Marquez missed the holeshot
but Red Bull KTM's Brad Binder
didn't, rocketing off fourth place on
the grid to lead into turn one ahead
of Martin, but it only took until the
Stadium section on lap one for
Martin to surge past into P1.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing)
and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM)
were both lap-one fallers, but on
lap two it was all fireworks.
Marquez nabbed Binder again
at the Stadium for second, then
coming into the last corner, Binder
divebombed Marquez to take the
place back. That set off a chain
reaction where Alex Marquez
(Gresini Ducati) pushed past his
brother, too, but Binder ran wide,
and Alex pushed him out as well.
The one to really profit from
this was World Champion Fran
-
cesco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati),
or so it seemed. The red number
one ripped onto the straight,
his good mate Marco Bezzec
-
chi right behind him, and both
alongside Binder. Bez got by
Binder into turn one but ran wide.
Binder went up the inside, and
Bagnaia went in between both.
Three doesn't go into two, and
Bagnaia got squeezed hard, so
hard it took his front wheel out
and down he went in a shower of
carbon fiber for zero points.
At the front of the field, it
gradually began to settle down as
Marquez chased Martin, the move
for the lead coming on lap seven
again at the Stadium to the deaf
-
ening roars of the packed hillside.
The demolition continued as
Binder, Enea Bastianini (Lenovo
Ducati), and Alex Marquez all
crashed out on the same corner
in a synchronized front-end loss
VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P81
36 JOAN MIR
9/12 MOTOGP
"We have to be content with what
we achieved today," Joan Mir said.
"From the start of the weekend until
now, we have been able to improve,
and I have to say thanks to my team
for their work in helping us make this
progress. Today, I was able to make
a solid race. I think I achieved the
best that I could with the package that
we have at the moment. Of course,
the gap is still very big, and we need
to keep on working, but tomorrow,
Monday, we have a test. I am looking
forward to trying what we have to
understand what the next steps are."
MYOWNRACE
89 JORGE MARTIN
1/DNF MOTOGP
"I am sad about today," Jorge Martin
said after Sunday's race. "I had a
great start. I defended the lead of
the race, I felt strong, and then I had
a crash, which I cannot explain how
it happened. I will analyze the data
with my team, because I don't want to
make a mistake like that again. That
has been just a bad day, and what
makes me feel good is to know that I
am in a great team, and we will find a
solution also to this problem."
Jorge Martin had
it all his own way
at the front of the
Sprint race. He
had no idea of the
chaos unfolding
behind him.
