MADRID, 17 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Italian rider Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) took victory this Saturday in the ‘Sprint Race’, just ahead of Jorge Martín (Ducati) who was penalized with a ‘long lap’ and who loses the lead, although with the same points as his rival, while the Spaniard Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) completed the podium.
Bagnaia once again showed his icy character, against a more emotional ‘Martinator’ who made an avoidable mistake when braking at the chicane. A mistake that the Italian took advantage of, now leader although due to the greater number of victories on Sunday, as both are equal on points. Marc Márquez lost third place due to a fall, which a consistent Aleix Espargaró took advantage of.
At the start, Martín was hampered by a longer than normal wheelie and Bagnaia took advantage of this to throw his bike at him in the first corner. It was only the first of a series of overtakings between the Madrid native and the Italian, more erratic than usual, although with more pace than the one in San Sebastián de los Reyes.
The first time through the finish line was with ‘Martinator’ in first position, although the leader of the World Championship made a mistake at the chicane on the uphill straight, entering too late and having to give up the position to ‘Pecco’. From there, while the stewards investigated the incident, the reigning champion pushed hard and with great speed and managed to open a gap to Martin, almost three tenths.
The duel between the main title contenders had a luxury witness, a Marc Márquez who was able to keep up the pace for the first four laps in Red Bull, but then fell more than a second behind, although he seemed to have secured the podium on the Austrian track. In addition, the Catalan benefited from a ‘long lap penalty’ by Martín, which made him lose a position and run third two and a half seconds behind at the halfway point of the race.
This situation paved the way for ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia to victory and the lead in the World Championship, aware that Márquez would not be able to challenge him for victory with the 2023 Ducati. In addition, the eight-time world champion suffered a fall at turn three that did not prevent him from continuing, but did force him to retire from the race.
Jorge Martín, who pushed the Catalan until the latter made the mistake, regained second place and caught his breath, no longer under the pressure of losing too many points to Bagnaia and with a sufficient cushion over Aleix Espargaró, who moved up to third.
With no fight at the front, the excitement in the final laps was provided by Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati), who climbed three places to finish fourth, ahead of the KTMs of Jack Miller and Brad Binder, fifth and sixth. Pol Espargaró (KTM), Pedro Acosta (KTM) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia), who fell from sixth place, finished ninth, tenth and eleventh respectively.