His head clattered Bagnaia's
rear wheel while his bike went
into Rins' Suzuki. All three were
down, leaving Quartararo, Es-
pargaro and Martin clear.
The Japanese rider suffered
heavy facial bruising in the ugly
contact that took off his vi-
sor and left him motionless in
the gravel. But worse was the
universal condemnation from his
peers that followed.
Zarco was slowed by the turn-
one chaos in fourth, with Pol
Espargaro (Repsol Honda), Mir,
Marini, Maverick Vinales (Aprilia
Racing), Fabio Di Giannantonio
(Gresini Ducati), Bastianini and
the Red Bull KTM duo of Brad
the weekend's other big talking
point. Add into the mix track tem-
peratures of 122 degrees, and
this was a race of tire manage-
ment and conservation.
It was also, as Bagnaia had
correctly predicted on Saturday,
"a race of survival." The contest
was just one turn old when one
two of the podium contenders
were wiped out. Quartararo got
the jump on fellow front row
starters Espargaro and Bagnaia
to lead into the race's first turn.
But no one took a ragged Naka-
gami into account. The Japa-
nese rider had already made up
eight places as he tucked the
front on the entry to turn one.
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 23 JUNE 7, 2022 P83
MYOWNRACE
come in here be er because I'm just rid-
ing the bike be er, but I struggled from
Friday first prac ce. I think it's because
everyone is so up to speed around here
because they tested here a few weeks
ago but even Saturday a er a full day, I
was struggling, struggling in the last sec-
tor, figh ng for grip. It felt like, new re
or old re, I was just ge ng stuck on lap
mes; low 45, 45.1 was where I got stuck
in all the prac ces. By myself I was strug-
gling, when I get in behind someone, I
was s ll struggling. I think a li le bit was
to do with my riding style, rushing into
some of the corners, and a li le bit was
on bike setup stuff."
Second-place finisher Jorge Martin
leads Aleix Espargaro early in the race.
