Aragon MotoGP Race Results | Bagnaia resists Marquez onslaught for maiden win

Pecco Bagnaia has taken a richly deserved maiden premier class victory in the Aragon MotoGP after soaking up a barrage of attempted overtakes by a determined Marc Marquez in the closing stages to hold out for the win.

A race that built towards a thrilling crescendo over the final laps, Bagnaia effectively led the race from start to finish, but was made to work incredibly hard over 24 laps as Marquez shadowed him from Turn 1 before launching an all-out assault late on.

However, though Marquez was able to overtake six times over the final three laps, he couldn’t make a single one stick, with Bagnaia coolly allowing the Spaniard to stream through before cutting back up the inside to retake the lead.

Indeed, Marquez appeared back to his best as he followed Bagnaia in getting away from the chasing pack, the Repsol Honda man appearing to be call upon one of his most trusted tactics of lulling the leader into a false sense of security, before ramping up the pressure late on and pouncing.

However, when Marquez pulled the pin, Bagnaia didn’t skip a beat, keeping his lines tidy and biding his time to make his rival work harder to attack than he was defending. As the pressure mounted, it was Marquez that felt it as he repeatedly ran a little wide on the exit, enabling the Ducati to come back through.

When Marquez misjudged his sixth and final overtake by running off track on the final lap at Turn 13, the battle was over.

The result marks Bagnaia’s first-ever MotoGP win in his third season of competition, a timely achievement in an erstwhile victory-less title battle against Fabio Quartararo, who could only manage eighth on a trying day for the series leader. 

A second podium of the year for Marquez to go with his Sachsenring win, he and Bagnaia were joined on the podium by Joan Mir, who put in a gritty performance to secure his sixth podium of the year for Suzuki.

His cause was aided by Jack Miller making a mistake at the final corner on Lap 11, allowing Aleix Espargaro and Mir into third and fourth, before the latter passed his countryman just a few corners later. Though not quite a second podium in a row for the Aprilia man, fourth is another sure sign that Aprilia are a reckoned force in MotoGP now.

Miller faded to fifth, ahead of a starring ride from Enea Bastianini, who made the most of his first-ever top ten start to claw his way up to sixth on the two-year old Avintia Ducati GP19, easily the team’s best finish of the year.

Brad Binder kept the points ticking over in seventh, heading off an out-of-sorts Quartararo, who after being bullied down the order over the first couple of laps, made no discernible progress into contention while spending much of the race fighting a rear-guard order.

Still, he got the better of Jorge Martin late on after the Pramac man slipped back with tyre issues, while Takaaki Nakagami rounded out the top ten.

Iker Lecuona ruined his chances of a top six result with a mistake that dropped him to 11th having run with Bastianini and Binder earlier in the race, while 2020 Aragon winner Alex Rins could only manage 12th from 20th on the grid.

Pol Espargaro and Miguel Oliveira endured dismal races in 13th and 14th, with Danilo Petrucci picking up the final point in 15th, but there was worse for Johann Zarco who, having been the only rider to choose a medium front, slipped back to 17th at the chequered flag.

Maverick Vinales finished 20th on his Aprilia debut, finishing ahead of former Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi, who was 19th, ahead of only last place Luca Marini.

2021 Aragon MotoGP | Motorland Aragon | Race RESULTS