Image: Supplied.

Gresini Racing MotoGP’s Enea Bastianini claimed an exciting Aragon victory at round 15 of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship, as Red Bull KTM Ajo sensation Pedro Acosta delivered a clinical performance in Moto2 and Izan Guevara dominated Moto3.

Bastianini led when it counted, taking the chequered flag with a slim .042s advantage ahead of Ducati Lenovo Team’s Francesco Bagnaia. Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro returned to the rostrum in P3, ahead of RedBull KTM’s Brad Binder who delivered a great first lap to go from 10th to second.

Australia’s Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) completed the top five and was 6.9s from the lead, as positions 6-10 were completed by Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) – who recovered lost ground from taking evasive action to miss a fallen Fabio Quartararo on the first lap, and premier class rookie Marco Bezzechi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team).

Notably, points leader Quartararo crashed on the opening lap when returning Marc Marquez (Respol Honda Team) lost the rear out of turn three and instinctively closed the throttle, resulting in the Monster Energy Yamaha rider running up the back of the number 93 and falling. Quartararo was unable to remount, and Marquez sustained bike damage which also ended his race, but not before a collision with Nakagami later that lap causing the Japanese rider to fall.

Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM Racing) finished P16 at MotorLand, as the championship fight is well and truly on with Quartararo’s advantage cut to just 10 points ahead of Bagnaia, with Espargaro third and 17 from the lead.

Image: Supplied.

Moto2 rookie Acosta took his second victory of the season in round 15, working his way forward from fifth on the grid to cross the line with a commanding 2.6s advantage.

Flexbox HP40’s Aron Canet scored yet another P2 finish in the intermediate class, besting MotoGP bound Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who completed the rostrum.

Elf Marc VDS Racing Team’s Senna Agius showed great pace throughout the race finishing P16 and within striking distance of the top 10 despite two long lap penalties.

Looking at the Moto2 World Championship standings and Fernandez leads on 216, ahead of  Idemistu Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura (207) who finished fourth at Aragon, with third on 177.

Image: Supplied.

In Moto3, Guevara (Autosolar GasGas Aspar Team) led every lap to complete a dominant display in the lightweight class, finishing .957s clear of Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max’s Ayumu Sasaki.

Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) scored his first Moto3 World Championship podium crossing the line a lonely third, 6.536s from victory but over six seconds clear of the chasing group behind after breaking away with Guevara and Sasaki during the first half of the race.

Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) completed round 15 in P21 after showing good pace at the start weekend. He did, however, have to take evasive action in the early stages of the race to avoid a fallen rider.

Points-wise, it was a dream scenario for Guevera who leads the standings by 33 points ahead of teammate Sergio Garcia. Garcia was 13th at Aragon and holds a 25-point advantage over third-placed Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), who was also outside the top 10 in Spain and finished P14.

The Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup was also in action at Aragon, with Harrison Voight the highest-placed Australian with 9-11 results, as Jacob Roulstone completed the round notching 13-16 finishes.

Detailed results