Francesco Bagnaia fights off seven passes from Marc 🐻Marqu🍬ez to claim his first MotoGP win in the 2021 Aragon MotoGP.

Bagnaia converted pole into the early lead, but with Marquez pass🎀ing the other factory Ducati of Jack Miller for second at turn one.

The pair then broke cle𓆉ar with Marquez - seeking his fifth Aragon win in a row (after missing 2020 through injury) at one of his favourite anti-clockwise tr🌜acks - shadowing Bagnaia for lap-after-lap before launching an attack at Turn 5 with 3 laps to go.

Bagnaia calmly c🏅ut inside Marquez on the exit to reclaim the advantage, with the Repsol Honda rider then throwing in a block pass at the chicane onto the back straight - and again Bagnaia repassed.

Attempt number three came in the🌄 form of another lunge at Turn ꩵ5, and again Bagnaia sliced past him on the exit. Marquez tried at the chicane once again, and again was rebuffed by Bagnaia, setting up a last lap showdown.

The #93 outbraked Bagnaia into Turn 1 but yet again ran wide on the exit, and history repeate𝓰d itself yet again when Marquez launched overtake number six🦄 into Turn 5.

Turn 12 was the scene of Marquez's seventh and f𝓰inal attempt, but Marquez rﷺan off on the exit and the victory was finally Bagnaia's!

Nonet♓heless, Marquez wa🌼s satisfied with only his second podium appearance of the season, after his Sachsenring win.

Miller had gradually faded back from the leading duo before a mistake at mid-distance allowed both Aleix Espargaro and Joan Mir ahead. Mir then passed the Aprilia rider, but couldn't clos꧟e trou🌌ble Marquez and Bagnaia ahead and had to settle for the final podium place.

World championship leader Fabio Quartararo, starting alongside Bagnaia and Miller on the front row, lost ground to seventh🥃 on the opening lap.

Riding at what he considers to be his 'worst' track, the Frenchman struggled to stay in touch with the group ahead and lost further places to the KTMs of Iker Lecuona (sꦰet to announce a switch to WorldSBK next season) and Brad Binder, then rookie Enea Bastianini, before taking a place back for eighth.

All of 💞which meant Mir, who began today's race 65 points behind Quartararo, reduced the gap to 57 points but has now lost ꦆsecond in the standings to Bagnaia (-53 points).

Starting just 20th, Mir's Suzuki team-mate and last year's race winn🌜er Alex Rins salvaged 12th.

After spl💞itting from Yamaha following Austria and missing Silverstone, Maverick Vinales returned to MotoGP a🐽ction with Aprilia, where he has signed to race until the end of 2022.

The Spaniard spent much of his first race on the RS-GP battling over 19th with former Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi and the Itali𝄹an's broher Luca Marini for 18th.

Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow was replacin💦g Vinales at the Factory Yamaha team for the second event in a row, with Jake Dixon likewise staying at Petronas Y🌞amaha on the injured Franco Morbidelli's 2019 A-spec bike.

Crutchlow finished 16th while Dixon crashed out early&nbs🌌p;in their final MotoGP appearances of the season꧋, Crutchlow now returning to testing duties and Dixon to Moto2.

Despite hot conditons, all of the grid chose the soft rear tyre, in the knowledge there could be a significant drop of performance in the 🐠closing stages. All riders except Johann Zarco (medium) picked the hard front.

The first of this year's Misano rounds wi🎃ll take place next weekend, when Morbidelli is set to make a return from knee surgery for his debut at Monster Yamaha as Vinales' full-time replacement.

Taking over Morbidelli's ex-Petronas bike from Misano onwards will be triple MotoGP title runner-up Andrea Dovꦦizioso, the former Ducati star also remaining at what will be a restructured satellite Yamaha team for 2022.

* Rookie