Martin hands Bagnaia surprise defeat in Misano MotoGP sprint

Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin took an important MotoGP sprint victory at Misano, defeating title rival Pecco Bagnaia thanks to a spectacular start.

After missing out on the front row in qualifying, Martin cleared all three VR46 Academy riders in front of him in one fell swoop with a lightning getaway - arriving into Turn 1 with the lead.

He, lap record holder Bagnaia and third-placed Franco Morbidelli quickly put a bit of distance between themselves and the rest of the pack - headed then by Brad Binder - and soon enough the two title rivals left Morbidelli behind, too.

But while Bagnaia - still feeling the after-effects of his Aragon Grand Prix crash with Alex Marquez - was a consistent threat behind Martin in the first half of the 13-lap event, Martin eventually started to break his resistance.

He made the crucial breakaway on the 11th lap, with Bagnaia seemingly accepting the outcome and going on to finish 1.5s behind.

The gap between the two in the standings is now up to 26 points.

Bagnaia was actually closer to the fight for third than Martin at the end, as Morbidelli and a charging Enea Bastianini went at it behind him, Bastianini having reeled in Morbidelli after clearing Binder at the Quercia corner.

Going for that gap 💨

But @FrankyMorbido12 holds on to 3rd against @Bestia23 💪#SanMarinoGP 🇸🇲 pic.twitter.com/ckHgcC2TGs

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 7, 2024

Quercia was also where Bastianini tried to overtake Morbidelli on the final lap - but he ran out wide, allowing Morbidelli to reclaim the position which he kept until the end. It meant Morbidelli secured the first top-three finish of his debut Ducati season.

Gresini Ducati's Marc Marquez made it an all-Ducati top five, bouncing back from his qualifying crash.

Marquez didn't make much early progress from ninth on the grid, albeit soon cleared front-row starter Marco Bezzecchi - tumbling down the order after a middling getaway and crashing out not long after.

Marquez then had to square off against three late-braking KTMs, which proved a nearly race-long challenge.

Comeback mode on 👊@marcmarquez93 wrestles his way through @BradBinder_33 to take 6th ⚡#SanMarinoGP 🇸🇲 pic.twitter.com/NoAkCEbQeF

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 7, 2024

An error from Jack Miller at Quercia allowed Marquez past on the seventh lap, a lunge into the Carro corner on Binder followed two laps later - and Marquez then eradicated a gap of more than a second to Pedro Acosta to overtake the rookie on the final lap.

The final point went to Fabio Quartararo, the Yamaha rider finishing ninth behind the three KTMs.

Maverick Vinales won a battle with Aleix Espargaro for Aprilia supremacy, but that was only good enough for 11th as the firm's disappointing weekend continued.

With team owner Valentino Rossi in attendance, the VR46 team came up entirely empty-handed - as Bezzecchi's team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio also crashed, out of 12th, then remounted and parked his bike in the pits.

Honda tester Stefan Bradl was another rider to retire in the pits, albeit in his case seemingly due to a technical issue.