In the race at Jerez on Sunday, Bagnaia and Marquez had a tough battle near the end of the 25 laps. Early leader Jorge Martin crashed out, giving Marquez a chance to catch up to Bagnaia.
Marquez got close to Bagnaia on lap 21, but when he tried to pass him, they ended up touching each other. Bagnaia managed to stay in front and defended another pass attempt on lap 22 to win the race.
Even though they had a collision in the Portuguese GP last month, Bagnaia said he enjoyed racing against Marquez this time. He thought the contact they had was done “in a smart way.”
He said, “I enjoyed the fight a lot. When you fight Marc, you have to be ready because it’s intense.”
Bagnaia explained that he knew Marquez was strong in certain corners, so he had to be careful. He decided to brake hard in one corner to keep his lead, knowing that Marquez might go wide.
“When you fight like this, you know there might be some contact. I thought it was smooth and smart,” Bagnaia said.
Before Martin crashed, Bagnaia was far behind his Pramac rival in points. But now, he’s much closer.
During the battle with Marquez, Bagnaia said he never thought about settling for second place to save points. He wanted to win the race and didn’t give up even when things got tough.
