2022 Aragon MotoGP News And Results (Updated)

| September 18, 2022

The Gran Premio Animoca Brands de Aragon may prove a pivotal day in the 2022 season, with the top three in the title fight now split by only 17 points. By the flag, Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) had served some Misano-flavored revenge on Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the two dueled it out on the final lap for the win, and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) was both back on the podium and back in serious Championship contention.

2022 Aragon MotoGP News And Results — **Enea Bastianini celebrates the win at the Aragon MotoGP. Photos: Gold & Goose**

Before all that, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) hit some serious bad luck, as he made contact with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) after a slide for the number 93. The Championship leader crashed out, Marquez continued and then suffered a technical problem from the prior contact that saw Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) caught in the crossfire. From there, the pitboards went out for the other key Championship protagonists – Quartararo out – and the lay of the land after MotorLand is now a whole different story as the paddock heads to Japan.

Bagnaia headed the field into Turn 1 after a dream start off pole position, but it was a nightmare for several riders behind him. From 13th on the grid, Marquez was already up to sixth when he then had a moment exiting Turn 3 and closed the throttle, leaving Quartararo with nowhere to go. The Frenchman rammed the back of the RC213V and was thrown off, sliding into the runoff. Rider okay but a 0 on the board. Next the Marquez-Nakagami contact that saw the Japanese rider slide off and a host of riders forced into avoiding action, a second shot of huge drama. Not long after, Marquez would also pit.

After all that, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had jumped from 10th on the grid to fifth and then somehow threaded his way past another three bikes to be running an incredible second midway through Lap 1, ahead of Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team), Bastianini, and Aleix Espargaro. Miller then overtook the South African on Lap 3 at Turn 1 and Bastianini did likewise exactly a lap later, putting the KTM back to fourth, but he wasn’t done yet.

Bastianini wasn’t either and he continued his progress with a move on Miller for second on Lap 6 at Turn 15, before Binder executed an impressive overtake on the Australian through Turn 4 on Lap 7. In the blink of an eye, Miller was all the way back to fifth as Espargaro also got through, at Turn 7.

Bad news for one Ducati rider, then, but the Bologna marque’s future factory pairing was about to engage in combat over first position – just as they did two weeks earlier at Misano. Bastianini got the move done at Turn 1 on Lap 9 and it looked like the Gresini rider might be able to pull away, given the pace advantage he seemed to have over Pecco. Instead, he outbraked himself half a lap later at Turn 12 and went very deep, handing the lead back to Bagnaia and barely holding off Binder through the chicane.

From there, however, Bagnaia and Bastianini started to put the hammer down, their margin over Binder up to one full second on Lap 12, two seconds on Lap 18, and three seconds after just one more. The Bologna bullets were trading quick laps around Aragon, and there was still no certainty over who would prevail. Bastianini twice had looks at Turn 16 and thought better of it, but would there be one last attack?

There sure would be! Bastianini sprung a surprise move on his works counterpart on the final lap at the tight Turn 7 right-hander, and he was through, cuing up some sweet revenge for home race defeat at Misano. Bagnaia did give chase and when he got a better run off the final corner, it was still in the balance, but the finish line was close enough to the exit of Turn 17 that Bastianini was just able to cling on by a margin of just 0.042 seconds. Another stunning duel, and in the last two races, that means the total of the gaps between those two at the checkered flag totals a mere 0.076 seconds.

As for the other podium position, that went to Espargaro, but it was a late attack as Binder held station for much of the race. The Aprilia and Miller tailed Binder for much of the contest before Aprilia’s ‘Captain’ pulled off the block pass at the start of the penultimate lap, and that was decisive. Espargaro finished six seconds behind the top two but Binder was just 0.240 seconds behind him at the checkered flag, and Miller only another 0.585 seconds in arrears in fifth.

Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) took sixth after a late battle with fellow Ducati rider Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), who got home in seventh ahead of Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team). Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) earned 11th, with the rest of the points finishers being Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) – who dusted himself off after a Warm Up crash – Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing), Cal Crutchlow (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP team), and Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team). A total of 20 riders made the checkered flag with Marquez, Quartararo, and Nakagami the only retirements. Nakagami escaped fairly unscathed from the drama but was declared unfit for Japan for a finger injury, so he’ll need to pass a medical ahead of his home race.

Gran Premio Animoca Brtads de Aragon

MotorLand Aragon

Teruel, Spain

Round 15

RESULTS (September 18, 2022)

1.	Enea Bastianini	(Gresini Racing MotoGP)
2.	Francesco Bagnaia	(Ducati Lenovo Team)	+ 0.042
3.	Aleix Espargaro	(Aprilia Racing)	+ 6.139
4.	Brad Binder	(Red Bull KTM Factory Racing)	+ 6.379
5.	Jack Miller	(Ducati Lenovo Team)	+ 6.964
6.	Jorge Martin	(Prima Pramac Racing)	+ 12.030
7.	Luca Marini	(Mooney VR46 Racing Team)	+ 12.474
8.	Johann Zarco	(Prima Pramac Racing)	+ 12.655
9.	Alex Rins	(Team Suzuki Ecstar)	+ 12.702
10.	Marco Bezzecchi	(Mooney VR46 Racing Team)	+ 16.150

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QUALIFYING

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) has given himself the best possible opportunity to take a fifth straight MotoGP win, taking pole position with a new All Time Lap Record at the Gran Premio Animoca Brands de Aragon on September 17. Not only did Bagnaia take pole with a 1:46.069, just quicker than Jack Miller in a Ducati Lenovo one-two, but he is also set to start a full row ahead of his key World Championship rivals at MotorLand Aragon. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) came from Q1 to take fourth on the grid, while Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) could only manage sixth. Will that 30-point gap look even smaller come Sunday?

With so many big names starting Q1, someone was bound to be disappointed, and it turned out that Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) would be one of them. He was quickest after the first runs on a 1:46.909 before Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) went to the top on a 1:46.843, but then Aleix Espargaro usurped both with a 1:46.569. Eight-time World Champion Marquez was unable to improve as a yellow flag came out too, and he will start 13th, sharing Row 5 with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP).

Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) had his first crash of the year, the usual front-end wash-out at Turn 2, and is set to start 16th alongside Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) and Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team). The latter was the crasher late in the Q1 session at Turn 5, the yellow flag canceling a faster lap from teammate Marc Marquez, among others.

As Q2 got underway, it was Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) who bolted out of the blocks with a 1:46.580 on his initial flying lap, and that would still be the benchmark when the first runs came to an end. As the track went quiet at the midway point, Bagnaia was still second on a 1:46.633, and Miller – one of two with a soft Michelin slick on the front as well as the rear (the other being Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins) – was third. Quartararo was only seventh on a 1:46.952, and Aleix Espargaro sat 11th with a 1:48.742, but having reused a rear tire after coming through Q1.

Once Espargaro got a new soft Michelin slick onto the back of his RS-GP, he was able to go second-quickest on a 1:46.590. That became third when Bagnaia set the 1:46.069 – 0.253 seconds up on his year-old lap record – before Bastianini clocked a 1:46.313 and then Miller a 1:46.159. Those laps decided the front row – a Ducati lockout – and Espargaro would be classified fourth.

At a tougher track for man and machine, Quartararo was pushing hard to make up the deficit to Bagnaia and company when he was forced into a super save at Turn 2 on his penultimate lap, which ruined that flyer but gave ‘El Diablo’ a fighting chance. Quartararo was only 10th when the chequered flag came out and dug ever so deep with his final attempt, but the 1:46.802 was only able to move him up to sixth. Starting between Espargaro and Yamaha’s Frenchman on Row 2 will be another Frenchman in Zarco, who also advanced from Q1 before setting a 1:46.646 in Q2.

Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), and Rins lockout Row 3, the latter a place ahead of where he started when he won at MotorLand. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) is in tenth ahead of teammate Miguel Oliveira and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu).

With Marquez back on track but back in the pack, Quartararo mid-top 10, and Aleix Espargaro only just up the grid, there are already a whole host of headlines to be made on Sunday. Can Bagnaia make sure they’re all about a fifth win in a row? We’ll find out at 14:00 (GMT +2) as the lights go out for the premier class!

MotoGP Pre-Race News

Honda turns to Kalex

One bombshell dropped the week before Aragon was that HRC had contracted Moto2 Constructors’ Champions Kalex to manufacture swingarms for Honda’s MotoGP men to try at the two-day Misano test.

Kalex, which has racked up ten straight Constructors’ titles in Moto2 as a chassis manufacturer, has been supplying swingarms for BMW’s World Superbike program this year, with impressive results. The news represents a major shift in mindset for HRC, which is keen to improve its reaction times in bike development, where it lags behind European factories Ducati and Aprilia. Usually, it produces most of its components in-house.

Kalex’s component is aluminum, a clear difference from the carbon swingarm HRC has been using since 2018. The German company needs roughly six weeks to produce it, meaning HRC advised them some time ago. Comments at the Misano test were positive. “Once I tested it for a couple of laps, and I felt like, something interesting,” said Takaaki Nakagami. “There were totally no negatives at all.” The results were so good, Marc Marquez used it during qualifying.

Angeluss MTA’s all-women team makes history

For the first time ever, an all-female squad entered a grand prix at Aragon. Maria Herrera is wildcarding for the Moto3 race for the MTA KTM squad, with her crew consisting of five women – Aurora Angelucci (Team Manager), Lidia Cerenzula (Crew Chief), Adriana Gallardo and Nekane Muros Salom (Mechanics) and Lara Hortences (Tyre Technician).

The technicians are currently working in the JuniorGP series. The purpose of the wildcard, backed by title sponsor Angeluss, a sports management firm for women, is to showcase the best of female riding and technical talent on the world stage.

“Our participation should be valued as a great achievement in the history of MotoGP,” said Angelucci. “In fact, we sincerely hope to be a source of inspiration for young women who want to enter this world. We held a preparatory test and what we carried out together showed that the team can and does work well, forming an all-female team that will write new pages of this sport. The feelings are positive. We’ll make history together.”

Beaubier to return to MotoAmerica

The American Racing Team arrived in Aragon reeling from the news Cameron Beaubier has decided to return to race in the States in 2023. The Californian was expected to renew for a third season in the Moto2 category but has decided to return to the Moto America Superbike Championship, a series he won five times.

Explaining the reasons behind the shock decision, Beaubier said, “I mainly came over here with the hopes of progressing into MotoGP, and I’m going to be 30 in December. So no matter how good I do next year, I don’t see myself getting into MotoGP at 31 years old. I’m okay with that, but I don’t want to find myself racing in this class year after year, so I’ve decided the twilight years of my career would be better spent at home again.

“As well as how intense it is on the track, I’m not gonna lie, part of my decision comes from getting homesick. I’ve been in Northern California my whole life, and it has been difficult spending significant amounts of time away from everything and everyone I know and love. I didn’t realize how much I appreciated racing in the MotoAmerica series and that ability to be home after every race weekend.”

VR46 riders renew for 2023, stuck with ’22 machinery

There was both good news and bad for the VR46 riders at Aragon. Firstly, both Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi were confirmed to stay with the team for the 2023 season. But on Friday, it was confirmed both would be racing year-old ’22 machinery next year, a step down for Marini in particular, as the Italian is currently racing the latest factory bike.

This was a “decision from the team,” said the Italian, a statement which suggests their reasoning is based entirely on budget – paying Ducati for year-old machinery would be a good deal cheaper than the latest, up-to-date package.

And Marini refused to view the situation negatively. “This is a decision from the team. As a rider, I want the best bike possible, but we saw that now it’s not so clear. The development of the bike and technology is a lot, maybe too much sometimes. You have to try many things. But you don’t have time, you don’t have tests. Every rider with the GP22 in the first three races this year thought, ‘Fahk I want a GP21!’”

Marc Marquez is back

After a successful two-day outing at the Misano test, where he completed 100 laps and finished just 0.5s off the fastest pace, Marc Marquez was back competing at a grand prix just 105 days after having a fourth major operation on his upper right arm.

At the test, he commented how the humerus bone that was first broken in July 2020 is no longer a worry. Returning so soon was to help build up muscles around the arm, which are some way off full strength. “The bone is 100% fixed. It’s more the muscles. On the fracture area, I don’t feel any pain. But it’s more all the elbow and especially on the shoulder and on the back.”

This means Marquez can now ride in a more natural position, unlike 2021 and the first races of 2022, when the humerus bone had reformed at an irregular angle. Crew chief Santi Hernandez noted, “From what we saw in Misano he is coming to a better position. Before he was riding in an unrideable position and he needed to adapt. In Misano we started to see his riding as normal but still it is not enough because he still needs more laps and power in his arm.”

At the close of Friday’s running, when he was just 0.3s off the top, Marquez commented, “My body position was better and this is what I really like from the day,” he said at the close of Friday’s running.”

2023 MotoGP grid takes shape

With Remy Gardner being shunned by KTM for 2023, Augusto Fernandez has signed a deal that sees the current Moto2 World Championship leader step up to the MotoGP class. The Spaniard will join Tech3, which will be rebranded the GASGAS Factory Racing Team next year. He will race alongside Pol Espargaro. “When we met again recently, it appeared very clear that Augusto was prepared to come to MotoGP,” said Tech3 team boss Hervé Poncharal.

Furthermore, Takaaki Nakagami signed a one-year contract extension with LCR Honda for next year after months of speculation. In light of Marc Marquez’s injury issues, and the signings of Suzuki teamsters Joan Mir (Repsol) and Alex Rins (LCR), the Japanese rider represents continuity for HRC during a critical winter of development.

What’s more, Japanese Moto2 hot-shot Ai Ogura preferred to stay in the intermediate class for a further season, despite HRC being open to the idea of his promotion.

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