JEREZ, Spain (Reuters) – Reigning MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia won his third straight Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday to make up ground on Jorge Martin in the world championship standings after the Pramac Racing rider crashed out of the race while leading.
Pole-sitter Marc Marquez, a six-times MotoGP champion, finished second for Gresini Racing at the Circuito de Jerez, with VR46 Racing’s Marco Bezzecchi third.
Bagnaia, who started on the third row in seventh place, put himself in the mix early on with a series of audacious overtakes on the first lap, zipping past Bezzecchi, Martin and Marquez to take the lead.
Saturday’s sprint winner Martin quickly wrested back the lead and was in front for much of the first half of the race, but the Spaniard lost the front-end of his Ducati on the 11th lap and was dumped in the gravel.
The second half of the race provided a different challenge for Bagnaia as he went from doggedly chasing the lead to defending it with Marquez pushed him hard in the last few laps.
Marquez, roared on by the fans in Jerez, twice overtook Bagnaia but the twice world champion made a late surge to claim his first win of the season.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
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