Was yet another Ducati fest and Rd. 3 of the Bagnaia Vs Bastianini battle for the season at the Aragon Gp in Motorland circuit. 2 weeks back it was Bagnaia with 0.034 secs ahead and today Bastianini returned the favor with a win by 0.042 secs at MotoGp 2022 Rd. 15.
Championship leader, Fabio Quartararo, was out on Lap 1. After 3 months of surgery break, the returning 8 time champ, Honda’s Marc Marquez, had an electrifying start making 7 places on the launch from the starting grid by the time the pack hit turn 2. He then lost his rear at the entry into turn 3 that caught Yamaha’s Fabio surprised and collided into the rear of the Honda as there wasn’t enough time to react for the drastic difference in the speed.
The front aero wing of the Yamaha got stuck in the suspension of Marquez’s bike and it weirdly veered off to the left on the following straight and into the path of fellow Honda rider, Taka Nakagami. Luckily both Fabio and Taka escaped the horrifying crashes from any major injuries as both were in the way of other fast moving bikes.
Post the crash, the race gradually turned into Bagnaia Vs Bastianini battle. Bastianini coming good this time. It opens up the championship battle as now Bagnaia’s P2 got him 20 pts over a no score for Fabio. The lead has been chopped down to just 10 pts now. 5 races back, this lead was 91 pts for Fabio over Bagnaia. So it’s been quite a turn around.
Aleix Espargaro too is holding on with a fight to P3 after a tough start to the weekend with 2 crashes in the FPs. He’s now 3rd – 17 pts behind the leader in the standings. Bastianini too got himself back into contention with the win as he now sits 48 pts behind Fabio. It’s all to play for in the balance 5 races of the season, out of which 4 are fly away races in the Asia Pacific region before they head back to Valencia in Europe for the finale.
MotoGp 2022 Season analysis after Rd. 15
If the 15 races till date in the 2022 season are broken into 3 parts of 5 races, the resultant numbers clearly show the way the season panned out for the 4 championship contenders. Each set of 5 races gives a maximum of 125 pts for the riders. Fabio had a really good string of races in the 2nd lot of 5 races picking 103 pts while Bagnaia was unbeatable in the last lot of 5 races picking a whopping 120 pts. Espargaro was more or less consistent in all the 3 lots and finds himself within striking distance.
In the Constructor’s championship, Ducati have claimed their 3rd title in succession. 10 wins (6 by Factory Ducati team and 4 by customer team Gresini Racing Ducati) for the manufacturer out of the 15 races till now. The best finish among all bikes of a manufacturer score the points for the constructor’s championship – and Ducati have been really hot on form all these 3 seasons with their best result usually being one among the podium finishers.