Francesco Bagnaia fought back to win MotoGP race in Catalan GP from Jorge Martin, as Marc Marquez climbs up to P3.
The Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya delivered in style after an impressive ride from Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) to take an impressive win after crashing out of the Sprint on Saturday. The #1 showed why he is number one after risking everything to pull off a spectacular move at turn 5.
Bagnaia made the pass for the lead to defeat Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), who showed sensational pace early on in the Catalan GP. However, Bagnaia soon began to reign in the 2023 runner up, creating a great show for fans around the world. Joining Bagnaia and Martin on the podium after starting from 14th on the grid with a soft rear tyre was Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP), who celebrated with the fans in the packed grandstands as the #93 pulled off yet another podium comeback.
As the lights went out it was Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who took the holeshot from the word go, leading the way from Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) on the opening lap with positions changing at every corner. Bagnaia was pushing hard on the opening lap in an early attempt to stretch the field, with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) soon slotting into third.
Acosta soon launched his first attack on lap three at turn 10, running wide and handing Bagnaia the lead once again. However, the turn 10 action did not stop there as one lap later Martin would show what he learned, pulling off an overtake on Acosta at turn 10 – the #89 was in second. One lap later in after a near identical pass Martin took the race lead and made the move stick at turn 10 once again.
Acosta was next to pass the #1, sending the crowd to their feet in delight and soon began to set all of his sights on Martin in the lead. The #31 pushed to the limit before it all came to a heartbreaking end after Acosta lost the front on lap 11 and dropped down to 20th after rejoining. Acosta was not the only rider to crash at turn 10 with Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), crashing out earlier on in the race. Agusto Fernandez would also add to Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s despair after crashing out of the race.
This mistake promoted Bagnaia into second position, with tension around the circuit building as a battle began to look imminent. Bagnaia was closing the gap down to the #89, as Bagnaia’s teammate Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) was handed a long lap due to a shortcut at turn 1 and turn 2. Things would later go from bad to worse for Bastianini after he was handed a double long lap for not complying with the original penalty.
The gap at the front slowly began to come down as we hit the mid-way point of the Catalan Grand Prix. The gap continued to drop every lap before a crucial move at turn 5 for Bagnaia to steal the race lead on lap 19. While Bagnaia began to put the hammer down, all eyes turned to the battle for the final spot on the podium between Marc Marquez and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing).
The #93 soon launched a move at turn 1 on lap 21, to take away Espargaro’s chance to complete a perfect farewell at home. On the final lap, it was Bagnaia who led and put together a flawless lap to cross the line to take victory by almost two seconds at the Catalan GP. Martin was second with Marc Marquez able to clinch a podium after starting from 14th on the grid.
Behind the podium battle was home hero Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), who missed out on a dream farewell by 0.052s at the line after an emotional weekend for the #41. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) rounded out the top five positions in Barcelona to finish ahead of Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing), who had a brilliant weekend and finished in sixth position.
Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) crossed the line to finish in seventh – less than one second behind Fernandez. The #73 showed strong pace to finish ahead of the remaining Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine of Brad Binder in eighth. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) took ninth, finishing as the only Yamaha inside of the points with teammate Alex Rins in 20th. Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) took the final spot inside the top 10 to round off a great weekend for the American team.
Results: https://x.com/MotoGP/status/1794718164963725427
[Note: The story is as per press release]