Bagnaia bounced back to take full advantage of a crashing Bezzecchi with the KTMs propelling themselves right into championship contention
The Gran Premio MotoGP™ Guru by Gryfyn de España delivered action nobody could predict as some big surprises coupled with Championship drama saw the title fight change course once again. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) came out of the weekend all guns blazing as the Italian took 2nd place in the Tissot Sprint and went one better in the Grand Prix to take the victory and the Championship lead with the odds stacked against him.
Needless to say, it was Bagnaia who came away from the weekend having scored the most points with Italian snatching nine in the Sprint and 25 in the race to bag a total of 34 towards his Championship campaign. With the previous Championship leader of Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) only managing to score one point in Jerez with a 9th place finish in the Sprint before a crash in the GP race, Bagnaia now sits pretty at the top with 22 points to the VR46 rider.
KTM enjoyed a dream weekend in Spain with long-time excellence merchant Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) winning the Tissot Sprint and taking 2nd place in the race after an enthralling battle with Bagnaia. The South African came away scoring 32 points seeing him jump from 9th to 3rd in the standings – just 3 points off Bezzecchi in 2nd, and 25 off the championship leader.
New KTM genie on the block Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) followed a similar trend to his teammate, with the Aussie jumping from 12th to 4th in the championship following a 3rd place finish in both the Sprint and race, which saw Miller walk away from Jerez having scored 23 points at the Spanish venue.
The reshuffling of the order demoted Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) back down to 5th spot after he had climbed to 4th following the Grand Prix of the Americas. The Spaniard only managed to score three points on home soil after a 7th place in the Sprint and an unfortunate DNF in the race as his chain snapped on the final lap.
Viñales wasn’t the only rider who lost ground in the standings, the race winner from COTA Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) dropped down from 3rd to 8th, with Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) slipping down to 10th having gone into the weekend in 8th place.
The struggles continued for Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) as his championship campaign went from bad to worse with the Frenchman only bagging six points from the weekend having finished 12th in the Sprint, and salvaging 10th in the race. The 2021 World Champion received a long lap penalty for irresponsible riding which he had to retake after failing to complete the penalty properly. An unfortunate weekend for Fabio saw him drop from 7th to 11th in the championship standings.
The ever-changing Championship picture leaves the fight for the title wide open with still plenty to play for in MotoGP™. There’s no telling which way the tables will turn as the action continues at the SHARK Grand Prix de France on the 12th – 14th of May. – www.motogp.com
