MotoGP is the world’s oldest motorsport world championship event, which was established in 1949. The FIM (Federation Internationale Motocyclisme) is the global governing body for the Moto GP and other motorcycling racing events around the world. MotoGP is the Formula 1 of motorcycle racing. It is the highest level of international motorcycle racing.
MotoGP takes place around 5 continents and 16 countries around the world and the recent news is that India is going to host the MotoGP event next year. MotoGP organisers, Dorna has signed an agreement with Fairstreet Sports to bring MotoGP to India.
Let’s look into the 2022 season so far. The championship battle has taken a lot of twists and turns this year. Before the last round (Aragon GP), there was a three-way battle for the championship between reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo, Ducati factory rider Francesco Bagnaia (nicknamed Pecco) and Aleix Espargaro. Aleix is the only rider from the 2010 MotoGP batch which makes him the senior rider in the current championship. But what happened after Aragon? Before Aragon GP, Fabio was leading the championship with 30 pts. Now the championship lead is cut down to 10 pts between Fabio and Pecco. Aleix is in third place with a further 7 pts down. Another rider who has joined the championship battle now is Enea Bastianini from Gresini Racing (Satellite Ducati team). He is in fourth place with 163 pts.
Let’s take a closer look at the Aragon Grand Prix, The Aragon circuit is neither Yamaha’s nor Fabio’s favourite circuit. Fabio has never achieved more than a top five in this circuit. The last sector of the circuit has acceleration from first to sixth gear where the Ducatis can outrun the Yamaha like a piece of cake. Everybody knows it’s gonna be a tough race for the championship leader. In Saturday’s qualifying, Bagnaia took the pole position which is very crucial for the race. Next to him in second place is his teammate Jack Miller and Enea in third place. It was Ducati’s front row lockout for Sunday’s race. Pole position is the first place on the race grid for the start of the race. Saturday’s qualifying decides the riders line up on the grid for Sunday’s race. Aleix qualified for the fourth and Fabio qualified for the sixth position. Apart from the championship battle, the return of the eight-time world champion Marc Marquez after his long break from Moto GP due to his injury was the most anticipated topic. His fans were so excited for his comeback. After the successful completion of the Misano test, he decided to take part in the Aragon GP. There were huge expectations of Marc Marquez’s return.
The Sunday race started around India time at 5:30 PM. It was lights out in Aragon. Bagnaia got a great start and started leading the race. Marquez from the back of the grid started gaining places from the first corner. Fabio was right behind Marquez. At Turn 3 Marquez had a moment and Fabio had nowhere to go other than the back of his bike. He crashed out of the race in the very first lap which is a huge turning point in his championship battle. So Fabio takes home 0 pts from the Aragon GP. Luckily there were no serious injuries for him. Bagania’s pit board informed him that Fabio was out of the race. He was leading the race and trying to minimise the championship gap between Fabio. Bastianini was up to second place and overtook Bagnaia on lap 9. Half a lap later Bagnaia got the lead back. Aleix was in fourth place behind KTM’s Brad Binder for most of the race. Finally, Aleix made a move in the penultimate lap on Binder and made it stick. On the front, Bastianini was on the tail of Bagnaia waiting to make a move.
Bastianini made his move on Turn 7 of the final lap and he was through. Exiting the last corner Turn 17 Bagnaia was right on Bastianini’s tail. Bastianini took his fourth victory of the season by a 0.042 secs margin. Bagnaia was second, earning 20 valuable points for the championship. Aleix finished on the last step of the podium ahead of Brad Binder. By taking his fourth victory of the season Enea Bastianini is in fourth place in the championship standings with 163 pts.
With just 5 more rounds to go! The battle is ON! Just 17 pts between the top three and Enea Bastianini is back on a winning streak. It is going to be a very exciting championship showdown. Next up is the Japan Grand Prix on 25th September. Let us wait and watch who will be at the top of the standings after the Japan Grand Prix.
www.motogp.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_500cc/MotoGP_World_Riders%27_Champions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9d%C3%A9ration_Internationale_de_Motocyclisme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aprilia_RS-GP
