After qualifying on pole position a day after announcing his retirement, Aleix Espargaro stood on the top step of the podium at the Catalan GP after three riders crashed out of the lead. He was joined on the podium by Marc Marquez who started the race in fourteenth and birthday boy Pedro Acosta.
Pecco Bagnaia had a brilliant start from the middle of the front row and was able to take the lead into turn one. Acosta strongarmed his way into second place and Brad Binder found a gap in the track to get through the first turn in third place. Raul Fernandez also joined in the party by getting past Binder a few corners later. Jack Miller made a move on Miguel Olivera at turn ten.
By the end of the first lap, M. Marquez had made it to eighth place after his poor qualifying effort earlier in the morning.
Acosta attacked Bagnaia on the brakes into turn one on the second lap to take the lead but the Italian pulled off a risky move into turn five to get bast the Spaniard. The battle continued into the following lap where Acosta made the same move at turn one to retake the lead. Fernandez and Binder were also able to get past in the next three corners. The factory Ducati rider lost three places in four corners.
Contact occurred between Acosta and Fernandez and this allowed Binder to get past the GASGAS Tech3 rider but not Fernandez who was now leading a MotoGP race for the first time in his career.
Acosta regained second position after making what was becoming his trademark move at the first corner but the gap to leader Fernandez continued to grow as he set the fastest lap.
On the fifth lap, Acosta went slightly deep in turn four but it didn’t affect his position and Bagnaia received a track limits warning. Race leader Fernandez crashed out of the lead at turn ten after carrying too much speed in the corner. This allowed Acosta to take the race lead.
💥 @25RaulFernandez HAS CRASHED OUT OF THE LEAD!
A major blunder just when he was starting to pull away 😱#CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/fiphDLUS2d
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 25, 2024
Binder got past Acosta on the start finish straight to take the lead of the race and started to break away from the chasing pack. Franco Morbidelli received a long lap penalty for irresponsible riding on the sixth lap.
Bagnaia capitalised on lap six to take second place from Acosta after the Spaniard ran wide.
The classic Acosta move into turn one happened again on lap seven as he made the move back through on Bagnaia and M. Marquez made a similar move to get past championship leader Jorge Martin for fifth. Bagnaia made an aggressive move into turn three to take second place back.
Binder crashed out of the lead at turn five which allowed Bagnaia to take the race lead.
Now @BradBinder_33's gone down! 😱
High drama at the lead! @PeccoBagnaia inherits P1 now 👀#CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/ALG934T3Y7
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 25, 2024
Espargaro made his way past Acosta at the start of lap eight and the younger rider did have a look at getting past once more bit couldn’t find a way.
Johann Zarco crashed following contact with Alex Marquez at the back of the field.
There were a few laps of calm before the madness resumed on the final lap where M. Marquez made the move that Acosta had been making on everyone else to take third place.
The third crash from the lead happened when Bagnaia crashed at turn five, allowing Espargaro to take over the front of the race with less than a lap to go.
MORE AND MORE DRAMA 🤯@PeccoBagnaia crashes out of the lead in the last lap as @marcmarquez93 takes 2nd from @37_pedroacosta 😱#CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/ESJQCAvxEb
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 25, 2024
No other riders went down before the chequered flag waved and after dropping down at the start of the race, Aleix Espargaro was able to clamber his way back through the field to win the race.
Championship leader Jorge Martin finished the sprint race in fourth place ahead of Enea Bastianini, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Jack Miller, Maverick Vinales, Marco Bezzechi and Fabio Quartararo, who rounded out the top ten.
Feature Image Credit: Motorsport Images/Gold and Goose
| 2024 MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona – Sprint Race Results | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff |
| 1 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | 20m 1.478s |
| 2 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | +0.892s |
| 3 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) | +1.169s |
| 4 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | +2.147s |
| 5 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | +2.980s |
| 6 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | +4.623s |
| 7 | Jack Miller | AUS | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +8.084s |
| 8 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | +8.245s |
| 9 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | +8.643s |
| 10 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +9.241s |
| 11 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | +9.537s |
| 12 | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +13.045s |
| 13 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +13.199s |
| 14 | Alex Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | +13.378s |
| 15 | Joan Mir | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +16.438s |
| 16 | Luca Marini | ITA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +18.000s |
| 17 | Augusto Fernandez | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) | +25.262s |
| 18 | Stefan Bradl | GER | HRC Test Team (RC213V) | +33.751s |
| Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | DNF | |
| Miguel Oliveira | POR | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) | DNF | |
| Johann Zarco | FRA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | DNF | |
| Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | DNF | |
| Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP23) | DNF | |
