoGP rider standings (top 10 only):

1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 260
2. Jorge Martín (Spa., Ducati) 194
3. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) 185
4. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) 166
5. Aleix Espargaró (Span., Aprilia) 129
6. Johann Zarco (Fra., Ducati) 128
7. Luca Marini (Ita., Ducati) 120
8. Jack Miller (Aus., KTM) 96
9. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) 93
10. Álex Márquez (Sp., Ducati) 92

Source: MotoGP, Twitter