The redemption of is taking place in Barcelona Francesco Bagnaia, his third success of the year, perhaps the most full of meanings. Yesterday, on the last lap of the sprint of the Catalunya Grand Prix, he was stretched out in turn 5. Today, in that corner, he made the decisive overtaking move on Jorge Martin, second and unable to do better by a Pecco in the deluxe version. Pedro Acosta was not in the game until the end, who in the first phase of the race was following the leader Martin before lying down and restarting to finish only 14th, and so he also gets on the podium Marc Marquez, who recovers 11th place and overtakes Aleix Espargaro a few laps from the end. Three Ducatis on the podium and an Aprilia at the feet. The Italian triumph continues with the well-deserved fifth place of Fabio Di Giannantonio, who with a patient race emerges in the second part and takes the top 5, passing Raul Fernandez (6th) and Alex Marquez (7th) in the final laps. Disappointing Brad Binder, eighth, while Enea Bastianini takes an avalanche of penalties that he doesn’t pay off, and his ninth place is at risk. Behind him, in order, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia), Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati), Maverick Vinales (Aprilia), the aforementioned Acosta and the Honda of Takaaki Nakagami, best of the quintet of Tokyo house. Alex Rins is last with Yamaha, while Miller, Morbidelli and Augusto Fernandez say goodbye prematurely to the disputed team. With this result Bagnaia makes up for yesterday’s bad impression and returns to second place in the standings, also dispelling the taboo of the Catalan track, where he had never been in the top 5 and where last year he crashed, hurting himself and paving the way for Martin’s comeback.
THE RACE At the start it starts again well, like yesterday, Bagnaia, who takes the lead of the race ahead of Acosta and Binder with Martin doing well this time to immediately take fourth place. Pole man Espargaro slips into fifth place, with Raul Fernandez behind him. These six, with Martin soon climbing to third place, form a sextet that stretches a bit in the first laps with Morbidelli, Marquez and Bastianini remaining in the second section and having to try to make a comeback. On the fifth lap Martin breaks the delay, passes Acosta and launches himself on Bagnaia, passing it in the central sector. On the next lap, Acosta takes over from Bagnaia who doesn’t respond and lets the two Spaniards go. He’s hot, and the second part of the race could take its toll on anyone who pushes too hard in this one, so the Italian follows at a safe distance so as not to heat up the front, still managing to get away from Binder and Espargaro. On the 11th lap Acosta, after incessantly pressing Martin, slips and ends up in the gravel, then gets up but his race is thrown away. Bagnaia returns to second position, one second behind Martin, then behind him Espargaro and Raul Fernandez pass Binder, with Marquez and Morbidelli approaching the KTM and engulfing it in a few corners. The challenge for victory seems like a two-way affair, but there is still half the race to go. Bagnaia begins to nibble away tenths on Martin: one second, nine tenths, seven tenths, half a second, with a bit of elastic the gap shortens and the reunion occurs 7 laps from the end. Behind, meanwhile, Bastianini argues with braking and long lap penalties (he takes two, the first undeserved, the second for not serving the first in time), and slips beyond the top ten. Six laps to go, Bagnaia targets Martin and overtakes him in turn 5, immediately taking a small gap over the Spanish rival. Behind them, Marquez has meanwhile freed himself from Raul Fernandez and starts fighting for the podium with Aleix Espargaro. The overtaking takes place 4 laps from the end, while in front of him it takes 8 seconds to reach the two duelists for success. Bagnaia starts the last 3 laps with an 8 tenths margin over Martin, who breaks away but doesn’t give up. The gap rises to 9 tenths when two are missing, while at the back Di Giannantonio takes sixth position over Alex Marquez, reiterating his excellent consistency. Up front, however, he goes fast. The last lap begins and Bagnaia has a 1”5 margin over Martin, he just has to stay standing to win, and unlike yesterday, he does! Bagnaia triumphed over Martin, then Marc Marquez, who had to sweat to repel Aleix Espargaro’s attacks. Fifth is Di Giannantonio, who also passes Raul Fernandez on the final lap! Alex Marquez, Binder, Bastianini and Quartararo complete the top ten, but Bastianini has not completed any penalties and will certainly be relegated. 12th Bezzecchi, 13th Vinales, 14th Acosta, who recovered after the fall.
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2024 MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix Results
Arriving
