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triumphs—hold off the challenge of a faster assailant just behind. And despite showing a rare de- fensive failing on the final lap, he still made this a contest until the very end. Bagnaia's incessant harrying out of the final corner drew him alongside his rival on the run to line, only to miss out by 0.42 seconds. The Ducati bosses' faces were a picture soon after. Little would you have known from Team Manager Davide Tardozzi or Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti that the factory had just claimed a third straight Con- structors title with five races to spare. And that's before we get But Bastianini can still be counted among the champion- ship contenders. And learning from the mistakes of his home grand prix, he made his late superiority over his countryman known, with a clean, decisive move nine corners from the checkered flag deciding this contest and—just barely—keep- ing his title hopes alive. On recent evidence the prospect of the future inter-team battles between the pair is a mouth- watering one. For much of this contest, it ap- peared as though Bagnaia would masterfully achieve what he had done in three of his past four ROUND 15 / SEPTEMBER 18, 2022 MOTORLAND ARAGON CIRCUIT / ARAGON, SPAIN P56 MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MYOWNRACE 20 FABIO QUARTARARO DNF MOTOGP "I have no serious injuries," said Quartar- aro a er his big crash on lap one. "I have abrasions on my chest, and other than that I'm quite disappointed. I felt that we had the pace to fight for a great result, but unfortunately, I crashed on the first lap. Some riders lost the rear, while others cut the line a li le bit, and I just hit Marc from the back. It's a big shame. I'll try to sleep on my back the next few days, but I will for sure be racing in Japan!" 93 MARC MARQUEZ DNF MOTOGP "I got a really good start to the race and found myself figh ng for the top five, ins ncts took over when the lights went out," said Marquez. "But then in turn three, I lost the rear a li le bit so I closed the gas and the problem was then that Fa- bio was super close to me. This is normal, it's racing to be close in the first laps and to try a move in the change of direc on, we were just unlucky to have this contact with Fabio. Then everything started, in turn five, I felt something strange, and I didn't really know what was going on fully. Bastianini (23) passed Francesco Bagnaia for the lead on the last lap and held on to take the win over his future teammate by 0.042 seconds.