Francesco Bagnaia wins the Catalan GP ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez. Yesterday’s birthday boy Pedro Acosta crashed out when fighting for the lead of the race.
All riders started the race on the medium tyres on the front and rear except for Acosta, M. Marquez and Jack Miller who made the decision to run a medium front tyre and a soft rear tyre. Rear tyre degradation was a large factor in races earlier in the day so the choice for a soft rear was an unexpected one.
Bagnaia had a great start from the front row, but Brad Binder also started well and was making moves around the outside of the track to gain some places. Alex Rins ran wide and accidentally took the long lap loop and fell to the rear of the field.
Acosta and Bagnaia started to break away from the rest of the field but further behind them, Martin made a huge lunge to get past Binder for third place to attempt to catch up with the leaders.
🚦LIGHTS OUT in #MotoGP🚦@PeccoBagnaia leads into T1! @37_pedroacosta is right behind#CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/pmJNHHYpAr
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 26, 2024
Miller ran deep at turn one on lap two and lost a spot to Raul Fernandez. Acosta kept close to the rear of Bagnaia and looked at making a move at turn ten but wasn’t able to make the move. Acosta continued to stay on the back of Bagnaia’s bike but struggled to find a way past on lap two.
On the third lap, Acosta made the move at turn ten but ran wide so that Bagnaia was able to cut back. At the same corner, Miller crashed.
Martin caught up the leading two riders and passed his countryman Acosta into turn 10 and on lap five, Binder also looked at making the same move on the rookie but was unable to do so. Martin made an impressive move to get past Bagnaia to lead the race.
On lap six, Augusto Fernandez crashed at turn ten.
Again, the front two started to break away from the rest of the field and Acosta set the fastest lap.
Aleix Espargaro, yesterday’s sprint winner, made his way past Binder on lap 11 across the start finish straight and R. Fernandez barged his way past the South African rider at turn one too.
After setting some fast laps, Acosta crashed out the race at turn 10. The champagne was on hold for the rookie rider as he looked to take his first win in MotoGP.
Marquez was able to pass Binder on lap twelve at turn seven as he continued his charge up the field after starting in fourteenth place.
Enea Bastianini received a long lap penalty for taking a short cut at turn two and then he received a double long lap penalty for not taking the initial penalty. He did not take the double long lap penalty and then received a 32 second penalty which was applied at the end of the race.
Martin continued to lead the race, but Bagnaia started to close the gap to the leader. The Italian rider made the move to take the lead on lap 19 at turn 5. Pecco slammed on the brakes to not allow Martin back through. The leading pair had over an eight second lead over the third-place rider Espargaro.
Bringing the heat 🥵🥵🥵@PeccoBagnaia now leads the race 💪🔄#CatalanGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/513UtMD3RV
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 26, 2024
But Espargaro didn’t hold third position for much longer as M. Marquez made the move on him down the start finish straight on the following lap.
The final laps of the race were drama free which allowed Pecco to cross the line in first place ahead of fellow Ducati riders Martin and M. Marquez. After yesterday’s heroics, Aleix Espargaro was only able to manage fourth place ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio. Raul Fernandez finished the race in sixth place ahead of Alex Marquez, Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo and Miguel Olivera.
Feature Image Credit : Motorsport Images/Gold and Goose
| 2024 MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona – Race Results | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff |
| 1 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | 40m 11.726s |
| 2 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | +1.740s |
| 3 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | +10.491s |
| 4 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | +10.543s |
| 5 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | +15.441s |
| 6 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP23) | +15.916s |
| 7 | Alex Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | +16.882s |
| 8 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +18.578s |
| 9 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +20.477s |
| 10 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) | +20.889s |
| 11 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | +21.023s |
| 12 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | +22.137s |
| 13 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) | +31.967s |
| 14 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +32.987s |
| 15 | Joan Mir | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +33.132s |
| 16 | Johann Zarco | FRA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +34.554s |
| 17 | Luca Marini | ITA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +36.689s |
| 18 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | +50.615s |
| 19 | Stefan Bradl | GER | HRC Test Team (RC213V) | +55.295s |
| 20 | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +63.428s |
| Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | DNF | |
| Augusto Fernandez | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) | DNF | |
| Jack Miller | AUS | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | DNF | |