Barcelona – Sprint: Bagnaia beats Martin and keeps his title chances alive

• As promised, the start of the Barcelona GP Sprint of MotoGP between the two title contenders was a tough one to say the least. Starting from fourth on the grid, Jorge Martin made an excellent start to get up to speed with his rival from the first braking point. However, he was unable to take the ideal line to tackle the first sequence, given that Enea Bastianini was on the inside of the corner.
• Pecco Bagnaia therefore had no trouble regaining the advantage over the two men, to take the lead and pull away, while Martin began to stumble behind the n°23.
• Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta didn't give each other any presents at the start either, and the #93 lifted the Tech3 rider's fairing with his shoulder. The part went into the air and forced the rookie to retire.

Contact between @37_pedroacosta and @marcmarquez93 💥💥#SolidarityGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/Bs1qTRaGKc

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) November 16, 2024

• At the start of the third lap, Jorge Martin went inside Enea Bastianini at Turn 1 and successfully overtook him. He then set out to chase Bagnaia, who he had to finish in front of to be crowned MotoGP world champion. Bastianini did not make things easy for him, however, as he overtook Martin at the same point on the following lap. The Spaniard would definitively take the lead on the fifth lap. However, he was already more than a second behind Pecco Bagnaia.

They literally did go toe-to-toe! 😮@ Bestia23 💥@ 88jorgemartin #SolidarityGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/5ZzLPNDzlY

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) November 16, 2024

The rebirth of Bastianini

• The two MotoGP title contenders then took the lead, leaving everyone else behind.
• The championship leader, however, pushed his tires too hard at the start of the race, which benefited Enea Bastianini. Known for his brilliant finishes to races, the #23 got the better of the Pramac driver on the last lap of the event, to give a little more margin to his garage neighbor, who took a total of five points from Martin in the championship.
• Winner of the Sprint after dominating from start to finish, Bagnaia will have to take back nineteen points from Martin this Sunday if he wants to retain his title. Martin for his part will have to score seven points to secure the title, which is a minimum of ninth place.
• Aleix Espargaró and Alex Marquez complete the top-5. fabio quartararo and Johann Zarco failed to reach the points, respectively 10th and 11th.

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MotoGP Barcelona – Sprint Classification

Ranking : MotoTiming