ROUND 6 / MAY 24-26, 2024
CIRCUIT DE BARCELONA-CATALUNYA / BARCELONA, SPAIN
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P92
Ducati) was seventh, Binder
eighth, Quartararo came home
ninth and Miguel Oliveira made
it two Trackhouse Aprilias in the
top 10 in 10th.
"Today's win was a very
important one, both for how
things panned out yesterday
and also for last year's results at
this track," Bagnaia said. "Once
I overtook Jorge, I noticed I had
already pulled a 0.4 [of a] sec-
ond margin on him in one lap, so
the only
thing I had to do was to
make it to the finish line. I rode
the final lap almost with my feet
on the ground to avoid surpris-
es. Now the Mugello awaits."
It does
indeed, and Bagnaia
had his hands full with Marc
Marquez, who was determined
not to allow a dream farewell
podium for the Aprilia man. Raul
Fernandez was making up for
the Sprint with an excellent fifth.
Bagnaia eventually pulled 1.8
seconds clear for one of the
most needed wins of his career
over Martin. Marquez did indeed
stop Espargaro for third, while
further back Fabio Di Giannan
-
tonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46
Racing
Team) pipped Fernandez
for fifth, Alex Marquez (Gresini
Bagnaia and up to second, and
it looked like Martin was trying
to make a break but Acosta
wouldn't let him get away.
That was until lap 11, when
Acosta pushed too hard and
lost the front at turn 10. He
remounted in a flash and contin-
ued on, amazingly taking 14th at
the flag along with a
couple of
championship points.
Martin's lead was up to one
second by lap 12, but Bagnaia
was beginning his fight back.
It took five laps for the number
one to be on the number 89, and
the coup de grace came on lap
19 at his hated turn five.
Behind them, Espargaro
Fabio Quartararo (20) continued
to fight the Yamaha fight with
ninth on Sunday.
