MotoGP | Bagnaia makes a mistake and Espargaro takes advantage of it in the Barcelona Sprint

It certainly cannot be said that the Barcelona Sprint did not offer twists until the end. Pecco Bagnaia was almost about to close the circle, regaining victory in a short race in Barcelona, ​​where a bad accident at the start a year ago had put his second world championship crown at risk, but instead he will have to deal with a huge disappointment .

The Ducati rider was in the lead, with a safety margin to manage, but on the last lap he made a sensational mistake, losing the front at turn 5 and thus ending his race in the gravel of the escape route, with no only the regret of having wasted a great opportunity, but of having also seen his gap in the standings grow.

But today was a real elimination Sprint, in which whoever took the lead paid the price shortly after: first it was the revelation Raul Fernandez who greeted the group during the fifth lap, with a crash at turn 10. At that point it was Brad Binder who took the lead, after a good duel with Pedro Acosta, but the South African also ended up spinning in the same place as Bagnaia during the seventh lap.

The best to take advantage of it was the owner Aleix Espargaro, who in the meantime had moved into second position, in turn overtaking Acosta with his Aprilia, and therefore gave himself an unforgettable day 48 hours after the announcement of his withdrawal at the end of the season, adding this great success to the pole position achieved this morning. The Noale manufacturer was considered the favorite in Catalonia and is not being denied, with today’s victory being the third seasonal success in a Sprint after those of Maverick Vinales in Portimao and Austin.

The real hero, however, is probably once again Marc Marquez, second for the third time in a row and again after a crazy comeback, this time from 14th place on the grid. The Gresini Racing driver started very well, immediately moving up to eighth position, then he took advantage of others’ mistakes, but he was also very good at managing to “puncture” Acosta on the last lap to take second place. And all this after losing a wing in a contact with a KTM on the first lap, therefore with a Ducati not at 100% of its potential.

Acosta once again confirmed his status as a top rider, giving himself the lowest step of the podium on his 20th birthday. And for him it is an important final exam, because he had the merit of not making any mistakes on a day that even caught riders of the caliber of Bagnaia and his teammate Binder in error. And the braking battle with these two was worth the price of the ticket.

For once, world leader Jorge Martin remained off the Sprint podium, as this weekend he seemed less brilliant than usual and probably also paid for his seventh position on the starting grid. On a bad day, however, he was very good at limiting the damage, keeping the situation in the World Championship almost unchanged, with a 37 point margin over his new direct pursuer Marc Marquez, 41 over Enea Bastianini, fifth in the end but after a fairly anonymous race, and 44 on Bagnaia.

In sixth position there is Fabio Di Giannantonio who in the Sprint managed to confirm the good things he had done in qualifying, preceding Jack Miller’s KTM, Vinales’ Aprilia and Marco Bezzecchi’s twin bike, which complete the points zone . Fabio Quartararo was left just outside, recovering from 17th place on the grid to the tenth finish, finishing ahead of his teammate Alex Rins, ultimately 12th, who instead had a race with the opposite trend.

Franco Morbidelli slipped between the two M1s and also had to deal with a long lap penalty for irresponsible driving, while, also thanks to Johann Zarco’s crash, the best of the Hondas was that of Takaaki Nakagami, 13th . Another difficult day for Luca Marini, 16th behind teammate Joan Mir.