Jorge Martín will arrive at the last round of the MotoGP World Championship with everything in his favor to win his first crown in the premier class. It will finally be at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the venue chosen by Dorna Sports to replace València. The Madrid native will have a 24-point lead thanks to his second place in the Sunday race in Malaysia, behind Pecco Bagnaia, who took his tenth victory of the year.
Jorge could be champion on Saturday in Montmeló if he wins the Sprint race, even if the Italian comes second, since it would take him 27 points.
bumpy start
Martín almost took Bagnaia’s leg in front of him, and in the turn two Miller, Binder and Quartararo fell: there was a red flag
The most decisive race began with a bumpy start. Bagnaia defended the pole After Martín’s harassment, both of them came together on the straight parallel, and when braking the Italian stuck out his leg, the Madrid native was about to take it, he grazed him with the front wheel, but they avoided contact and the fall.
The same did not happen when the peloton entered Turn 2, where Miller, Binder and Quartararo suffered a multiple collision. An ugly accident in which the South African was left under the motorcycle of his Australian teammate. There was no serious injury, but race management chose to raise the red flags still on the first lap and suspend the race. There would be a new way out.
Second exit
The start revealed a wild, crazy duel, without any respite between Martín and Bagnaia, which the Italian took from the fifth lap.
The race was reduced to 19 laps, one less. In the second start, Bagnaia came out much better and conquered the first corner alone this time, with Martín second and Márquez third. In the first corners, the two title contenders opened a gap and began their particular dance.
Martín overtook Bagnaia, and the Italian returned it to him to regain the lead. The duel was sparking. The same thing happened in turn 14, the penultimate one, in which the Spaniard took the lead again and the Italian recovered two corners later. Passes and passes that continued, with Márquez as a privileged spectator in third place, very close.
The duel was high voltage, neither of them wanted to give in. On the second lap Martín tried again, he put himself first, but he slipped in next because he braked late to maintain his position. They both touched each other on the straight when they were running parallel.
On the third lap, the man from Madrid seemed to consolidate the lead, but Pecco recovered under braking at the end of the straight at the beginning of the fourth lap. It was a frenetic pulse, crazy, without respite, without any pause.
Pause and fall
On the fifth lap, Bagnaia distanced Martín for a second and on the eighth, Márquez fell to the ground.
The duel for victory stabilized after the fifth lap. Bagnaia took a gap of one second over Martín’s Ducati Pramac, who chose to regain his strength to try to get back into the fight. Although the Italian’s pace was very high. The Madrid native was followed 8-9 tenths behind by Marc Márquez, who did not seem to be able to worry Jorge.
In fact, the Catalan crashed on lap eight, when he was taking the penultimate corner, turn 15, and lost the front axle. Bastianini rose to third place, but could not take third place from Marc in the World Championship, both tied on points. The Catalan resumed the race in 17th place and was able to climb to 13th, earning three points.
The absence of Márquez relieved pressure on Martín, who was 4.2 seconds behind his new pursuer, Bastianini, Bagnaia’s teammate. The two-time champion increased his advantage over the Spaniard from Madrid to 1.4 seconds, which would increase to 2.5 seconds with three laps remaining. Victory was not in danger and could give Martín a pinch of 5 points: the Spaniard will arrive in Montmeló with a 24-point advantage and everything in his favor to take his first MotoGP crown.
#Bagnaia #saves #Martíns #championship #ball #title #decided #Montmeló
