Bagnaia fends off Marquez in thriller as Martin crashes

Pramac Ducati rider Martin threatened to take a 47-point lead within the championship as he led the sphere on the eleventh of 25 laps forward of Bagnaia and Marquez.

However a crash at Flip 6 flipped the grand prix on its head, with Bagnaia launched into the lead and compelled into an exhilarating scrap with Gresini Ducati’s Marquez for the win.

Beating Marquez by 0.372s after placing in a shocking Jerez race lap document of 1m37.449s on the twenty third tour, Bagnaia is now simply 17 factors behind Martin having crashed out of Saturday’s dash.

Marquez celebrated a primary grand prix podium as a Ducati rider and his first since final yr’s Japanese GP, whereas VR46 Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi bought his first rostrum of the marketing campaign in third.

Changing pole to the holeshot, Marquez led the sphere by way of the primary few corners as Martin slotted into second forward of Bezzecchi and Bagnaia – who began seventh.

Signalling his intent from the outset, Bagnaia staged an unbelievable double overtake on the brakes on the surface of Bezzecchi and Martin into the Flip 6 hairpin to maneuver as much as second.

At Flip 13 on the finish of the opening lap, Bagnaia scythed by way of Marquez when the door opened barely in the course of the nook.

However Marquez moved to retaliate immediately, making an attempt to retake the lead into Flip 1 on lap two however forcing each to go large and permitting Martin into second as Bagnaia narrowly held onto first.

A mistake for Bagnaia on the remaining nook allowed Martin to return by way of to the lead and dropped the manufacturing unit Ducati team rider to 3rd, although solely briefly as he outdragged Marquez to get second again as they started lap three.

Marquez was overtaken by Bezzecchi on lap 4, whereas the highest two – headed by Martin – streaked six tenths clear after which to virtually a second come the beginning of the ninth tour.

What was shaping as much as be a duel for the win between the 2 GP24s of Martin and Bagnaia in the end didn’t materialise as the previous misplaced the entrance finish of his bike beneath breaking for Flip 6 on lap 11.

This launched Bagnaia right into a lead of eight tenths as that additionally turned the hole separating Bezzecchi and Marquez.

However Marquez quickly upped his tempo and moved by way of on Bezzecchi in a battle on the brakes at Flip 6 on lap 14.

This gave Bagnaia a 1.2s lead over Marquez, however could be chipped away by the Gresini rider because the pair traded quickest race laps.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Group

Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

At first of lap 20, Bagnaia was now solely half a second away from Marquez and on the following tour the Gresini rider launched his GP23 up the within of the Italian at Flip 9.

Bagnaia pressured the problem into Flip 10 and the pair made contact, although the manufacturing unit Ducati rider was capable of take the lead again by way of Flip 11.

Marquez tried the identical transfer on the following tour however Bagnaia had already anticipated it and ran defensively into Flip 9 to make sure his rival ran large on the exit.

Bagnaia made a decisive break on lap 23 when he fired within the quickest lap of the race, which put his lead as much as half a second and out of attain of Marquez.

Marking his second grand prix win of the season, Bagnaia is now simply 17 factors adrift of Martin within the championship.

Bezzecchi in the end ended up 3.5s behind Marquez in third, with Alex Marquez fourth on the sister Gresini Ducati forward of the second manufacturing unit crew Ducati of Enea Bastianini.

Brad Binder was the highest KTM in sixth from VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio, Trackhouse Racing’s Miguel Oliveira, Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales and Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta – who survived early contact with LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco.

The ultimate factors went to Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing), Joan Mir (Honda), Alex Rins (Yamaha), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha).

Jack Miller (KTM) and Franco Morbidelli (Pramac) collided late on at Flip 5 to hitch the appreciable record of retirees, with the stewards set to research the incident after the race.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and Johann Zarco (LCR) additionally collided at Flip 5 through the race, which is one other incident beneath investigation.

KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa fell off his bike on lap 4, whereas Augusto Fernandez (Tech3) and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) retired within the pits.

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