Francesco Bagnaia clinched a critical win in the Solidarity Grand Prix sprint, keeping his 2024 MotoGP title fight with Jorge Martin alive. Starting from pole, Bagnaia converted his position into a decisive seventh sprint win of the season.
He now trails Martin by 19 points heading into Sunday’s grand prix, where Martin needs a ninth-place finish or better to secure the championship.
The action began with Enea Bastianini taking the holeshot from seventh on the grid. Bagnaia quickly responded, diving up the inside at Turn 3 to seize the lead. Martin slotted into third place after the initial scramble, while Pedro Acosta briefly joined the fight before losing his Tech3 GASGAS front fairing in a collision with Marc Marquez.
By lap two, Bagnaia led by 0.4 seconds, but Martin attacked, taking second place from Bastianini at Turn 1. The duo swapped positions again on the following lap as Bastianini reclaimed second, with the battle drawing in Alex Marquez, Aleix Espargaro, and Franco Morbidelli. The intense skirmishing allowed Bagnaia to build a 1.3-second lead, which he managed to hold until the final laps.
Bastianini made a last-lap pass at Turn 5 to snatch second place from Martin, securing a Ducati 1-2 finish. Bagnaia crossed the line 0.942 seconds clear, celebrating a pivotal victory that keeps the title fight wide open.
Aleix Espargaro took fourth place on his Aprilia, marking his penultimate MotoGP race with a celebratory lap on an old 125cc machine. Alex Marquez finished fifth after a late error at Turn 10 saw him drop behind Bastianini.
Morbidelli claimed sixth, followed by Marc Marquez in seventh, who had tangled with Acosta on the opening lap. Marco Bezzecchi ended up eighth, while Brad Binder surged from 18th on the grid to finish ninth, grabbing the final sprint point. Fabio Quartararo rounded out the top ten for Yamaha.
Honda’s best finisher was Johann Zarco in 11th, while Michele Pirro beat Stefan Bradl in the battle of the test riders, securing 21st place. Acosta retired early after his incident with Marquez on lap one.
