A new season has begun, but the tune of Saturday doesn't seem to have changed in MotoGP, because Jorge Martin took home the first Sprint. After scoring pole position, the Prima Pramac Racing rider confirmed himself as the great specialist in short races, becoming the first world championship leader of this 2024 in Qatar.
“Martinator” was not caught when the traffic lights went out and immediately took a lead which he maintained until the checkered flag, even if he was never able to finally relax, because Brad Binder's KTM was a constant threat in the exhausts of his Desmosedici GP24 after a great start from the second row.
Towards the middle of the race the South African had come forward in a rather dangerous manner, but then made a small mistake which allowed the Spaniard to open a gap of around seven tenths, which he then managed very well until the checkered flag, under which he arrived with just over half a second on the KTM standard-bearer, signing his tenth victory in a Sprint.
The Austrian manufacturer can be very satisfied with this performance, but the same goes for Aprilia, who completed the podium with Aleix Espargaro. The Noale manufacturer, therefore, contributed to denying the predictions that the Ducatis would have total domination, because three different bikes got on the podium.
The Granollers rider had fallen back to fifth place from the front row, but then a mistake by Marc Marquez with five laps to go allowed him to regain fourth place. And this launched him towards the crazy idea of going after Pecco Bagnaia, which came to fruition when on the penultimate lap he managed to take the lowest step of the podium from the world champion, also taking advantage of an RS-GP that seemed to have more traction from the Red team at the end.
For Bagnaia, in fact, it was a race that ended in decline: until a couple of laps from the end he seemed to be in a position to try to attack Binder's second place, but then he bowed to Espargaro without having the opportunity to try to replicate to the Aprilia rider. A sign that work will have to be done in the Ducati garage, because tomorrow's race will be twice as long and the decline at the end seemed quite evident.
Marc Marquez's Ducati debut ended with a top 5, so it was encouraging all in all. After a not too brilliant start, the eight-time world champion had given the sensation of being able to fight for the podium, but after the gap that allowed Espargaro to pass him he lost the pace a bit. It must be said, however, that today was a very fast race, because it took Martin 11 seconds less to complete it than in the Sprint last November, so having finished less than two seconds could be an excellent starting point.
After the first row achieved in qualifying, Enea Bastianini experienced a somewhat anonymous race. “Beast” always remained on the hook of the leading group, but he was never able to match the pace, finishing sixth, just ahead of the other Ducati Gresini of Alex Marquez.
Rookie Pedro Acosta immediately took points, placing eighth in his first Sprint. An important result for the Spaniard from GasGas Tech3, who placed himself behind the other KTM of the more experienced Jack Miller, who finished tenth after having also been sixth in the early stages of the race. But even the gap of just 4″4 from the winner is an excellent calling card for the “Tiburon of Mazarron”.
The last point up for grabs in the Sprint was taken home by Maverick Vinales' Aprilia, so it is undeniable that it was another frustrating day for the Japanese brands. Fabio Quartararo held the Yamaha banner high, but only finished 12th, behind Marco Bezzecchi who was clearly struggling and 12″ behind the winner.
You have to go down to 15th place to find the best of the Hondas which was that of Joan Mir. Things went much worse for his new pit mate Luca Marini, who finished 21st and last among the riders at the finish line, paying for over 10 seconds on the twin RC213V. At the back, right in front of him, is Franco Morbidelli, who however is still getting to grips with the Prima Pramac Racing Ducati after being forced to miss the entire pre-season due to a head injury suffered during training on the Panigale V4.
Things went worse for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who was the only one who didn't see the finish line. The representative of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 was in a tussle with the two Gresini Racing Ducatis when on the third lap he was dangerously thrown from his Desmosedici GP, also remaining in the middle of the track and fortunately being avoided by all the riders following him. For the Roman pilot, however, it was just a big scare, because there were no physical consequences.
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