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Written by Nina Rogerson
Marco Bezzecchi produced a wet weather masterclass to take his maiden MotoGP win as the world champion Bagnaia crashed out of P2.
Image via @motogp on Twitter
Sunday produced the wettest track conditions of the entire weekend so going into the 24-lap race, all bets were off on who would prevail in the rain. Bezzecchi was quickest off the line and took the lead with Alex Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia and Franco Morbidelli slotting in behind him.
It was heartbreak on lap 1 for Red Bull KTM rider Brad Binder, the winner of the Saturday sprint, after contact from Maverick Vinales sent him tumbling into the gravel at Turn 5.
There was also first lap drama for Fabio Quartararo who was pushed down to 16th after LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami forced him out onto the run-off.
By the end of the first lap, Bezzecchi was in a comfortable lead and would continue to extend his advantage crossing the line at the chequered flag with a four second lead.
The fight for the remainder of the podium places was between Alex Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia and Franco Morbidelli for a large part of the race. Bagnaia was close behind Alex Marquez and was keeping the Gresini Ducati man on his toes until the pair engaged in battle on lap 15. Alex Marquez put up a fight but eventually Bagnaia was through on the Spaniard.
However, two laps later Bagnaia said farewell to any podium place as he tucked the front of his Factory Ducati and was in the gravel. He was able to re-join the race and took the chequered flag in P16.
Bagnaia’s crash promoted Marquez back into P2 and Morbidelli into P3 but, Johann Zarco was setting an impressive pace behind them and could smell a podium. With two and a half laps to go Zarco was able to go through on Morbidelli to take P3. Zarco wasn’t finished there, on the very last lap he stuck it up the inside of Alex Marquez and took the chequered flag in P2.
Alex Marquez rounded off the all-Ducati podium and Morbidelli hung onto 4th place which he’ll be more than happy with after an extremely tough 18 months for the Italian.
Image via @motogp on twitter
Image via @motogp on Twitter
Zarco’s Pramac teammate Jorge Martin brought it home in P5 followed by KTM’s Jack Miller who fought his way through to finish in P6 from 16th on the grid.
Fabio Quartararo had a solid recovery to finish in seventh. The Frenchman’s pace throughout the race suggests that had he not been pushed wide by Nakagami, he might have been further up the field.
Image via @YamahaMotoGP on Twitter
Luca Marini crossed the line in 8th after being unable to replicate his Saturday Sprint antics to get him on the podium once again. He was followed by one of only two Honda riders this weekend, Alex Rins finished in P9 ahead of Gresini Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Tech3 GASGAS man Augusto Fernandez finished in 11th which was a solid effort from the rookie in his first wet MotoGP race.
Maverick Vinales was the top Aprilia man in 12th after a tough weekend for the Noale Factory. LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami was 13th ahead of the other two Aprilia’s of Raul Fernandez in 14th and last year’s Argentina race winner, Aleix Espargaro who rounded off the points finishers.
Both Francesco Bagnaia and Brad Binder re-joined the race after their falls and finished in 16th and 17th with neither picking up any points.
Another thrilling weekend checked off the 2023 season! The next round takes place at the Circuit of the Americas in just under two weeks! Will we see more Ducati domination or will Captain America, Marc Marquez take his 8th Austin victory?
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