BAGNAIA CALLS 2021 ARAGON WIN OVER MARQUEZ ONE OF HIS BEST MOMENTS

Francesco Bagnaia has singled out his 2021 Aragon Grand Prix win over Marc Marquez as one of the defining moments of his MotoGP career, describing it as “truly special” and saying it “ranks right at the top” of his victories. The Ducati rider, who is currently the most successful Ducati Grand Prix winner in history with 31 wins, believes the significance of that day goes far beyond the result itself.

Bagnaia’s win at MotorLand Aragon in 2021 came when he was still chasing his first full-time stretch of dominance with the factory Ducati team. He had joined Ducati in 2021 after two winless seasons with Pramac, and since that switch he has gone on to win all 31 of his MotoGP Grand Prix races. His most prolific season to date was 2024, when he took 11 wins, though he did not add a title.

The Aragon victory is particularly meaningful for Bagnaia because Ducati had never won at the circuit in the premier class since Casey Stoner’s success in 2010. Bagnaia also had to do it against a rider who had been “almost unbeatable” at the track—Marquez, who entered the 2026 Aragon weekend with a record eight wins there, including seven in MotoGP.

Bagnaia’s first MotoGP win came at Aragon in 2021, when he beat Marquez by just 0.673 seconds. Speaking to Sky Sports Italy, Bagnaia said: “It’s wonderful; I’d say it ranks right at the top of my victories. After all, Ducati had never won here before – except in 2010 with Casey Stoner – and Marquez was almost unbeatable at this track, almost like the Sachsenring.” He added: “So, winning here was something truly special. We did a great job all weekend; we’d worked well and prepared everything well.”

He also explained how the race plan translated into Sunday pace, noting that the team’s work across the weekend set up the final challenge. “On Sunday in the race, we were competitive and I had a great bike, which certainly helped me,” Bagnaia said, before underlining the final phase of the contest: “But everything was done with the aim of holding off Marquez, who kept pushing right to the end.”

The broader context of that 2021 win is part of why Bagnaia views it so highly. After Stoner’s 2010 Ducati triumph, the Aragon GP was dominated by other manufacturers for years, with Honda taking control from 2011 to 2019 except for Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo, who won in 2014 and 2015. Suzuki interrupted Honda’s run in 2020 through Alex Rins, while Marquez missed that race due to an arm injury earlier in the season. Bagnaia’s 2021 success therefore not only delivered Ducati’s first win at Aragon since 2010, but also made him the first rider to deny Marquez victory at MotorLand Aragon since 2016.

Marquez later proved he could win there on Ducati as well, taking Aragon again after leaving Honda—first with Gresini, and then later with the factory Desmosedici. He won the 2024 Aragon GP for his maiden victory aboard a Ducati, and he went on to win the 2025 Aragon GP in his first season with the factory team.

Now, as Bagnaia returns to a circuit he calls one of his favourite venues, he does so with the memory of that narrow, high-pressure win still at the centre of his season story—one he believes captures the peak of what he has achieved in MotoGP so far.