- Championship leader Jorge Martin crashes
-Marc Marquez grabs second spot
-Pedro Acosta finishes third
The 2024 Italian Grand Prix Sprint at the fast and flowing Mugello Circuit turned out to be a fairytale for the factory Ducati rider Pecco Bagnaia as he clinched victory on home soil. This was the first Sprint Race win of 2024 for Bagnaia and he did it in style.
Bagnaia’s brilliance
Pecco Bagnaia is often regarded as a clever and calculated rider, and this trait showed in the race. The Italian made a superb start as he managed to launch his bike perfectly and grabbed first position as his team mate Enea Basitanini slotted into second. Prima Pramac Racings’s Jorge Martin was charging hard in third, trying to make up for lost ground as Bagnaia increased his pace.
Bagnaia is known to be quite smart with tyre conservation and he managed to keep the top spot unchallenged despite a late charge from the chasing field. Meanwhile, Martin and Bastianini tangled while powering out of Turn One, causing the latter to crash.
Martin’s mistake
Jorge Martin, who is the most successful rider in MotoGP’s Sprint format, made a costly error going into Turn One with four laps to go. The Spaniard lost the front as he tried to chase Marc Marquez who grabbed P2 from him a couple of laps ago. The pace was seriously hot and it looked like Martin wasn’t able to keep up. The error allowed Bagnaia to chip away at Martin’s lead in the 2024 MotoGP World Championship, and he will be hoping for a better result on Sunday in the main race.
Marc Marquez once again finished the Sprint on the podium and is making it hard for factory teams like Ducati and KTM to look past him as they choose the lineup for next year.
GasGas Tech3 Racing’s Pedro Acosta has received a promotion already and will race for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team in 2025. The rookie is possibly one of the best talents that MotoGP has witnessed in recent years and he shone bright in the Sprint by clinching P3.
The main race of the ItalianGP will take place today at 5:30pm IST.
