This weekend didn’t seem as explosive as in the last few outings, but Jorge Martin proved everyone wrong in the Sprint of the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix, showing off the performance of those who don’t want to raise the white flag in the race for the title.
The Madrid native of Prima Pramac Racing signed his eighth victory in a short race on Saturday and in this way he managed in one fell swoop to halve the gap towards world leader Pecco Bagnaia, author of a somewhat dull performance, which ended in fifth place. Now, therefore, there are 7 points between the two, and this means that there is the certainty that the dispute will arrive in Valencia.
“Martinator” immediately made it clear that he was very determined and came into contact with his rival twice in the early stages of the race, managing to move into third position almost immediately. But it was on the fifth lap that he built his masterpiece, because in the space of a few corners he got rid of both Alex Marquez and poleman Luca Marini, the only one to have risked the soft tire on the front (the others all had the hard one) to take the lead.
From that moment on he gave the sensation of having more than everyone else, at least until in his wake the figure of Fabio Di Giannantonio began to grow bigger and bigger, author of a beautiful comeback after a start that wasn’t too brilliant. from the front row.
On the penultimate lap, also taking advantage of a small slip by Martin, the Gresini Racing rider rejoined Prima Pramac Racing’s Desmosedici GP, but not enough to attempt an attack on the Spaniard, who deservedly won. However, “Diggia” also demonstrated once again that MotoGP is probably putting him aside too soon.
Marini climbed onto the lowest step of the podium, doing well at managing his front tire until the end to resist Alex Marquez’s attempts to return, who nevertheless continued his good form after the double podium in Sepang.
Bagnaia’s performance, however, was negative, as he never gave the feeling of being able to keep up with the pace of the best, finishing just under 4″ behind his rival in the title race. As soon as he got off his Ducati he immediately took a look to his rear tyre, a sign that his bike was probably slipping more than he would have expected. What is certain is that a reaction is needed tomorrow if he doesn’t want to arrive in Valencia with his lead wiped out or even behind.
With five Ducatis in the top 5, the first of the “others” was Maverick Vinales, sixth with his Aprilia and the only one capable of remaining in the leading group. In seventh position, however, is Brad Binder’s KTM, followed by Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha, who in the end managed to grab two points.
The last point up for grabs instead went to Augusto Fernandez’s GasGas Tech3, while Marc Marquez had to settle for 11th place, paying dearly for a crash suffered by Binder when he was in sixth position in the early stages of the race. Also out of the points was Marco Bezzecchi in the shade and only 13th, but also Franco Morbidelli, 15th at the checkered flag.
At the rear of the group was Enea Bastianini, who restarted after being involved in a contact between the two Aprilias of Miguel Oliveira and Aleix Espargaro on the first lap, which led to the retirement of the two standard bearers of the Noale manufacturer.
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