Charging Martin slashes Bagnaia’s lead with special Sprint win

Jorge Martin has ignited his title hopes by scoring an eighth and most important Sprint win of the year at Qatar, the penultimate round of the 2023 MotoGP season.

Martin started fifth, but charged to victory in a ride which contained two hip and shoulders with title rival Francesco Bagnaia.

With the Pramac Ducati rider taking the chequered flag by 0.3s over Fabio Di Giannantonio and Bagnaia down in fifth, the reigning champion’s points lead was slashed in half to just seven points.

Di Giannantonio, who is without a ride in 2024, impressed to come a close second with pole man Luca Marini rounding out the podium.

Australia’s Jack Miller did not threaten the top 10, but still progressed from 16th to 12th.

Marini had the two Gresini Ducati for company on the front row, while Bagnaia was fourth side by side with Martin in fifth.

Marini got the wholeshot off the line and charged ahead of the field with Alex Marquez in second.

But all eyes were behind as championship contenders Martin and Bagnaia, who banged shoulders at turn one.

The Pramac Ducati rider won the battle, going down the inside at turn one, but a mistake three corners later allowed the reigning champion to regain track position.

Further back Enea Bastianini, Aleix Espargaro – who earlier was fined 10,000 Euros for hitting Franco Morbedelli in the head – and Miguel Oliveria were all wiped out in a big multi-bike crash at turn 6.

But racing continued as Martin used the Ducati’s speed to blaze past Marc Marquez to return to the back wheel of Bagnaia, while the #93 Repsol Honda also lost a spot to Di Giannantonio to make it an all Ducati top five.

In a big move Martin made a bold dive down the inside of Bagnaia to snare third at turn 10, but only after a second piece of contact in as many laps.

It also left Bagnaia vulnerable to Di Giannantonio, who snatched his opportunity to demote the #1 to fifth.

Martin and Di Giannantonio were the fastest bikes on track and quickly caught the top two of Marini and Alex Marquez to set up a four-bike train for the lead.

Alex Marquez waited until the start of lap five to try and snatch the lead from Marini with the slipstream down main straight, but could not hold onto it by the time they arrived at turn one.

This allowed Martin to pounce and he snatched second three corners later.

By the end of the lap Martin made an important move to take the lead from Marini as the two Gresini Ducatis started to swap positions in the fight for third.

With Bagnaia still in fifth, Martin’s battling ride had brought him to within seven points of the championship leader.

Another big statement arrived on the following lap as the #89 pulled half a second gap in a flash, while Di Giannantonio was on the charge, rising to second.

The #49 rider hunted down Martin to be all over him by the penultimate lap to set up a grandstand finish for the win.

Di Giannantonio had nothing to lose and Martin had everything to lose and nothing split them as they started the final lap.

But the Pramac Ducati rider put in a mighty final lap to ensure he was never under threat and scored a 0.3s win.

Bagnaia had no pace compared to Martin and was a distant fifth behind Alex Marquez.

After having his points lead halved, Bagnaia will be desperate to respond in the Grand Prix at 04.00 AEDT tonight.

Image: Gold and Goose LAT Images

2023 Qatar Grand Prix Sprint results

Pos	Name
1	Jorge Martin
2	Fabio Di Giannantonio
3	Luca Marini
4	Alex Marquez
5	Francesco Bagnaia
6	Maverick Viñales
7	Brad Binder
8	Fabio Quartararo
9	Augusto Fernandez
10	Johann Zarco
11	Marc Marquez
12	Jack Miller
13	Marco Bezzecchi
14	Raul Fernandez
15	Franco Morbidelli
16	Pol Espargaró
17	Iker Lecuona
18	Takaaki Nakagami
19	Joan Mir
20	Enea Bastianini
	Aleix Espargaró
	Miguel Oliveira

For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION or subscribe HERE

On this week’s Auto Action RevLimiter, we ramble on about Supercars. Why the finances don’t need a boost! What’s wrong with the calendar! Plus more!