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Two crashes, a terrible performance by Rossi or a beautiful fight for the win! That was the Aragon Grand Prix
The thirteenth round of the MotoGP royal cubature produced an absolutely phenomenal spectacle, especially in the last laps of the race. Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Máquez battled it out for the win, swapping positions seven times!
The thirteenth round of the MotoGP royal cubature produced an absolutely phenomenal spectacle, especially in the last laps of the race. Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Máquez battled it out for the win, swapping positions seven times! But we also saw two crashes.
Considering the riders’ starting positions, one could expect a really tight battle for the win. And that’s what we got!
After the start, Bagnaia and Márquez set a furious pace – it was the latter who made an excellent start and captured second position for himself. On the other hand, Fabio Quartararo on his Yamaha lost two places.
The French rider continued to fall down the order over the next few laps, and by the end of the eighth circuit he was up to ninth.
The Aragon Grand Prix was over after just five corners for LCR Honda rider Alex Márquez. He was a bit shaken up after the crash, but his health should be normal in any case. But he wasn’t the only one whose race was ended prematurely, with Jake Dixon crashing on lap two.
Tech 3 KTM rider Iker Lecuona also moved up from 13th to seventh. Behind him, Brad Binder improved four places.
On lap 12, Jack Miller made a riding mistake, failing to handle the exit of turns 16 and 17 properly and dropping to fifth behind Joan Miró and Aleix Espargar.
Meanwhile, Bagnaia and Márquez had built a solid four and a half second lead at the front of the race! The trio of Mir – Espargaro – Miller again had more than a 3-second lead on the midfield.
And with a few laps to go, we saw some beautiful but fierce battles between Bagnaia and Márquez. On the straights, both riders were averaging 340 km/h. At that point, the race leader’s heart rate was at 175 beats per minute!
That’s a figure that even for a top athlete is very hard to hold. From behind, the Ducati rider faced constant attacks from Márquez.
The two exchanged positions seven times in five laps! Bagnaia, however, always managed to find a way to get back into the lead after losing the lead. And he defended it even!
This is his first victory in the Moto GP Royal Cubature. He is the eighth rider to celebrate a grand prix victory this season. This also shows the attractiveness of the current season.
A very poor result was recorded by Valentino Rossi, who actually did not fare well throughout the race weekend. He finished the Aragon Grand Prix in 19th position.
So what is the final order at the finish of the race?
1. Bagnaia, 2. Márquez, 3. Mir, 4. Aleix Espargaro, 5. Miller, 6. Bastianini, 7. Binder, 8. Quartararo, 9. Martin, 10. Nakagami, 11. Lecuona, 12. Rins, 13. Pol Espargaro, 14. Oliveira, 15. Petrucci, 16. Crutchlow, 17. Zarco, 18. Viñales, 19. Rossi and 20. Marini.
It was also a bad race for Johann Zarco, who won’t take a point from Aragon. Maverick Viñales scored his first race for Aprilia, but couldn’t get a decent result.
Source: Moto GP Live