Bagnaia bests Marquez in Spanish scrap as Martin falters

A blazing late-race charge ensured Francesco Bagnaia could fend off Marc Marquez in a thrilling Spanish Grand Prix after Jorge Martin crashed from the lead.

A second win of 2024 and third straight at Jerez was one of Bagnaia’s best as he started seventh and hit the lead on the opening lap.

But it did not take long for both Martin and Marquez to sneak ahead of him.

The #89 appeared to be in control until a mistake at Lap 11 left the entire record crowd jaw dropped.

The pressure of Bagnaia proved too much as Martin lost the front and crashed at Dry Sack, throwing away a potential 47-point championship advantage.

Instead it is now only 17 points after Bagnaia emerged victorious in a stunning scrap with Marquez.

The two stars swapped stints in the lead through Turns 9 and 10 on consecutive laps.

Despite the Gresini Ducati appearing to have the pace, Bagnaia had an ace up his sleeve and a breathtaking and record-breaking final five laps meant Marquez’s 917-day drought between wins continued.

It was a tough day for Australia’s Jack Miller, who had a fast start rising from 15th to ninth, but was taken out by

In front of a record crowd at Jerez Marquez nailed the jump and enjoyed a clean run into the opening corner as Martin, Bezzecchi and Binder went side by side.

The KTM was the loser being muscled down to sixth, Miller flew from 15th to 9th and Acosta slumped to 18th after contact with Johann Zarco at Turn 5.

Meanwhile Bagnaia, who started from seventh, was on fire.

He flew around the outside of Bezzecchi at Dry Sack to soar to second in thrilling style.

Bagnaia continued his charge to the end of the lap when he slid down the inside of Marquez to snatch the lead at the corner named after their former rival.

The #93 tried to fire an immediate response but slipped to third in doing so after Martin also got involved as the #1 stayed in control.

However, the reigning champion made a costly mistake on the second trip to the final corner which sacrificed the lead to Martin.

The five Ducatis of Martin, Bagnaia, Marc Márquez, Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez were setting a hot pace at the front and blazed away from the leading non Italian bike of Binder.

Soon this group did not include Alex Marquez who dropped off from the leading four who were in a league of their own, setting a hot 1m37s pace.

Dani Pedrosa’s comeback did not last long as he lost the front end rapidly at Turn 8.

Not only did Acosta have his battles, but Tech3 teammate Augusto Fernandez had a Long Lap penalty turn into a trip to the pit lane.

Aleix Espargaro caused a crash with Zarco at a fast right hander.

On Lap 11 Miller dropped out of the top 10 after being bumped by Maverick Vinales and more critically Acosta five laps later.

Although Martin was still pushing hard, the leaders had stopped squabbling as they tried to keep up but also retain their Medium tyres as 0.7s split the top four in even groups.

Martin looked in complete control keeping Bagnaia at bay until Lap 11 when he sensationally crashed at Turn 6.

The Spaniard under pressure appeared to have lost the front of his Pramac Ducati and could not stop himself from sliding into the gravel.

The dramatic turn of events released Bagnaia to enjoy a comfortable 0.9s lead over Bezzecchi and Marc Márquez with 15 laps to go.

Marc Marquez used the same heavy braking right hander to sneak by Bezzecchi and snatch second.

This setup a 12-lap tussle between the #1 and #93 with the reigning champion 1.2s up the road, but the #93 fuelled by the massive crowd was on the charge.

Just two laps later Marquez had already halved the deficit with the fastest lap of the race, only for the Italian to respond.

As the fight for the lead heated up, Miller’s race came to a crashing end.

He was on the defence against Franco Morbidelli, who launched a divebomb at Turn 5 and the Pramac Ducati rider could not save himself from taking out the Aussie.

Miller was furious with the Italian and gave him plenty of advice in the gravel trap.

The attention returned to the front as Bagnaia and Marc Marquez traded fastest laps.

By Lap 19 the Gresini Ducati caught the back wheel of the factory Ducati after posting a race-record 1:37.655.

Now the crowd’s screams of support drowned out the roaring motorcycles and Marquez went for it.

The Spaniard launched down the inside of Turn 9 but Bagnaia switched back instantly to stay in front, but only after contact.

The following lap was an instant replay, albeit a clean one as the factory Ducati opened up some breathing space with a stunning 1:37.449 on Lap 23.

Bagnaia crossed the line to start the final lap with half a second up his sleeve and he did enough to hold onto a famous win.

Despite being second best, Marquez celebrated his first Ducati podium like a win, while Bezzecchi was also joyous for a first podium in 11 races.

A smashing Spanish Grand Prix has set the championship alight ahead of the French Grand Prix on May 10-12.

2024 Spanish Grand Prix results

Photo by Gold and Goose / LAT Images)

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