Bagnaia catches up with Martin after thrilling Misano sprint

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) moved closer to the championship lead at the Gran Premio Pramac dell'Emilia-Romagna on Saturday after an impressive performance from the reigning World Champion at his home round. The Italian was initially pushed back to second place before taking the lead on Lap 8. Bagnaia claimed another gold medal after being pursued to the finish line by his title rival. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), whose lead before Sunday's GP has now shrunk to just four points. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) showed another strong sprint and secured third place after a good first lap.

Martin made a dream start at the beginning of the sprint and the #89 launched its attack on the way to the first corner. Martin pulled the pin at the beginning and gave it his all in the first few laps as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) overtook the reigning world champion and pushed Bagnaia into third place.

The reigning world champion did not wait long to attack, Binder dropped back to fourth place at turn 8, while Bagnaia and his team-mate Bastianini took the podium places. But behind Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) also began to assert itself, taking the top five positions after the #93 was forced to start from P7. Marc Marquez soon overtook Binder, who quickly dropped back to sixth place as Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) also found his way through.

All eyes were back on the front as Bagnaia caught the championship leader and closed the gap to under half a second. 'The Beast' began to lose contact with the two leaders as Bagnaia pushed to the limit and prepared his attack. Martin received a track limit caution before the decisive move came on lap 8 when he overtook at turn 13 after Martin made a mistake and went wide.

Once Bagnaia took the lead, his gap quickly widened and he was able to extend his lead to over half a second in the space of one lap – setting personal best times in the process. It was a sensational performance for the Italian, who had set his sights on a home sprint win.

Marc Marquez also made a mistake and lost time after a mistake in turn 13 – the number 93 soon had Acosta stuck to the exhaust. Less than a second separated the two riders as the number 93 tried to gain a lead.

Further back there was an intense battle for the last points places in the sprint. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team), Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Prima Pramac Racing Franco Morbidelli Quartararo and Bezzecchi continued to fight until the last lap.

At the front, Martin kept Bagnaia on his toes and closed in during the final stages of the sprint, but when the chequered flag fell, Bagnaia was able to secure the win and close in on Martin's title lead. The No. 89 crossed the line just 0.285s behind, with Bastianini completing the talented top three.

Marc Marquez held on to fourth place, with the eight-time World Champion extending his lead over Acosta to over a second. The number 31 put in another strong ride, crossing the line as the best Pierer Mobility rider after beating Binder at the finish line. The South African was unable to make up the positions lost in the opening laps, securing sixth place and more sprint points.

Meanwhile, Quartararo prevailed over Bezzecchi. The Frenchman increased his lead to over half a second and finished seventh. Bezzecchi finished eighth, while the final point went to Morbidelli in ninth.

There's still plenty of action to come from the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and we're waiting to see if Bagnaia can repeat his success from Sunday and complete a dream weekend. Find out on Sunday when we get started with more exciting racing in the championship at 13:00 local time (UTC +2).