While Pramac rider Jorge Martin wins the Misano sprint after a rocket start, teammate Franco Morbidelli finishes in the top 3 for the first time on Ducati
Jubilation in the Pramac-Ducati camp after the sprint at the San Marino Grand Prix of the 2024 MotoGP season in Misano! World championship leader Jorge Martin has extended his lead at the top of the 2024 MotoGP standings to 26 points with a victory achieved from fourth on the grid. Pramac team-mate Franco Morbidelli finished third and reached the top 3 on Ducati for the first time
13 laps had to be completed on Saturday afternoon at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Jorge Martin, who had his title rival Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) as his first rival behind him at the finish line, said: “I’m finally winning again! I am super happy! I expected to be able to fight with ‘Pecco’, but I didn’t expect a start like this.”
Bagnaia, who finished second, confesses: “I’m absolutely not happy! I tried, but Jorge braked hard. The start was a disaster because I lost the first position. From that moment on it was very difficult. We have to work on the start and tomorrow we have to be in better shape.”
Franco Morbidelli is naturally much happier after his first top three finish in the service of the Pramac team and on a Ducati: “Yes, it was a very positive two days. We were hoping and waiting for a result and performance like this. Misano is the right place to do it,” said the Italian, who has had difficult years with the Yamaha factory team.
Jorge Martin trumps VR46 trio right at the start
Fittingly, three riders from the VR46 academy started from the front row on Valentino Rossi’s home track. Defending champion Francesco Bagnaia started from pole thanks to his Q2 best time. Next to him on the front row were Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46-Ducati). In the first corner, however, none of the VR46 trio was at the front.
Jorge Martin won the start from the second row. The world championship leader immediately took the lead. Bagnaia was second, Morbidelli third. Bezzecchi, on the other hand, fell behind Brad Binder (KTM) and Pedro Acosta (Tech3-GasGas) after a poor start
LIGHTS OUT IN THE TissotSprint
A proper ROCKET start from @88jorgemartin SanMarinoGP pic.twitter.com/hdxkpxNVc8
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) September 7, 2024
The first crash came on the second lap and it involved Fabio Di Giannantonio. The VR46 Ducati rider crashed in the third-to-last corner of the track (turn 14) and dropped to the back of the field. Shortly afterwards, team-mate Marco Bezzecchi also went down. His crash happened in turn 2. Unlike “Diggia”, who initially continued before retiring in the pits, “Bez” was out on the spot.after qualifying crash: Marc Marquez still finishes in the top 5
At the halfway point of the short 13-lap distance, Enea Bastianini (Ducati), who had started from P8, had long since moved up to P4 and was putting pressure on the top 3. Marc Marquez (Gresini-Ducati), who came from P9 on the grid after a qualifying crash, did not move up quite as quickly. He was recorded in seventh place at the halfway point of the sprint.
In the second half of the distance, Marquez found a way past KTM factory rider Brad Binder. And shortly before the end, he also overtook Pedro Acosta just after the fast Curvone corner on the back straight. At the front, meanwhile, Jorge Martin left nothing to be desired.
Martin won by 1.5 seconds ahead of “Pecco” Bagnaia. Third place went to Franco Morbidelli, who managed to keep Enea Bastianini close behind him. Marc Marquez completed the top 5 in fifth place
Three KTM riders in the top 8
Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder and Jack Miller made it three KTM RC16s in the top 8, with Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) taking the final world championship point. KTM’s wildcard starter Pol Espargaro missed out on the points with P15, as did Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati; 10th) and all four Aprilia riders in the field.
The best-placed Honda rider was once again Johann Zarco from the LCR team, this time in P14. Honda’s wildcard starter Stefan Bradl abandoned the sprint at the pits shortly after the start.
And Honda works rider Joan Mir is not even on the grid this time. The 2020 MotoGP World Champion (back then on Suzuki) is suffering from gastroenteritis and will miss the first of the two Misano weekends on the 2024 MotoGP calendar completely.
As has been customary since 2023, the sprint on Saturday was the first of two MotoGP races on the weekend. The main race – the Grand Prix over twice the distance of the sprint – will start on Sunday at 14:00. In the case of the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano, the distance on Sunday is 27 laps.
