The battle of champions! Bagnaia conquers the VC of Spain for the third time in a row ahead of Márquez, championship leader Martín crashes

MotoGP has always offered phenomenal action on track so far this year, which must have made every motorsport fan in general happy. The Spanish Grand Prix at the Jerez circuit was certainly not one of the exceptions. The winner of this event was the reigning World Champion Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia after a tough battle with another champion. In front of a record crowd he beat Marco Márquez, with Marco Bezzecchi completing the podium. World championship leader Jorge Martín fell from the lead.

The fourth round of this year’s World Road Motorcycle Championship took place at the traditional and popular Jerez circuit in the south of Spain. This grand prix, which can be considered by many as the true start of the season, has been won by the current reigning World Champion Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia for the past two years.

However, the Italian could not manage more than seventh place in qualifying, while his stablemate Marc Márquez took pole position for the first time in more than a year. However, Saturday’s sprint went down as one of the most dramatic and intense ever, with 60 per cent of the entire starting field of 25 riders crashing out on a treacherous track with plenty of unseen wet spots. Because of this, championship leader Jorge Martín took his second sprint triumph of the season.

Prior to the start of the race, MotoGP announced a record weekend attendance of nearly 300,000 spectators, unprecedented for the sport. According to well-known journalist Simon Patterson, more than 140,000 fans turned up for Sunday’s programme alone. Motorsport continues to be more popular than ever and it is only right that another world discipline is reaching these numbers alongside Formula 1!

the 140,000 spectators were rewarded by the top drivers with handsome duels

From pole position, Marc Márquez took to the track for the first time on a Ducati. The front row was also occupied by Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martín, with the winner of the last two Spanish VCs, Pecco Bagnaia, starting from seventh position.

Compared to the sprint, Márquez held on to the lead and came off the first corner ahead of Martín and Bezzecchi, with Bagnaia working his way up to fourth. Meanwhile, Brad Binder, usually off to a great start, paid the price for a push in the opening corner and settled into sixth place behind Álex Márquez.

A memory of last year’s Thailand race was taken care of moments later, this time by Bagnaia’s accomplished outside manoeuvre on two rivals. Martín and Bezzecchi could only watch in disbelief as the two-time champion squeezed past them to snatch second place.

On the other hand, the phenomenon Pedro Acosta dropped to the back, his graphic on the left side of the screen registering as high as 18th at the end of the first lap. A replay confirmed that his loss was caused by contact with Johann Zarco’s Honda.

Still on the first lap, Bagnaia worked his way into the lead after a longer arc by Márquez through the final corner. The eight-time champion was not going to be pushed past his Italian rival and quickly attacked Bagnaia, but to no avail. The Spaniard’s ambitious manoeuvre eventually cost him an extra place as Martín got ahead of him. Bagnaia made a similar mistake to Márquez a lap earlier, gifting Martín the race leader’s position.

As Acosta worked his way up the field, Martín was unable to shake his rivals out of their comfort zone. Meanwhile, Binder was the first to let go of the leading group, followed a few laps later by Álex Márquez. In the next few circuits Bezzecchi passed Márquez, veteran Dani Pedrosa made a rare crash and Aleix Espargaró sent his machine into a defenceless Zarco.

Martín threw away the chance to escape his pursuers, Bagnaia the leader

In the first third of the Spanish Grand Prix, the leading group of five gradually became two twins. Bagnaia was breathing down Martín’s back, with Bezzecchi and Márquez doing the same behind. His brother Álex and Binder couldn’t keep up with the pace of the leading riders, which is why the gaps here stretched beyond one second. Apart from Fernández receiving a pit pass penalty for ignoring the original double long lap penalty, the overtaking on the track died down.

But as is well known in MotoGP, the calm on track only foreshadows the drama to come. For after a moment’s respite, race leader Martín made a mistake on lap 11 and crashed at turn six! Another gift of free points, especially for Bagnaiu, who took the lead after missing last year’s world runner-up. The Italian’s lead on the rest of the field was over one second at the halfway point of the race, especially after Bezzecchi’s mistake, which allowed Márquez to close in on the Italian ominously.

In the end, Bezzecchi’s mistake only accelerated Márquez’s charge for victory, as Bezzecchi dropped to third on lap 14. At this point, Márquez was even more driven forward by the home crowd, who once again wanted to see the MotoGP legend on the top step of the podium. Surprisingly, however, Bagnaia was able to respond to Márquez’s set of personal and fastest laps and the gap between them continued to hover around one second.

The clash of the two champions lifted Bagnaia out of his seat, with the winner

The camera wasn’t particularly focused on the middle of the starting field when it came to the crashes. These were taken care of on lap 18 by Jack Miller and Franco Morbidelli, who dropped the Australian on the run into the fast fifth corner. This helped Acosta to return to the top 10, a position he held until the end of the race. It was shaping up to be a grandiose finish at the front, with Bagnaia now only half a second ahead of the charging Márquez.

With a few laps to go, it was clear that Márquez had the speed to catch Bagnaia. Asked where the home favourite would attack, the Spaniard answered on lap 21 by manoeuvring under the Italian at turn nine. Bagnaia held the inside track through a double right and squeezed under Márquez so tightly that there was mutual contact.

For the spectators on the circuit and on the screens, the two great champions gave one of the most exciting and gripping battles across the straights of this race. Bagnaia held the lead as long as he could, but Márquez never gave up and attacked again at the same point a lap later. The second time, however, the 31-year-old Gresini rider went off the track, which the four-years-younger Italian took advantage of in a flashback to a similar duel between them in the 2021 VC of Aragon.

Márquez’s mistake on the penultimate lap, which gave Bagnaia a lead of several tenths of a second, sealed his final podium position. He held it until the chequered flag and the factory Ducati rider took the win ahead of Márquez and Bezzecchi.

Álex Márquez and Bastianini rounded out the top five after a back-and-forth battle with Binder. Bagnaia not only dominated the Spanish VC for the third consecutive time and pulled to within seventeen points of MS leader Martín, he rode to his 20th MotoGP victory in Jerez.

Spanish MotoGP Grand Prix results (race 4/21, 25 laps = 110.260 km; top 10 only):

1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 40:58.053
2. Marc Márquez (Span., Ducati) +0.372
3. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) +3.903
4. Álex Márquez (Span., Ducati) +7.205
5. Enea Bastianini (Ita., Ducati) +7.253
6. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) +7.801
7. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ita., Ducati) +10.063
8. Miguel Oliveira (Por., Aprilia) +10.979
9. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) +11.217
10. Pedro Acosta (Span., KTM) +20.762

2024 MotoGP rider standings (after 3/21; top 10 only):

1. Jorge Martín (Spa., Ducati) 92 points
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 75
3. Enea Bastianini (Ita., Ducati) 70
4. Pedro Acosta (Span., KTM) 69
5. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) 63
6. Marc Márquez (Span., Ducati) 60
7. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) 59
8. Aleix Espargaró (Span., Aprilia) 39
9. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) 36
10. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ita., Ducati) 34

Source: MotoGP, X