Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia emerged victorious in a thrilling duel with Jorge Martin to take victory in the sprint race at the Emilia Romagna GP, Italy.
Bagnaia made a slow start after qualifying on pole position, but showed great pace to overtake rival Martin for the lead on lap 8 of 13 and score another crucial victory over his main rival.
It was Bagnaia’s first sprint win since the Austrian Grand Prix in August and allowed him to close the four-point gap on Martin in the championship standings.
Early in the race, Martin shot from second on the grid to take pole position at Turn 1, with KTM’s Brad Binder then demoting Bagnaia to third.
But Bagnaia needed less than a lap to overtake Binder and then raced clear of Martin, who was already more than half a second ahead.
The gap between the two continued to fluctuate in the early stages of the race, but by lap 6 Bagnaia was right behind Martin on the Pramac.
Also read: Successfully Taking Over the Standings, Francesco Bagnaia Doesn’t Want to Let Down His Guard
The decisive move to victory came on lap 8 when, under heavy pressure from Bagnaia, Martin ran wide into the Turn 13 right-hander.
That allowed Bagnaia to pass and take over the lead, and the Italian then cleverly closed the inside heading into the long Turn 14 chicane.
Martin remained close to Bagnaia for the remainder of the race, but the two-time champion was able to close the gap and cross the line 0.285 seconds clear.
Also read: Winning at German GP, Francesco Bagnaia Tops MotoGP Standings
The top two riders were once again in their respective classes, with third-placed Enea Bastianini a further second behind, as he completed the podium for Ducati.
Gresini’s Marc Marquez jumped from seventh to fourth on the second lap as he quickly recovered from his qualifying crash, but lacked the pace to fight for the podium.
Acosta eventually finished as the best KTM rider in fifth ahead of Binder, who dropped to the bottom of the pile after making an impressive start from fourth.
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Fabio Quartararo impressed in seventh for the resurgent Yamaha squad, which was down one bike after team-mate Alex Rins withdrew with flu.
The final positions for points were won by Ducati VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi and Pramac rider Franco Morbidelli.
Maverick Vinales finished as Aprilia’s leading rider in 10th, dropping points by less than three tenths of a second, while Honda was led by Luca Marini in 16th. (Z-6)
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