Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Miller ran inches wide at turn 12 on lap 15. He wasn't finished there. Un- beknown to the leaders, champi- onship leader Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) crashed out of ninth at turn six, just after Zarco did the same at the previous turn, both on lap 17. And soon Bagnaia was reeling Binder in. Even if the South African reacted, posting personal best times on laps 16 and 20, the Ducati's fastest lap on the 19th circuit was enough for him to be well within range. He was precision personi- fied as he moved under Binder at turn 13 with just over three laps to go. And that should have been it. But soon the South African was hovering over his rear tire after halving a 0.2-sec- ond Bagnaia advantage to 0.1 as they entered the final lap. The track's final sector was where he was making up time, and he har- ried the leader mercilessly only for Bagnaia to hold firm. "Pecco did a perfect second-to-last Italian immediately held out an apologetic hand, while the Australian gestured angrily—but well within the realms of fair racing. Still, the Stewards saw fit to ask Bagnaia to drop a position and relinquish second, which he did on lap eight. Their way- ward thinking was compounded further when Miller received no penalty for an equally hard (but fair) pass on Martin to retake third at the final turn, which sent the Spaniard wide, allowing Es- pargaro through. To Bagnaia's credit, he rose above the incompetent officiat- ing. The position drop handed Binder a 0.9-second lead, a handsome advantage in the circumstances. But Miller soon went to work, taking tenths out of his teammate at a time. And all with Bagnaia in tow. As the Ducati attempted several passes, it was becoming clear the number-one had superior pace to everyone. And he finally made a move for second when VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P87 corner and braked in the center of the track," Binder shrugged, unable to find space to pass. A second win of the season capped a fine weekend recov- ery. "If we consider where we were on Friday, it was one of my best wins," Bagnaia said. Binder PEDROSA'S BACK! No one expected Dani Pedrosa to top the weekend's first practice session. Not even the Spaniard himself. But the 37-year-old, mak- ing a first wildcard appearance since the 2021 Styrian GP, was in sensational form on Friday, ending the day third. His 1:36.77s lap was the fastest he had ever done at Jerez. "I am happy to improve the lap-time with my age! It's nice," he said. Pedrosa and KTM were placing so much value on this appearance as it provided him with the chance to ride with other riders on track, something that isn't always possible when testing alone. BASTIANINI OUT Enea Bastianini made a return to competitive action on Friday after breaking his right shoulder blade in the first sprint of the year. But the Italian was forced to withdraw on Saturday morning after feeling a total lack of strength in the shoul- der. "The feeling was like the test in Misano with the Panigale—not really good," he said, referencing a test he did prior to the Grand Prix. I'm happy because I'm back here. I'm with a lot of pain. My situation isn't good. My shoulder isn't strong and it's difficult to do many laps and to be fast." Briefly... Jorge Martin holds off teammate Johann Zarco, Aleix Espargaro, Luca Marini and Pedrosa. Zarco wouldn't see Sunday's checkered flag after crashing out.