Bagnaia claims spring victory at Italian MotoGP

Francesco Bagnaia, the defending world champion, clinched victory in the Italian MotoGP sprint at Mugello on Saturday, triumphing ahead of Spain’s Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta.

World championship leader Jorge Martin crashed out, failing to finish the seventh sprint of the 2024 MotoGP season. Despite this, he maintains a 27-point lead over Bagnaia in the championship standings.

Italian Franco Morbidelli of Ducati-Pramac took a surprising fourth place, followed by Spain’s Maverick Vinales of Aprilia and South Africa’s Brad Binder of KTM. The top 10 was rounded out by Italy’s Fabio Di Giannantonio of Ducati-VR46 and Spanish riders Alex Marquez of Ducati-Gresini, Aleix Espargaro of Aprilia, and Raul Fernandez of Aprilia-Trackhouse.

Bagnaia celebrated his victory in front of a fervent home crowd, having previously won at Mugello for the past two years. “It’s incredible, I really had a lot of fun during each lap. The pace of the bike was very good throughout the race, and to win in front of this fantastic crowd is awesome. I’m in love with this crowd,” said Bagnaia.

Despite his win, Bagnaia faces a three-place grid penalty for Sunday’s full GP after impeding Alex Marquez in practice.

Second-placed Marc Marquez, now with Ducati-Gresini after leaving Honda, expressed confidence in his bike’s performance. “The pace of the bike is really good. I had a good place on the grid, fourth, but my start was not very good. The feeling on the bike was very good and I hope to fight again for the podium in the Grand Prix tomorrow,” said Marquez, who is third in the overall standings.

Ahead of the sprint, Jorge Martin reflected on the title race, anticipating a three-way battle between himself, Bagnaia, and Marc Marquez. “The championship still has a long way to go but I think it’ll be the three of us fighting for it to the end of the year,” said Martin. “Each of us have strong points and areas where we could improve.”

(Source: AFP)