San Marino GP: Bagnaia holds off Quartararo challenge at Misano

Bengaluru, September 19: The Bologna bullet was on top of the podium yet again as Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia survived a late charge from 2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo to win the San Marino Grand Prix and claim a second straight victory.

The Italian held his nerve to secure another victory from pole a week after claiming his maiden MotoGP win at the MotorLand circuit in Aragon.

At the Misano World Circuit Marco Somoncelli on Sunday (September 19), pole-sitter Bagnaia led by 2.7sec at one stage before Quartararo closed the gap in the final laps, cutting the Italian's lead to two-tenths of a second.

Rookie Enea Bastianini of Avintia Ducati enjoyed a superb race to secure a podium finish after starting 12th on the grid.

Bagnaia leads another Ducati 1-2 in Misano

Repsol Honda's six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez finished fourth.

Bagnaia's triumph left him 48 points behind Yamaha's 2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship leader Quartararo, who had to settle for second spot following a late charge after starting in third.

⚔️ @PeccoBagnaia holds off @FabioQ20 to boost his title hopes!@eneabastianini steals the show with his maiden #MotoGP podium! 👏#SanMarinoGP 🇸🇲 pic.twitter.com/l99UKIS7oE

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 19, 2021

Rookie Enea Bastianini produced a sensational ride to get himself on the podium for the first time, having been way back in 11th on the grid, while Marquez took fourth ahead of Jack Miller and Joan Mir.

Bagnaia got off to a flyer and his team-mate Miller retained second spot off the grid, while Jorge Martin spun off early on at Turn 14 but picked himself up to continue.

Marquez gained a couple of early places and Quartararo flashed past Miller to move into second spot, with Bagnaia extending his advantage out in front.

Bastianini stormed past Marquez into fourth and Martin retired with 16 laps to go before Alex Rins crashed out.

Bagnaia looked comfortable but Quartararo started to close significantly with the laps running out, with the Frenchman scenting a dramatic victory.

The ice-cool Bagnaia was not to be denied, though, and his compatriot secured a magnificent third place after overtaking Miller with nine laps remaining.

The MotoGP caravan now moves to the Circuit of the Americas at Austin for round 15 of 2021 FIM World Championship on October 3.

The 18-leg series concludes in Valencia, Spain on November 14.

(With inputs from Agencies)