Bagnaia fends off late Quartararo charge in Misano to win back-to-back races

19/09/2021

Pecco Bagnaia held off a late charge from Fabio Quartararo to take his second win in 7 days and close the gap to the Frenchman at the top of the championship to 48 points.

The Ducati rider got off to a brilliant start, opening a one second lead over teammate Jack Miller by the end of the first lap.

He managed the first half of the race beautifully, leading by up to 3 seconds as Quartararo fought past Jorge Martin and Miller.

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Starting on the soft rear tyre, however, Bagnaia’s pace dropped off as he struggled for grip, the left side of his rear tyre visibly marked up.

That allowed Quartararo to close. Running the medium rear option, the Yamaha rider was within a second of his championship rival with 5 laps remaining.

With stronger pace, it looked as though the 21-year-old Frenchman would easily be able to pass Bagnaia for the win. Just as he had held off Marc Marquez in Aragon last week, however, the Italian kept his cool, making no mistakes and holding a little in reserve as he kept Quartararo behind to take his second MotoGP win, and his first at a home race.

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While visibly disappointed to have not won, Quartararo was happy in that the result keeps him in control of the championship, just under two race wins in front of Bagnaia with only four races remaining.

Elsewhere, Enea Bastianini took a brilliant third place in his rookie season on the Avintia Ducati, setting three consecutive fastest laps in the process.

The reigning Moto2 champion, Bastianini had started from 12th but cut through the field on his 2-year-old machine, passing Miller for the final spot on the podium on Lap 20.

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Marquez finished in fourth, the Spaniard overtaking Miller and Joan Mir on the final lap after the latter had comprised his and the Australian’s exit from Turn 14 with a late move.

Mir also extended track limits at the next corner, meaning he was demoted to sixth behind Miller after finishing ahead of him on the road.

Pol Espargaro came home in 7th ahead of his brother, Aleix Espargaro continuing his impressive run of finishing in the top 10 at every race in which he has completed.

Brad Binder again showed good race pace to be the lead KTM in 9th, ahead of the LCR Honda of Takaaki Nakagami who rounded out the top 10.

Valentino Rossi finished in 17th in front of his adoring home fans, the Italian jumping off his bike and onto a tyre wall to salute them in what is his penultimate home race.

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His new teammate Andrea Dovizioso was the last of the finishers in 21st, 5 seconds behind Miguel Oliveira in front in his first race on the Petronas Yamaha bike.