Bagnaia overcomes Quartararo to claim first win of the season

Ducati Lenovo rider Francesco Bagnaia kept race favorite Fabio Quartararo at bay to notch his first victory of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship on Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez.

Bagnaia crossed the finish line by the tiniest margins, beating Quartararo by 0.285 seconds, to claim victory. Spanish riders Aleix Espargaro and Marc Marquez settled for third and fourth respectively.

“It’s a beautiful day. We struggled a lot during testing this season but we never stopped working. Finally, everything went well this weekend. I’m really happy – we are back to our potential,” said Bagnaia.

After a bumpy start to the season, Bagnaia seemed determined to end the unfortunate trend as he managed to out-brake Quartararo into the opening turn. He managed to keep the lead throughout the race en-route to his pulsating victory.

With the victory, Bagnaia moved into fifth spot in the Championship standings with 56 points, trailing Alex Rins (69 points), Enea Bastianini (69 points), Espargaro (82 points), and leader Quartararo, who has accumulated 89 points.