MotoGP

Brilliant Enea Bastianini gets it done on the final lap in Spain

Enea Bastianini beat Francesco Bagnaia in a MotoGP™ classic at MotorLand Aragón as the rider's championship battle heats up.

By James W Roberts

4 min readPublished on 09/18/2022 · 4:24 PM UTC

Gresini Racing’s Enea Bastianini rode a superbly calculated race to beat fellow Ducati rider and future team-mate, Francesco Bagnaia with a last lap move to win the Aragón MotoGP™.

Title hopeful Bagnaia led most of the race from pole position, but starting third, Bastianini looked after his tyres and squeezed every inch out of his Desmosedici GP21 machine to beat the man who denied him victory last time at the San Marino MotoGP™.

After sitting out six races this season, Márquez managed to qualify a creditable 13th. However, his return only lasted a few hundred metres. An unfortunate and spectacular coming together with Fabio Quartararo ended his afternoon in a Grand Prix that saw plenty of drama right from the opening lap.

Enea Bastianini leads KTM's Brad Binder in Aragón during the early phase of the Grand Prix. — Enea Bastianini leads KTM's Brad Binder in the early stages Aragón
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool

When the dust settled, Bagnaia maintained his lead from the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine of Brad Binder, who had made his customary stellar start, moving up from ninth on the grid. Miller made his way around Binder on the third lap of the race, making it a Ducati one-two, with Bastianini completing the top four.

On lap five, Bastianini made it a Ducati one-two-three, relegating Binder to fourth place and putting pressure on Miller in third as the battle for the podium tightened up with no fewer than seven bikes in realistic contention.

Jack Miller leads Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco at the Aragon MotoGP. — Jack Miller leads a Ducati train in Aragón
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool

It would all change two laps later, as Bastianini claimed second from Miller, followed by Binder on the KTM. Miller’s early race pace seemed to suffer as the Australian found himself down in fifth by the beginning of lap nine as Bastianini slid inside Bagnaia under braking for turn one and into the lead.

Bastianini’s lead only lasted a few corners after an error allowed Bagnaia to regain the lead. This put the Gresini Racing rider back into second place and within the clutches of a very rapid Binder.

By the halfway point, Bastianini resumed his pursuit of Bagnaia, edging up on the race leader as Binder maintained third ahead of Aleix Espargaró.

Enea Bastianini beats Francesco Bagnaia as the chequered flag is waved at the Aragon Grand Prix. — It was close, but Bastianini beat Bagnaia in Aragón after a thrilling duel
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool

Could Bastianini catch Bagnaia and repeat their thrilling duel that was played out in the previous race at Misano?

With five laps remaining, the answer appeared to be yes. Bastianini reduced the gap to the leader, closing up significantly on the long back straight but failing to get close enough to the red Ducati to make a move for first place.

As the final lap approached, Bastianini heaped the pressure on Bagnaia. On the last tour of the MotorLand Aragón circuit, the Gresini rider made the move at turn seven to claim the lead in sensational style.

Bastianini managed to hold on to take his fourth victory of the year and underline the fact that his rivalry with Bagnaia could be the next iconic rivalries in MotoGP™ as the pair will race side by side in the Ducati Lenovo Team for 2023.

Behind the top two, it was the Aprilia of Espargaró that completed the podium, with a resurgent Binder being forced to settle for fourth place ahead of Miller, with Jorge Martín coming home in sixth.