-Jorge Martin loses the lead on the last lap
-Pecco Bagnaia crashes out of the race
-Marc Marquez finishes third
The 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix turned out to be quite a dramatic race with Enea Bastianini stepping on the podium's top step after a very ‘now or never’ move on Prima Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin.
The Beast is back!
Enea Bastianini looked pretty strong all weekend and it was only a matter of time before his true pace shone on the race track. The Ducati Lenovo Factory Team rider started very well and did light work passing Pole sitter and teammate Pecco Bagnaina in the initial parts of the race.
Before this happened, however, Jorge Martin quickly passed Pecco, who seemingly went into tyre conservation mode and slid behind Jorge and Enea for third. He was falling into the clutches of Pedro Acosta on the GasGas Tech3 bike but managed to stick to P3 as the race progressed.
Around the halfway mark, Pecco was lapping faster than the leading pair of Martin and Bastianini and was catching them. And then disaster struck. Pecco crashed as the front end folded while braking.
Bastinini, meanwhile, kept piling the pressure on Martin. On the last lap, Enea made a daring move on the inside of Martin, forcing him to sit up the bike and run wide. Bastianini grabbed and lead and from then on there was no looking back as he crossed the finish line first.
Martin was visibly angry but P2 was better than ending up in the gravel trap.
Pecco’s problem
The World Champion from last year has had a terrible time this season. He’s crashed out of races and lost crucial points to Jorge Martin who is now firmly in control of the Championship. That’s unless he makes mistakes in the closing part of the season. Pecco will have to gather himself and win races to close the gap and pass Martin if he wishes to defend his title.
Ducati bags the constructor's title
Ducati has bagged the 2024 MotoGP World Championship Constructors title. What also sweetened the moment was the fact that Ducati has won 100 MotoGP races, with factory rider Enea Bastianini taking the 100th win this weekend.
The next race will be held at the Mandalika Circuit in Indonesia from 27 to 29 September.
