Race report

MotoGP Catalan GP: Espargaro wins crazy sprint after last-lap Bagnaia crash

The retiring Aleix Espargaro was gifted victory in the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix sprint after Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of the lead on the last lap of a dramatic race.

Set to end a barren run without a sprint win since last year’s Austrian GP, Bagnaia fell off his factory Ducati at Turn 5 on the last lap of 12 while running eight tenths clear of Aprilia’s Espargaro.

Espargaro, who started from pole but got beaten up in the early laps, had recovered to second on lap eight and was promoted to the lead when Bagnaia crashed.

It marks his first sprint win of the season and comes just 48 hours after announcing ahead of his home race that he will retire from racing at the end of the 2024 season.

Marc Marquez came from 14th on the grid to finish second, besting Tech3 GasGas rookie Pedro Acosta on the final lap.

A tough race for championship leader Jorge Martin saw him salvage fourth from seventh on the grid, meaning his points lead has only shrunk by one to 37.

The 12-lap sprint had five riders leading it at various stages, three of whom crashing out while heading the pack.

Bagnaia nailed the launch off the line from second on the grid to take the holeshot at the start, with Acosta moving into second from third-place starter Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing), KTM’s Brad Binder and Espargaro.

Martin moved up to sixth in the opening turns, while Marquez survived Turn 2 contact with KTM’s Jack Miller – which left the Gresini rider missing wings on the left side of his fairing – to sit eighth off the line.

Acosta put a challenge on Bagnaia for the lead on the run to Turn 1 at the start of lap two, though the Ducati rider carved past again at Turn 5.

Acosta repeated that move on lap 3, while Fernandez got opportunistic and scythed underneath Bagnaia at Turn 3, which then allowed Binder to overtake the Italian for third at Turn 4.

Fernandez then threw his 2023-spec Aprilia up the inside of Acosta at Turn 5, an aggressive move that opened the door for Binder to come through into second.

The Trackhouse rider proceeded to dart away from the pack, swelling his lead to eight tenths over Acosta come the end of lap four.

But Fernandez crashed at Turn 10 on the next tour, releasing Acosta into the lead before Binder jumped the Tech3 rider at Turn 1 on lap six.

Binder was breaking away on lap seven when he crashed at Turn 5 while leading, releasing Bagnaia to head the pack after the Ducati rider came out on top in a battle with Acosta on lap six and earlier on the seventh tour.

Bagnaia looked set to hold onto the lead as Espargaro, who moved ahead of Acosta for second on lap eight at Turn 1, couldn’t make any inroads into the Ducati rider.

But, on the final lap, Bagnaia slid off his GP24 at Turn 5, gifting Espargaro a lead of almost nine tenths to ensure victory.

Marquez’s march towards the front having gotten to eighth at the start continued on lap seven when he passed Martin for what was fifth at the time, before outbraking Acosta for third at Turn 1 on the final tour.

That became second when Bagnaia crashed, extending his strong run of Saturday rostrums to four for 2024 so far.

He held Acosta at bay by 0.277s, while Enea Bastianini came from 11th to fifth on the second factory team Ducati.

Fabio Di Giannantonio was seventh on the VR46 Ducati, with Miller, Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46) rounding out the top nine to take the last points.

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo came just 0.598s from a point in 10th, while Trackhouse Racing’s Miguel Oliveira and LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco crashed out.

MotoGP Catalan GP - Sprint race results:

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	12	-				12
2	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	12	+0.892 0.892	0.892			9
3	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	12	+1.169 1.169	0.277			7
4	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	12	+2.147 2.147	0.978			6
5	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	12	+2.980 2.980	0.833			5
6	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	12	+4.623 4.623	1.643			4
7	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	12	+8.084 8.084	3.461			3
8	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	12	+8.245 8.245	0.161			2
9	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	12	+8.643 8.643	0.398			1
10	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	12	+9.241 9.241	0.598
11	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	12	+9.537 9.537	0.296
12	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	12	+13.045 13.045	3.508
13	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	12	+13.199 13.199	0.154
14	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	12	+13.378 13.378	0.179
15	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	12	+16.438 16.438	3.060
16	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	12	+18.000 18.000	1.562
17	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	12	+25.262 25.262	7.262
18	S. Bradl HRC Test Team	6	Honda	12	+33.751 33.751	8.489
dnf	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	11	1 lap			Retirement
dnf	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88	Aprilia	9	3 laps			Accident
dnf	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	7	5 laps			Retirement
dnf	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	6	6 laps			Accident
dnf	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	4	8 laps			Retirement
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