VOLUME ISSUE SEPTEMBER , P85
SUNDAY
GRAND PRIX
Just like in the Sprint race, Jorge
Martin grabbed the holeshot
from the middle of the front row,
but Bagnaia quickly reclaimed
the lead at turn two, sweeping
around the outside and charging
ahead.
Martin managed to fend off
Bastianini to hold second as
the trio began pulling away with
Acosta and Marquez in pursuit.
The first casualty was Brad
Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory
Racing), who lost the front at turn
four, uninjured and able to rejoin.
A few laps later, Acosta also
crashed and was out of the race.
SPRINT RACE
Bagnaia qualified on pole, but
Martin made a flawless launch,
seizing the lead into turn one.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Fac-
tory Racing) also made an early
move, overtaking Bagnaia and
pushing the number one down
to third.
Binder was soon shuffled
back to fourth at turn eight as
Bagnaia and Bastianini surged
forward. Meanwhile, Marc Mar
-
quez (Gresini Racing MotoGP),
recovering from seventh on the
grid after a crash in qualifying,
was making his own advances.
He passed Binder, as did Pedro
Acosta (Red Bull GasGas Tech3).
At the front, Bagnaia closed
in on Martin, reducing the gap
to under half a second as the
pair began pulling away from
Bastianini.
By lap eight, Bagnaia had
reeled Martin in, lost a bit of
ground, saved a front-end mo
-
ment, and then re-engaged.
Martin made a small error by
running wide after the fast triple
right off the back straight, giving
Bagnaia just enough space to
take the lead.
From there, Bagnaia pushed
hard to initially create a gap. At
one point, it seemed Bastianini
might catch Martin, but in the
final laps, Martin launched a late
charge, cutting the gap to Bag-
naia to less than three-tenths.
However, it wasn't enough, and
Bagnaia claimed the victory, cut-
ting his championship deficit to
just four points.
Bastianini took third from
Marc Marquez, with Acosta
rounding out the top five.
hit the brakes, despite being still in
an upright position. It was a strange
day, no doubt, but we'll be ready next
time."
89 JORGE MARTIN
2ND/2ND MOTOGP
"I gave my all to win this race. I
am disappointed with how it ended
because I led almost the entire race,
and Enea's overtake was on the
limit," Jorge Martin said. "Neverthe-
less, I managed to avoid a crash and
consolidate my championship lead.
We are now heading into a part of
the championship that I love, and I'm
really looking forward to it."
MYOWNRACE
(Above)
Francesco
Bagnaia was
beautiful in the
Sprint, never
quite able to
break Jorge
Martin but
never looking
anything less
than a winner.
(Left) The
main Sunday
race was as
close as this
for the first
quarter with
Martin (89) and
Bastianini (23)
glued to
Bagnaia (1).
