Francesco Bagnaia was in top form today at Jerez, winning the race at the Spanish Grand Prix and walking away with a win against the defending champion Fabio Quartararo.
The weekend kicked off with Bagnaia initially leading the pack with a record-breaking lap time achieved during the qualifying rounds of the Spanish GP. Following the impeccable qualifying round, Bagnaia then stood on the podium after fending off Monster Energy Yamaha’s Quartararo all race long at Jerez this weekend.
Following Bagnaia’s record-breaking lap time, Quartararo was fired up for the race. After being denied his streak of consecutive pole positions at the Spanish GP, the Frenchman was fired up to go wheel-to-wheel with the Italian.
The start of the race saw Bagnaia out in first with Quartararo tailing him from behind all the way. Bagnaia was able to gain eight-tenths of a second over Quartararo before the Frenchman reeled him in the final three laps of the race.
All eyes were on the duo as the defending champ was out to clinch the win away from Bagnaia. Despite Quartararo and Monster Energy Yamaha’s best efforts, Bagnaia and Ducati Lenovo was able to survive the late-race counterattack and secure a first-place finish, putting Bagnaia in the running for the title in the 2022 MotoGP season.
Bagnaia was definitely pressured during the last few laps of the race, as Quartararo inched his way closer and closer to the Ducati racer with the gap coming in at just a quarter of a second. WIth Quartararo’s Yamaha right on Bagnaia’s tail, however, the Ducati racer held firm and didn’t crack under the immense pressure. A solid defense and an amazing performance from the Italian resulted in a first-place finish, putting him in the running for this year’s championship title.
Behind the duo, Aleix Esparago managed to land on the podium, however, he crossed the line about ten seconds slower than the two. Quartararo had to settle for second place once it was all over, and it will be interesting to see how the defending world champion responds in the coming races.
