Francesco Bagnaia holds his nerve to beat Fabio Quartararo

Francesco Bagnaia claims his first win of the 2022 MotoGP season after holding strong despite intense pressure from Fabio Quartararo.

As the lights went out, pole sitter Bagnaia got a great launch as did MotoGP champion Quartararo, with the two battling on the run down to turn one.

Bagnaia managed to hold strong around the outside, while Takaaki Nakagami also made a brilliant getaway. The LCR Honda rider got ahead of Marc Marquez to take fourth place after starting seventh.

Marquez also gained a place at the expense of Aleix Espargaro, after the two Spaniards made contact off the start - banged elbows on the approach to turn one. This all comes after Espargaro had some ‘choice words’ for the eight-time world champion on Friday.

Nakagami then lost two places in one corner as Marquez forced his way through at the Lorenzo corner. The six-time world champion pushed Nakagami wide which allowed Espargaro through.

At the end of lap one there was a double crash as Jorge Martin went down on his own, before wildcard rider Stefan Bradl joined him in losing the front at the final corner.

Martin’s crash is his fourth in a race situation this year, which equates to over half the Grand Prix’ that have been completed. The Spaniard already crashed in qualifying too.

At the front, Quartararo began to line-up a move for first place, while Miller began to drop back in third, as did Marquez.

Darryn Binder became the third rider to crash as he went down at turn two on lap six. The South African did manage to rejoin.