Bagnaia Closes Championship Gap with Victory in Emilia Romagna MotoGP Sprint Showdown

Emilia Romagna MotoGP: Live Sprint Overview

Live updates and commentary on the qualifying rounds and the sprint race at the 2024 MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Jorge Martin aims to increase his advantage in the MotoGP championship by securing consecutive sprint wins at Misano during Saturday's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Pramac competitor was at the forefront of every circuit during the San Marino GP sprint, despite initiating the race from the fourth position. However, he faces a significant challenge this time, as Francesco Bagnaia took a commanding lead to secure the pole position earlier on Saturday at the Emilia Romagna GP.

The Ducati factory team's racer showcased the best performance in terms of long run pace on Friday, with Martin closely rivaling him, setting the stage for a potential showdown between the two this weekend.

Marc Marquez, riding high from consecutive grand prix victories, enters the Emilia Romagna GP aiming to cut down his 53-point gap in the championship standings. However, a mishap during qualifying means he faces an uphill battle starting from the seventh position.

The race starts at 2pm British Summer Time.

That concludes our updates for Saturday.

We appreciate your presence and invite you to return on Sunday for real-time updates of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Keep in mind, the competition begins one hour sooner tomorrow. The event kicks off at 12pm BST.

Sprint summary

Access the complete coverage of the sprint from the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

checkered flag – Bagnaia secures sprint victory

Bagnaia fends off Martin, settling scores with the Pramac competitor for his prior loss at the San Marino GP sprint.

This has reduced the lead in the championship to a mere four points.

Bastianini secures a spot on the podium, followed by Marquez, Acosta, Binder, Quartararo, Bezzecchi, and Morbidelli.

Raul Fernandez has been given a long lap penalty due to surpassing the track boundaries. Currently, he is in 15th position.

Heading into the final lap, Bagnaia remains ahead of Martin, holding a lead of 0.540 seconds.

Heading into the second to last lap, Bagnaia maintains a steady lead of about half a second. Is there a comeback in store from Martin?

Joan Mir has incurred a long lap penalty for repeatedly surpassing the boundaries of the track. The rider from Honda is presently in 18th position.

As they commence lap 11 out of 13, Bagnaia holds a half-second advantage at the starting line.

Marquez erred at Turn 13 in the previous lap and now Acosta is hot on his heels for the fourth position.

With four laps remaining out of 13, Bagnaia is ahead by 0.414 seconds, leading Martin. It appears that the Pramac team's competitor has managed to gather himself somewhat.

Midway through the ninth lap, Bagnaia has a lead of more than half a second.

On the ninth out of thirteen laps, Bagnaia is in the lead at the finish line, while Martin receives a warning for exceeding track limits. Lap eight proved to be challenging for the Pramac competitor.

Martin fumbles significantly, going off-track at Turn 13, allowing Bagnaia to take the lead!

Passing is incredibly challenging at Misano. During the San Marino GP sprint, Bagnaia expressed how difficult it was to navigate behind Martin's motorcycle. He'll need to come up with an extraordinary strategy if he hopes to clinch the victory from Martin in the final laps.

As they cross the starting line to begin the eighth lap, the distance separating the two racers is just 0.3 seconds. Martin is keeping up with Bagnaia, having clocked a time of 1 minute and 30.9 seconds on the previous lap.

Bagnaia experienced a significant incident while transitioning between Turns 5 and 6, resulting in a loss of several tenths of a second to Martin.

On the seventh lap out of thirteen, Bagnaia is exerting immense pressure as he closely follows Martin!

Bagnaia has significantly narrowed the gap in the final sector.

In the sixth of thirteen laps, Bagnaia continues to exhibit impressive speed, setting a new record for the race at 1 minute 30.792 seconds, maintaining strong competition against Martin. However, he has yet to surpass the Pramac competitor.

The distance separating Bastianini from Marquez is roughly 0.8 seconds, while Acosta is gradually closing in on the Gresini racer during the fifth lap.

On the fifth lap out of thirteen, Martin dips back into the 1 minute 30 seconds range, extending his advantage to 0.568 seconds at the finish line, following a minor error from Bagnaia on the fourth lap.

Bagnaia shows unmatched speed at this circuit, being the sole racer to clock in under 1 minute and 31 seconds on the previous lap.

Heading into the fourth lap out of thirteen, Martin's advantage narrows to half a second at the lap's commencement. Bastianini, in third place, receives a warning for exceeding track limits, a caution also given to Quartararo who is currently in seventh position.

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