A slow burner, the Aragon GP turned into yet another great race, producing the eighth different winner of this enthralling season.
Reminiscent of his battles with Andrea Dovizioso, Marc Marquez went head-to-head with the Ducati of Pecco Bagnaia, both riders a class above the rest of the field.
With championship leader Fabio Quartararo also finishing down in eighth, the result in Spain may have even reopened the championship battle as well.
1st. Pecco Bagnaia – 10
Stunning. That is the best way to describe Pecco Bagnaia’s first ever MotoGP victory.
After breaking the lap record in qualifying on Saturday, many would have folded under the pressure that Marc Marquez applied. Not Bagnaia though, reading each Marquez attack as the lead changed hands seven times in the final three laps.
The result moved the Italian up to second in the championship, above Joan Mir and Johann Zarco. Now only 53 points behind Quartararo, and with two races at Misano to come, a track Bagnaia favours, perhaps the championship isn’t over just yet.
2nd. Marc Marquez – 9.5
There wasn’t much more that Marc Marquez could have done to get past Bagnaia.
As the Spaniard himself admitted, the Ducati rider simply rode a perfect race.
Yet a pre-2020 Marquez might have been more likely to make a move on the Italian stick.
There was much talk over the weekend about the Spaniard’s recovery from his arm injury, Marquez himself saying that he could no longer reach the same level of performance as he used to.
It was nonetheless good to see him battling back at the front once again.
3rd. Joan Mir – 9
Joan Mir produced a brilliant move on Aleix Espargaro to promote himself into third, cutting underneath him at turn 4.
Thereafter, it was a lonely race for the Suzuki rider, four seconds behind the two in front of him but five seconds ahead of Espargaro behind.
Still, narrowing the gap to Quartararo to 57 points with his fifth podium of the season, it was a good weekend for the Spaniard.
4th. Aleix Espargaro – 9
Aleix Espargararo is one of the most consistent riders on the grid right now, if not the most consistent.
Again sniffing around the podium places, the Spaniard didn’t quite have the pace to go with Mir after the Suzuki rider overtook him.
Fourth place was nonetheless a great result, with Espargaro moving above new teammate Maverick Vinales into 7th place in the championship standings.
5th. Jack Miller – 8.5
Jack Miller had a strong qualifying on Saturday, putting his bike alongside teammate Bagnaia for a factory Ducati one-two.
It was always going to be a difficult task keeping pace with the Italian and keeping Marquez behind on Sunday, as it proved.
Having been ahead of both Mir and Espargaro for the first half of the race, however, the Australian will have been disappointed to give third away after losing the front and running wide at the final corner on lap 11.
6th. Enea Bastianini – 9.5
With the enticing battle between the front two, Enea Bastianini’s performance in Aragon went under the radar.
The Italian rookie backed up his best ever MotoGP qualifying position of ninth, gaining three places to record his best ever MotoGP finish of sixth.
He did it the hard way as well, dropping back to tenth after ultimately failing in what would have been one of the overtakes of the season round the outside of Fabio Quartararo at the final corner.
All of that on a two-year old Ducati.
7th. Brad Binder – 8
Brad Binder seems to go unnoticed for much of the weekend, but then turns up on Sunday to record a solid result on the Factory KTM.
The South African qualified in 12th after successfully progressing through Q1.
He then showed good race pace on Sunday, although nearly collided with Fabio Quartararo before later passing the Frenchman.
8th. Fabio Quartararo – 7
It is a sign of Fabio Quartararo’s consistency that his 8th place finish in Aragon was the second worst of his season, after only the Jerez GP where the Frenchman was leading before suffering arm pump issues.
On one of his more difficult tracks, Quartararo still recorded a good haul of points, finishing less than a second ahead of the three riders behind.
Despite starting third, the Aragon GP was therefore not as bad as it could have been, especially considering the Yamahas were losing a great deal of time in the final sector.
9th. Jorge Martin – 7
After being taken out by Marc Marquez at Silverstone, Jorge Martin had a somewhat disappointing race in Aragon, at least by the standards the Spaniard has set recently.
Starting fifth, Martin dropped back after struggling with pain in his left leg.
10th. Takaaki Nakagami – 7
The polesitter at Aragon last year, Takaaki Nakagami might have expected more at a track he is usually very quick at.
The problem for the Japanaese rider was passing Quartararo, the Frenchman proving to be an immovable obstacle for the LCR Honda man.
A 10th place finish and more points still represents a solid result, however, Nakagami also becoming the first Japanese rider to reach 200 GP starts in Spain.
11th. Iker Lecuona – 7.5
Iker Lecuona was enjoying a great race until a mistake at turn 8 cost him three positions.
The lead KTM in 7th place until that error, the 21-year-old nonetheless again demonstrated his speed and ability as a move to World Superbikes for next season looks increasingly likely.
12th. Alex Rins – 6.5
Alex Rins’ race was effectively over on Saturday, the Spaniard qualifying down in 20th place.
With his teammate having got on the podium, and a winner here last year, it was an incredibly frustrating result for Rins, the Spaniard complaining about the consistency of the Michelin tyres.
13th. Pol Espargaro – 6.5
After enjoying his best result of the season last time out at Silverstone, the Aragon GP brought Pol Espargaro back down to earth.
The Spaniard, who started eighth after enjoying a solid qualifying session, lost five places over the course of the race as he struggled for pace.
14th. Miguel Oliveira – 6
Miguel Oliveira’s poor form since the summer break continued with a 14th-place finish in Aragon.
Struggling with rear grip issues all weekend, the Portuguese rider at least scored points, his first since the Dutch GP back in June.
15th. Danilo Petrucci – 6.5
Danilo Petrucci recorded his third consecutive points finish, albeit in the final points place.
The Italian got ahead of Cal Crutchlow at the beginning of the race, keeping the Briton behind thereafter.
16th. Cal Crutchlow (Factory Yamaha) – 7
Cal Crutchlow had showed good pace in the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, being within a tenth of making it straight through to Q2.
Unfortunately for the Briton, his role as a test rider for Yamaha means he was also experimenting with new parts, changing the set up of the bike throughout the weekend.
He therefore couldn’t get into the points in what is likely to be his final ever MotoGP race.
17th. Johann Zarco – 6
That 900-mile ride from his home in France to Aragon must have really taken it out of Johann Zarco going into this weekend.
In all seriousness, the Frenchman lacked pace all weekend, especially on Sunday where he dropped like a stone in the race after starting in 10th.
18th. Maverick Vinales – 6.5
Is it too early to say Maverick Vinales might be regretting leaving Yamaha for Aprilia?
He was certainly quite a way off the pace of both his new teammate and the leaders in Aragon.
His first race for the Italian team, judgement on the move should be reserved until next season, giving Vinales the remainder of 2021 and then preseason next year to adjust to the bike.
19th. Valentino Rossi – 6
How it is painful to see Valentino Rossi struggling at the back of the grid, the usual problems of the rear tyre overheating plaguing the Doctor yet again.
The Italian was not too downbeat after the race, however, quick to congratulate compatriot and VR46 rider academy graduate Pecco Bagnaia on his first MotoGP win.
He was also in good company during the race, having his brother Luca Marini behind and his former Yamaha teammate Maverick Vinales in front.
20th. Luca Marini – 6
Luca Marini continued his streak of finishing every single race this season.
Unfortunately for him, this was also his worst result of the year.
The Italian was some way behind compatriot Valentino Rossi as well, finishing 6.5 seconds behind the Petronas Yamaha rider.
DNF – Jake Dixon (Petronas Yamaha), Alex Marquez (LCR Honda)
