Bagnaia wins Spanish GP to reclaim MotoGP championship lead

The fourth round of the 2023 MotoGP season saw a flurry of action in both the sprint race as well as the full-length race. But the podium finishers stayed the same, albeit in a slightly different order. 

1. Both Yamaha riders involved in separate crashes over the weekend
2. Pedrosa sixth and seventh in sprint and main races, respectively

Bagnaia triumphs over KTM duo

The KTM duo of Brad Binder and Jack Miller managed to get the dream start off the line in both races and jostled for the lead. In the end, Sunday man Binder was prevalent in the sprint ahead of Francesco Bagnaia and Miller.

However, a late charge from 2022 world champion Bagnaia saw him take victory ahead of Binder. Miller claimed the final place on the podium. Incidentally, these successive third-place finishes marked the first time ex-Factory Ducati rider Miller scored a podium on the KTM RC16 GP bike, in both race formats. 

KTM’s test rider, 37-year-old Dani Pedrosa, also competed in his first feature length race since his retirement in 2018. He crossed the chequered flag in sixth and seventh places during the sprint and main races, respectively. 

Yamaha endures tough weekend

Turn 2 has proven to be quite treacherous for the Yamaha duo of Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo as both of them were involved in incidents there during the two races. These incidents led to both races being red-flagged and restarted with one lap less, reducing the sprint race to 11 laps and the main race to 24 laps.

Quartararo’s incident was particularly difficult as he found himself sandwiched between two independent Italian bikes, Miguel Oliveira’s RNF Aprilia and Marco Bezzecchi’s VR46 Ducati. This incident caused a chain reaction, resulting in Oliveira sustaining a dislocated shoulder.

Both Yamaha men were slapped with a long-lap penalty by the stewards, but Quartararo had to retake his as he didn’t comply with the regulations while serving it the first time around. Despite this, Quartararo and Morbidelli finished the race in 10th and 11th places, respectively. 

Aprilia unable to replicate Friday success

Both the factory Aprilia riders, poleman Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, were unable to translate their P1 and P2 finishes on Friday into podiums. Espargaro crashed out of the sprint race and finished fifth in the main race, while Vinales finished seventh in the sprint, but crashed out of the feature-length race.

Honda's woes continue

After a jubiliant victory last time around at COTA, it seems like Honda's fortunes have turned for the worse again. The highest-placed Honda rider was Takaaki Nakagami in ninth place. His LCR teammate and COTA GP winner Alex Rins crashed out of the main race, as did ex-Suzuki rider Joan Mir. Honda test rider Stefan Bradl scored a couple points, finishing 14th, while WSBK contendor Iker Lecuona finished 16th. 

2023 MotoGP championship standings

With this victory, Bagnaia has a 22-point advantage over fellow VR46 academy compatriot Bezzecchi. Consecutive podium finishes and a win catapulted the factory KTM duo of Binder and Miller to third and fourth places in the world championship standings, respectively. 

Up next on the calendar is the French GP, with MotoGP heading to the Bugatti Circuit in France between May 12-14.

2023 Spanish MotoGP results