MotoGP: Consistent Michelin tires help Bagnaia to win in style at Jerez

The Gran Premio MotoGP™ Guru by Gryfyn de España (fourth round of the 2023 MotoGP™ World Championship) was won by Francesco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati), ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Brad Binder and Jack Miller. The MICHELIN Power range of tires took Jerez's hot weather in its stride to contribute to the weekend's entertaining action thanks to their grip and consistency .

Visibly in fighting form at Jerez, Binder notched up his second Sprint Race victory of the season, chased by Bagnaia and his team-mate Miller.

As was the case for Saturday's shorter clash, it took two attempts to get Sunday afternoon's grand prix underway after Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) collided first time through Turn 2.

The restart - this time for 24 laps - saw Bagnaia get away well from fifth on the grid before rapidly finding himself on the tail of Binder and Miller. The Italian found a way past the latter to appear in second place a first time on Lap 5 but was instructed subsequently by Race Control to hand the place back to the Australian.

Undeterred, and confident in the grip and consistency provided by his Medium-compound MICHELIN Power front and rear tires, the Ducati rider continued to push and ultimately took control four laps from home, posting the fastest race lap (1m37.989s) in the process.

He went on to pocket his second straight victory at the Spanish circuit where he was joined on the podium by Binder and Miller. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing Team) and pole-sitter Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) rounded out the top five.

The entire range of available MICHELIN Power slicks was used over the weekend but Sunday's hot weather prompted the entire field to fit the Medium front and rear for the race. The choice gave the riders the means to push all the way to the flag, with many of them even posting their personal fastest laps late in the grand prix.

Bagnaia's win has promoted him to the top of the provisional championship table on 87 points, ahead of Mooney VR46 Racing Team's Marco Bezzecchi (65). The points haul secured by his victory in the Sprint Race and second place in the grand prix has taken Binder (62) to third.

Next round: SHARK Grand Prix de France, Le Mans (May 12-14). The championship's 1,000th grand prix!