-Jorge Martin finished second
-Enea Bastianini crosses the line in third
The 2024 Emilia Romagna Sprint race was just what the Ducati Lenovo Team’s Pecco Baganaia needed. The Italian won a hard fought battle with Jorge Martin to close the gap in the title fight.
Pecco’s comeback
As the lights went out, Pole sitter Pecco Bagnaia made a good start but it wasn’t as quick as Jorge Martin who out dragged Pecco going into Turn One. Pecco, meanwhile, got taken by surprise as Brad Binder on the Factory KTM also overtook him.
As the race progressed, Pecco overtook Binder and began hunting down Martin who was over half a second clear in the lead.
Around the half way mark, Pecco began reeling Martin in and kept piling the pressure. Martin ultimately succumbed and ran wide, opening the door just enough for Pecco to pounce and take the lead. From then on, there was no looking back for Pecco as he got into the rhythm and lapped consistently to keep Martin at bay.
In the end, Pecco crossed the finish line in P1 and chopped Martin’s lead in the 2024 MotoGP World Championship to four points.
Bastianini is back
Enea Bastianini on the second Factory Ducati was in a lonely third but his return to the podium was more than welcome to keep his slim championship hopes alive. Marc Marquez finished fourth and was the only GP23 Ducati to stay close to the leading trio on 2024 machines.
The Main Race will take place today at 4:30pm IST
