VOLUME 59 ISSUE 20 MAY 17, 2022 P71
Eventually the race began to
settle down as Bagnaia surged
past Miller with 24 laps remin-
ing, and it looked for a time as
though we were in for another
Pecco Bagnaia demonstration
parade as the factory Ducati
pilot started clicking off the laps
out front.
Bastianini had other ideas.
After disposing of Miller for sec-
ond with 16 laps remaining, the
Italian relentlessly closed on his
countryman, making the pass
stick into turn two with seven
laps to go. Bagnaia retaliated
two corners later to retake the
lead only to out-brake him-
self into the double apex right
hander on the same lap, allow-
ing Bastianini through.
More drama was to follow,
however, as Bagnaia, desperate
to claw back the one-second
deficit he lost to Bastianini,
crashed the factory Ducati out
of the race at the final corner,
marking the first time he has lost
a head-to-head battle for a win
since he started winning Mo-
toGP races at Aragon last year.
From there, 2020 Moto2
World Champion Bastianini was
never headed. Miller held down
factory Ducati honor by trailing
home Bastianini for second, with
Aleix Espargaro bagging another
podium by holding off home
hero Quartararo for third.
Joan Mir had earlier com-
pleted a horror show for the
soon-to-be-departing Suzuki
factory by crashing out with 13
laps remining.
MYOWNRACE
43 JACK MILLER
2ND MOTOGP
"With the so re, I knew I had to stay
calm, and I tried not to push too hard at the
start," Miller said. "A er 10 laps, I started
to struggle a li le, but towards the middle
of the race, I understood how to ride the
bike to manage the problem. I managed to
catch up with Pecco and Enea, but they had
a be er pace than me. It would have been
nice to have three Duca s on the podium
today, but unfortunately, Pecco crashed.
I'm happy with this second place because
it allowed us to gain a lot of posi ons in the
standings, so now it will be important to
con nue like this to try to shorten the gap
in the championship further!"
77 DOMINIQUE AEGERTER
1ST MOTOE
"The season has started very well, here in
MotoE and also in Supersport, so it's very
nice to stay in parc ferme, to be on the po-
dium!" Aegerter said. "Today it was great.
The weather this morning was slightly
raining so I said, 'Ooh, I don't know wheth-
er the Le Mans weather is coming back,'
but we were lucky to get a lot of sunshine.
The fans stayed here a er the MotoGP
too, thank you very much to them. Next
week, I'm going to be racing at Estoril, and
then back in Mugello for MotoE, so for the
next two weeks I'm s ll busy."
Alex Rins' crash was
a terrifying one as the
Spaniard raced across
the gravel at over 125
mph before rejoining
ahead of the leaders.
Bastianini cues with
the Jaws music
as he hunts down
Jack Miller and
Francesco Bagnaia.
