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Written by Nina Rogerson
Marco Bezzecchi gets his revenge and takes his 3rd race victory as the championship is blown wide open with a crash from Francesco Bagnaia.
Image via @YamahaMotoGP on Twitter
It was Jorge Martin who was quickest off the line followed closely by Bagnaia. The pair started the fight for the lead early in the first lap, but it was Bezzecchi who led going into the second lap. Bezzecchi led a dominant and consistent race to cross the line with an impressive 8 second lead.
Once Bezzecchi had cleared off at the front it was the battle for the remaining podium places that kept us entertained. Bagnaia ran in 2nd until Martin overtook him on the 5th lap. It wasn’t until Lap 13 where Bagnaia was able to take back 2nd place and crucially, the extra 4 points.
However, only a lap after taking 2nd place, Bagnaia dramatically crashed out of the Grand Prix cutting his championship lead down to just 13 points. Bagnaia’s crash promoted Martin into 2nd and put Fabio Quartararo on the podium in 3rd.
Image via @MotoGP on Twitter
It was not all plain sailing for Martin as we saw a repeat of Quartararo’s ZipGate back in Barcelona 2021. Around lap 15 Martin was seen with his leathers undone and was forced to slow down on lap 18 to zip them back up.
Amidst the zipper drama for Martin, Quartararo was able to capitalise on the Spaniard’s slower pace and catch up to within touching distance of 2nd place. It wasn’t until the last lap when Quartararo was able to make a move on Martin after the Spaniard ran wide and let the Frenchman through. Unfortunately for Quartararo, he was unable to hold on to 2nd as Martin made a move to take back those crucial 20 points.
With Martin taking the chequered flag in 2nd, this result pushes him to within 13 points of Bagnaia in the championship. Quartararo took 3rd to make it only his second Sunday podium of the season.
It was clear the hot conditions this weekend had taken their toll on the riders with Jorge Martin having to receive medical attention in Parc Ferme due to heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Brad Binder came home in 4th just missing out on what would have been another podium finish this season. Joan Mir was the lead Honda this weekend with an impressive 5th place after a strong weekend for the Repsol Honda team.
Johann Zarco crossed the line in 6th ahead of the other Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli who also had a strong finish in 7th. Maverick Vinales finished in 8th as the sole Factory Aprilia after Aleix Espargaro had a mechanical problem on Lap 11 and was forced to retire.
Marc Marquez crossed the line in 9th after recovering from a crash on Lap 6. Marquez crashed out of 4th and rejoined in 16th and put in a strong performance to recover his race. Raul Fernandez completed the top 10 after what was a fairly strong weekend that’s sure to boost the Spaniard’s confidence.
Image via @MotoGP on Twitter
Takaaki Nakagami, Miguel Oliveira and Pol Espargaro finished just outside the top 10 in 11th, 12th and 13threspectively. It was another difficult weekend for the KTM of Jack Miller who struggled with pace and crossed the line in 14th.
The replacement riders of Stefan Bradl and Michele Pirro rounded out the finishers in 15th and 16th. Alongside Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro, there were two other retirements: Fabio Di Giannantonio on the Gresini Ducati and Augusta Fernandez on the Tech3 Gas Gas.
The MotoGP action continues this weekend at Motegi for the Japanese Grand Prix. Will we see another twist in the championship? Tune in to find out!
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