Francesco Bagnaia keeps the upper hand over Marc Marquez in a duel at eye level – Marco Bezzecchi third – Jorge Martin retires due to crash
In a duel at the highest level, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) prevailed over Marc Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) to win the Spanish Grand Prix in front of a record crowd in Jerez. Jorge Martin (Pramac-Ducati) crashed out while leading the race
“I had a lot of fun today,” laughed Bagnaia. “The duel with Marc was great. Whenever you fight with Marc, you have to be aggressive. It was really good, I enjoyed it a lot. All the fans here at the track, it’s something incredible. I would like to thank everyone.”
Marc Marquez won the holeshot from pole position at the start of the 25-lap race. On lap one, Bagnaia overtook Martin on the outside before the Pedrosa corner and snatched second place.
And in the final corner (Lorenzo corner), Bagnaia overtook Marc Marquez and took the lead. The Spaniard tried to counterattack at the start of the second lap, but it didn’t work. He almost had a collision with Martin. Marc Marquez dropped back to third place.
At the end of the second lap, Bagnaia made a mistake in the final corner and Martin took the lead. At the end of the fourth lap, Marc Marquez was overtaken by Marco Bezzecchi (VR46-Ducati) and was only fourth. The top four were able to pull away from the chasing pack.
Bagnaia stuck to Martin’s rear tire but could not find a way past. Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez were just under a second behind. The first decisive scene came on the eleventh lap: Martin crashed in turn 6 while leading – front wheel folded.
This put Bagnaia eight tenths of a second ahead of Bezzecchi. Another eight tenths of a second behind was Marc Marquez in third. Finally, a duel for second place developed. On lap 14, Marc Marquez overtook Bezzecchi in turn 6
@88jorgemartin goes down at T6!
Never-ending drama here in Jerez
And @PeccoBagnaia inherits the lead SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/NvihYfNeuF
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) April 28, 2024
At this point, Bagnaia had a one-second lead. Tenth by tenth, Marc Marquez worked his way closer to the red Ducati. The gap between the two stabilized at around 0.6 seconds. But the local hero kept up the pressure
Marc Marquez attacks Bagnaia
Five laps before the end of the race he had caught up with Bagnaia. Marc Marquez made his maneuver in turn 9 and overtook. But Bagnaia countered, in turn 10 there was a slight contact and Bagnaia was back in front.
One lap later, Marc Marquez tried the exact same maneuver at the same spot, but he couldn’t hold the line and Bagnaia got through on the inside again. Bagnaia then tried to pull out a small lead in the first half of the lap.
It worked, as he took four tenths of a second from his rival with the fastest race lap. That was the deciding factor. Marc Marquez no longer had an answer. Bagnaia had a half-second lead for the final lap
Pouring their hearts out into this!
An instant classic is upon us! @marcmarquez93 @PeccoBagnaia FOR THE LEAD ⚔️SpanishGP pic. twitter.com/J1gjmH3HUm
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) April 28, 2024
Bagnaia made no more mistakes and Marc Marquez was narrowly beaten. “That was a very important race for me,” said the Spaniard. “I had the speed today to fight with Bagnaia.”
“I was a bit tense at the beginning because I had a crash in Austin and again yesterday. That’s why I was a bit tense at the start when the tank was still full and I lost a few positions. But the speed was there to fight back.”
“It was a close duel, just like in the old days. That was fun. That was racing! He was extremely strong on the last lap. I tried to follow him, but he was a tad stronger. Nevertheless, I’m very happy about this first podium. “
Rookie Pedro Acosta tenth
Four seconds behind, Bezzecchi finished third on the podium. In the three-way battle for fourth place, Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) prevailed over Enea Bastianini (Ducati) and Brad Binder (KTM). As a result, the first five places went to Ducati.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati) finished seventh, followed by Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse-Aprilia), Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) and Pedro Acosta (Tech3-GasGas). The rookie was outside the points after the start phase and worked his way up to tenth place
The shark is carving through the field
He’s now into the Top 10 SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/ZgHLlOpzZI
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) April 28, 2024
The other World Championship points finishers were Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia), Joan Mir (Honda), Alex Rins (Yamaha), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR-Honda) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha). Honda wildcard starter Stefan Bradl saw the chequered flag in 16th place
Two collisions in turn 5, Pedrosa also crashed
In the course of the race, there were two accidents in turn 5. On lap ten, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) collided and crashed into the gravel. On lap 18, Jack Miller (KTM) and Franco Morbidelli (Pramac-Ducati) collided and crashed.
For wildcard starter Dani Pedrosa (KTM), the race was over early due to a crash on the fourth lap. Augusto Fernandez (Tech3-GasGas) had an early start. As he did not take the two long lap penalties, he received a drive-through penalty. He eventually retired in the pits
Here comes Bez barging through @marcmarquez93 for 3rd ️
And in the meantime @26_DaniPedrosa has crashed out at T8! SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/Ppl0rODnn3
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) April 28, 2024
With this result, Martin now leads the World Championship standings by 17 points ahead of Bagnaia.
The next Grand Prix will take place from May 10 to 12 in Le Mans (France)
