MotoGP: Aleix Espargaro wins home Catalunya GP after Pecco Bagnaia first-lap crash, Maverick Vinales second

Aleix Espargaro buried his Barcelona demons and took the win at his home race, heading a historic Aprilia one-two over the line.

After having already conquered Saturday's Sprint, the Spaniard pounced in the late stages of Grand Prix to take the lead off Maverick Vinales and bag his second victory of the season.

"With my riding style and this wind it was very difficult," Espargaro said post-race. "I let the bike flow in the mid-corner and the wind pushed me out. Maverick is a lot stronger at stopping the bike and go, so it was difficult for me to follow.

"I made a mistake when I was trying to overtake and lost a lot of ground. I thought for a moment I wouldn't catch him, he was very fast. But I went to the limit like it was qualifying and I made it."

The initial start of the Catalan Grand Prix was red-flagged due to a multi-rider incident at Turn 1 and a subsequent nasty highside for Francesco Bagnaia at Turn 2 that left him stranded on the track and hit by another bike. The championship leader was conscious and taken to hospital for further treatment.

When the race was restarted around 20 minutes later, Vinales beat Jorge Martin to the lead at lights out and held on to it for the majority of proceedings. However, he was stalked by his team-mate throughout and Espargaro eventually dived down the inside going into Turn 1 on Lap 20 and made the move stick.

Vinales couldn't compete with his compatriot's superior grip level and had to settle for second. He admitted that he "tried so hard" but was nevertheless pumped when speaking in parc ferme: "It's incredible; I don't know what to say, I just want to keep going! First and second Aprilia, that's a historical result and we are so happy."

It was close to being three Aprilias at the front with Miguel Oliveira looking in fine form during the early stages and running in third for a good while. However, the Portuguese rider started to suffer from tyre degradation at around the halfway point and fell back into the clutches of Martin.

The Ducati rider made a move stick effortlessly and cruised to a podium spot in third from there. "It was a really tough race," Martin commented. "Already yesterday the management of the tyres was crucial, so I started well, but I tried to be calm for the first laps.

"I saw Oliveira pushing a lot and thought okay, let's wait, he'll drop back. It was like that and when I finally overtook him, I tried to pull a gap. I think the ones who made a difference between all the Ducatis were Pecco [Bagnaia] and I, so hopefully we can also be competitive next week."

Matters got worse for Oliveira who eventually also had to surrender to Johann Zarco and completed the race in fifth. Alex Marquez finished fifth while Fabio Quartararo came out top of an entertaining scrap for seventh with Jack Miller, adding a silver lining to what has been a terrible season so far for the Yamaha crew.

Bagnaia continues to lead the championship standings, but, in his absence, Martin in runner-up spot has chipped away on the gap and reduced it to 50 points. Marco Bezzecchi trails top spot by 71 points now while Brad Binder couldn't make up any ground after his race ended prematurely due to a technical issue. In contrast, Espargaro is edging ever closer to striking distance.

With Bagnaia's return to racing action unclear, the championship window might have been thrown wide open today.

There was no beating the factory Aprilias today and Martin made a great job of making sure he finished best of the rest. A tyre management masterclass meant he got the better of Oliveira easily and was safe in third from there.

Especially with Bagnaia's unfortunate crash in mind, Martin as championship runner-up was racing for points today and the Spaniard took the maximum spoils with the minimum risk.

LAP 1/24: DRAMA AT THE START, RED FLAG OUT - Bagnaia holds the lead at the start, but the story is further down the field as an incident at Turn 1 brings multiple riders down. Moments later, Bagnaia too crashes from the lead and is left stranded on the track in a scary moment. The red flag is out.

LAP 1/23: MARTIN TAKES LEAD AT RESTART, VINALES FIGHTS BACK - A more cautious start this time as Martin takes the lead, trailed by Vinales. However, Vinales wastes no time to beat his compatriot to the position. Two further Aprilias follow in Espargaro and Oliveira.

LAP 8/23: FACTORY APRILIA SHOOTOUT ON THE HORIZON - Vinales and Espargaro are running closely together and no one can match their pace. It's becoming evident that we're in for a straight shootout between the two factory Aprilias for the win.

LAP 10/23: MARTIN BACK INTO THIRD - Slowly but surely, Oliveira drops back into the clutches of Martin and the Spaniard pounces when he gets the chance. Tyre wear looks to be a problem for the RNF rider.

LAP 11/23: ESPARGARO LOSES TIME - There must have been some type of error from Espargaro who lost more than a second to Vinales here.

LAP 16/23: ESPARGARO FASTER BUT GAP PERSISTS - Espargaro is chipping away at the deficit to his teammate, but the gap persists for now. In terms of pace, the Aprilia are in a league of their own and a country mile clear of the field.

LAP 19/23: GAME ON BETWEEN THE APRILIAS - Were the past laps just tyre management from Espargaro? One way or another, the home rider has now reeled in Vinales and looks to have the better grip.

LAP 20/23: ESPARGARO TAKES LEAD - Coming down the start/finish straight, Espargaro dives down the inside at Turn 1 and, despite holding on for as long as possible, Vinales eventually has to surrender the position and resort to the off-track line. Espargaro immediately starts to pull away.

LAP 23/23: ESPARGARO ON COURSE FOR VICTORY - No one can touch Espargaro as he enters the final lap. Both Vinales and Martin look safe in the remaining podium positions.

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