Bagnaia and Marquez exchanged 1: 48s lap after lap, the rest languished in the 1: 49s and below. The duo had a 4.3 second lead over Mir and Aleix Espargaro with nine laps to go, but this was now the area of the race where tire life was critical.
It was pretty much Ducati versus Honda for most of the Aragon GP, a war that ended with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) taking his first MotoGP win after a spectacular battle with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) in the last few laps. It was a flawless performance by the Italian throughout the race, with eight-time world champion Marquez right behind him. In addition to the two, the reigning world champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was third on the podium.
When the lights went out for the main event in Aragon, pole sitter Bagnaia got off well and held P1 in Turn 1, while Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) got in a little deep inside. Marc Marquez was able to get himself from fourth on the grid from P2, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) drove up to P4 in front of Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in fifth. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) was behind on turn 5 on lap one, the 2020 podium cautiously walking away as the rest of the riders finished lap 1.
Five more laps !!! ????
6⃣3⃣ vs 9⃣3⃣ # AragonGP ???? pic.twitter.com/UY6LWtjmaK
– MotoGP ™ ???? (@MotoGP) September 12, 2021
Every driver drove the soft Michelin rear tire and tire management was key. Nobody in the initial phase showed his cards, with 2.2s covered the top 6. Quartararo finished seventh and was run over by the fast-starting Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing), and Lecuona was through by the end of lap 6. A few laps later, another KTM was in front – Binder followed Lecuona, Quartararo was back on P9.
Bagnaia and Marquez exchanged 1: 48s lap after lap, the rest languished in the 1: 49s and below. The duo had a 4.3 second lead over Mir and Aleix Espargaro with nine laps to go, but this was now the area of the race where tire life was critical. Who had best preserved their soft rear tires? Six more, no change. Both drivers were still in 1:48 and they were again five to go.
Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) had a quiet day, finishing P13 ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) in 15th place. Cal Crutchlow (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) finished P16 and P17 respectively, while Maverick Viñales finished P18 on his debut with Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Luca Marini (SKY VR46 Avintia) were the last finishers, while Jake Dixon (Petronas Yamaha SRT) retired in Round 2.
Top 10:
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
2. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.673
3. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 3,911
4. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 9,269
5. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 11,928
6. Enea Bastianini (Avintia sponsor) + 13,757
7. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 14.064
8. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) + 16,575
9. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) + 16,615
10. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 16,904
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