First win in the bag for Pecco but Marc’s close

PECCO BAGNAIA held off a resurgent Marc Marquez to claim his first MotoGP win yesterday.

The Italian, above, beat the six-time champion by more than half a second at Aragon.

Championship leader Fabio Quartararo could finish only eighth, 16 seconds down.

“There is a lot of emotion today, I’m so happy, we worked a lot to achieve this result and every time we were close,” said Ducati Lenovo rider Bagnaia.

“A win today is a liberation. It was not easy to stay in front of Marc at this track.”

From pole, Bagnaia had a clean getaway but, as team-mate Jack Miller and Monster Energy Yamaha’s Quartararo dropped back, Marquez shot through into second.

With three laps to go and a gap of around five seconds to the next rider, Marquez began to challenge, finding his way past his rival seven times, but each time Bagnaia came back.

A final squeeze on the last lap sent Marquez wide and it was over, the Repsol Honda man settling for second as the defending champion, Suzuki Ecstar’s Joan Mir, took third.