While Jorge Martin retires with a crash, Francesco Bagnaia takes his first sprint win of 2024 – Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta back in the top 3
Ducati factory rider Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia claimed his first sprint win since Spielberg in August 2023 at Mugello (Italy) on Saturday.
After the two-time and reigning MotoGP World Champion crashed last Saturday in Barcelona while leading on the final lap, he did everything right on home soil and safely took victory in Saturday’s short race.
“Unbelievable! I enjoyed every lap,” said a jubilant Bagnaia, “but the final part of the race was quite difficult. It’s great that I was finally able to finish a sprint race again after four Grands Prix. That makes me very happy. To win here in front of this crowd is incredible. I love it!”
Behind Bagnaia, Marc Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) finished second after the eleven laps. Third was MotoGP rookie Pedro Acosta (Tech3-GasGas).
“The race pace was really good,” said Marquez. “‘Pecco’ was faster since yesterday, but we were always in second or third place. My start was not so good. I’ve had problems with the starts all weekend. But I think we will do better tomorrow. Tomorrow we want to fight for the podium.”
Acosta adds: “We have improved our starts massively. I was close to second today. I’m super happy with the team. They are working day and night to get this bike to the top. We are getting closer and are already closer than we expected. “
“Pecco” Bagnaia wins the start
World championship leader Jorge Martin (Pramac-Ducati) started from pole thanks to his best qualifying time. He was joined on the front row by Francesco Bagnaia and Aprilia factory rider Maverick Vinales.
Bagnaia, who picked up a grid penalty on Friday, was allowed to take the second grid position he had secured in qualifying for the sprint. The relegation of three grid positions applies to the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Bagnaia got the best start in Saturday’s sprint. He was the first to turn into the first corner (San Donato). His Ducati teammate Enea Bastianini, who started from P5, lined up directly behind him. Pole setter Jorge Martin was “only” third in the first corner, but overtook Bastianini in the course of the first lap
Collision Martin vs. Bastianini – then Martin crashes
At the start of the third lap, Bastianini wanted to counterattack in the duel with Martin. He briefly got past again in San Donato, but rode a wider line than normal. There was a collision with Martin. There will be no penalty, as the incident was assessed as a racing accident by the stewards and was filed with “no further action” during the sprint.
At the front, Bagnaia had been able to break away from the field a little due to the Martin/Bastianini incident. He had Marc Marquez as his first pursuer. Martin was in third place, but only made it to the eighth of the eleven laps. On that lap, the world championship leader crashed in San Donato without the involvement of another rider and was out
Franco Morbidelli narrowly misses the top 3
With Martin’s crash, Pedro Acosta moved up to third position behind Bagnaia and Marc Marquez. And it stayed that way.
While Bagnaia took his first sprint win of the 2024 season, Marquez finished second in a sprint for the third time in a row and Acosta finished in the top 3 in a sprint for the third time ever, Franco Morbidelli (Pramac-Ducati; 4th) and Maverick Vinales (5th), who started from P3, completed the top 5.
World Championship points were also scored by Brad Binder (KTM; 6th), Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati; 7th), Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati; 8th) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia; 9th). The two wildcard starters Pol Espargaro (KTM) and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) finished in P14 and P18 respectively.
Off for Oliveira and Quartararo after collision
Apart from the separate crashes of Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini, Joan Mir (Honda), Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) and Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse-Aprilia) also failed to finish.
While Mir retired in the pits, Quartararo and Oliveira crashed on the second lap due to a collision in Scarperia (turn 10). The Trackhouse rider cleared the Yamaha rider. However, as in the case of the collision between Martin and Bastianini, the race stewards decided on “no further action”.
On Sunday, the Grand Prix will take place in Mugello as the highlight and conclusion of the Italian weekend. The race distance is 23 laps, start time is 14:00
