Bagnaia overcomes sprint setback to win the Catalan MotoGP GP, same men on the podium again

Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia dominated the Catalan Grand Prix, the sixth race of this MotoGP season, where the 27-year-old reigning World Champion broke the bad luck that has followed him throughout his career at the Barcelona circuit and scored his first podium. He was joined on the podium by Jorge Martín and Marc Márquez, again from a low position on the grid. Outside of Martín’s crash at the Spanish GP, this would have been the third time in a row that this trio would have finished the main race on the podium.

MotoGP continued its European tour with a round at the popular and classic Montmeló circuit, a few kilometres outside Barcelona, Spain. The track, which debuted in the championship in 1992, has witnessed mass post-start collisions in the last two years. While Takaaki Nakagami drove several of his rivals out of the race two seasons ago, last year it was Enea Bastianini who caused chaos at the first corner.

A few metres further on, however, Pecco Bagnaia crashed horribly, his accident and subsequent gradual return to full form having dramatised the course of last year’s race. However, the Italian’s results in Barcelona have generally been pretty unlucky, with not a single podium in his entire World Championship career.

Unfortunately for Bagnai, his misfortune continued into this Saturday’s sprint, where he crashed out of the lead on the last lap. His mistake gifted the win in the short race to home rider Aleix Espargar after starting from pole position.

Finally no post-start mass collision in the third

Both in 2022 and last season, the first corner of Sunday’s race was not without an initial crash for several drivers. Aleix Espargaro snatched pole position in qualifying on his home track, but just as he did during the sprint, he lost positions after pulling away from the grid. Bagnaia took the lead from second followed by Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder.

The surprise of Saturday morning was Raúl Fernández, who qualified as third fastest, but like his stablemate Espargaró lost a few places to drop to fifth behind Jorge Martín.The third of the main protagonists in the battle for the World Championship title, Marc Márquez, again failed to qualify as he did in France and started from 14th position. However, the 31-year-old Spaniard was able to make a solid move forward again and was already circling in the top 10 at the end of the first lap.

Martín didn’t stay stuck behind ktm Binder for long and quickly took over third place from him. At the front, however, Acosta didn’t let Bagnaia breathe and stayed tightly hooked behind the Italian’s rear wheel for the opening few laps. While Márquez was working his way through the starting field, Acosta attacked Bagnaio at turn ten on lap three, but to no avail. Seconds later, Miller crashed in the same spot, likely adding further evidence that this would be his last season with the KTM factory team.

Fans were not treated to another classic with the famous trio back on the podium

Although Bagnaia fended off an attack from Acosta, he had to worry about another threat quite soon. For Martín took on the teenager on the Gas Gas Gas on the fourth lap and although Bagnaia gained a few valuable tenths to his advantage after their duel, his Spanish rival caught up briskly. It didn’t take long for Martín to get the better of him as well, and the leader of this year’s championship rode to another win in the main race.

Once again Bagnaia looked set to lose vital points after promising opening laps. First Acosta passed him and with each sector he was losing ground on the leading duo, even being lapped by Binder in fourth. Fortunately, the two-time MotoGP champion quickly recovered and at least broke away from the South African’s pressure.

Until lap eleven, Bagnaia circled relatively alone and could only watch Acosta and Martín from a distance. However, a crash by Acosta in the same spot as Miller earlier gave him motivation. While Binder lost positions to Espargaro, Fernandez and the pursuing Márquez, Bagnaia gradually closed in on leader Martín lap by lap.

The familiar trio back on the podium

Apart from the fiasco between Bastianini and the younger Márquez, after which the Italian went off the track twice, nothing extreme happened further on in the race. Bagnaia caught and successfully overtook Martín on lap 19 and immediately began to pass the Spaniard. Márquez managed to take care of the final action, his pursuit ride completed by humbling both Fernández and Espargar in the battle for bronze.

Bagnaia overcame the Barcelona demons and, after an embarrassing setback on the final lap of the sprint in which he threw his machine off the lead, won the VC of Catalonia to claim his third Sunday victory of the season. Martín finished second ahead of Márquez, meaning the trio claimed the podium for the second consecutive year. Espargaró and Fabio Di Giannantonio rounded out the top five positions, with Acosta still managing to squeeze out two points for 14th place after his crash.

Bastianini certainly won’t put this race in the frame, for whose off-track driving infractions and subsequent ignoring of long lap penalties, the commissaires “rewarded” him with a pass points penalty converted into a time penalty of 32 seconds. Bastianini was thus classified in eighteenth place with no points.

Results of the Catalan Grand Prix MotoGP (race 6/20, 24 laps = 111.768 km; top 10 only):

1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 40:11.726
2. Jorge Martín (Span., Ducati) +1.740
3. Marc Márquez (Span., Ducati) +10.491
4. Aleix Espargaró (Span., Aprilia) +10.543
5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ita., Ducati) +15.441
6. Raúl Fernández (Span., Aprilia) +15.916
7. Álex Márquez (Span., Ducati) +16.882
8. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) +18.578
9. Fabio Quartararo (Fra., Yamaha) +20.477
10. Miguel Oliveira (Por., Aprilia) +20.889

2024 MotoGP rider standings (after 6/20; top 10 only):

1. Jorge Martín (Sp., Ducati) 155 points
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 116
3. Marc Márquez (Spa., Ducati) 114
4. Enea Bastianini (Ita., Ducati) 94
5. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) 87
6. Pedro Acosta (Span., KTM) 83
7. Aleix Espargaró (Span., Aprilia) 76
8. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) 75
9. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ita., Ducati) 62
10. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) 42

Sources: MotoGP, X