FILE - South Africa’s Brad Binder pictured during the qualifying session of the Emilia-Romagna MotoGP Grand Prix. FILE - South Africa’s Brad Binder pictured during the qualifying session of the Emilia-Romagna MotoGP Grand Prix. Picture: Andreas Solaro / AFP
Jorge Martin took advantage of Francesco Bagnaia crashing out of the Emilia-Romagna MotoGP to extend his championship lead despite being pipped to Sunday's race win by Enea Bastianini on the final lap.
Martin was initially angered by Bastianini's daring overtake which decided the race but is 24 points ahead of key title rival Bagnaia who slid out of his 100th MotoGP with seven laps remaining at Misano Adriatico.
South Africa’s Brad Binder, who was sixth in Saturday’s sprint race, finished a disappointing 19th. Binder went off the track on the second lap and never recovered.
Pramac rider Martin, who is hunting a first world crown, was forced off the "Marco Simoncelli" track by Bastianini's move which earned Ducati their 100th MotoGP victory, and gestured angrily as he crossed the line in second place.
But pole-sitter Bagnaia's fall gave him a much bigger buffer than he was expecting to have ahead of next week's Indonesia MotoGP even though he was denied a first Grand Prix win since the French back in June.
"I saw that Enea was arriving so I just tried to close the gap. The manner was maybe a bit too much because he pushed me off the track so I couldn't fight back and yeah maybe afterwards I did some gestures because I was a bit hot," said Martin.
Lap 2 and we've lost @BradBinder_33 from 4th!
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 22, 2024
Meanwhile, @88jorgemartin is chasing @PeccoBagnaia hard! 💨#EmiliaRomagnaGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/ExFxsV924K
"I think I was the best and deserved the victory but it's OK, I will try for the next one."
Bastianini's second GP win of the season, and seventh of his career, allowed Bagnaia's Ducati teammate to move to within 59 points of Martin with six GP weekends left.
"It's been an incredible race today. I tried with three laps to go but he closed the line from the exit at turn number six," said the Italian, who was born down the road from Misano in Rimini.
"After I received a bit of space at turn number four I entered and I closed the line. It's incredible to win today here in Misano in front of my friends and all the team."
Marc Marquez took advantage of Bagnaia's mishap by completing the podium, but he still loses ground in his bid to claim a seventh MotoGP title.
Gresini rider Marquez, who will ride alongside Bagnaia with Ducati's factory team next season, trails his fellow Spaniard Martin by 60 points and slipped behind Bastianini in the overall standings.
"Today I was speaking to the team and we said fourth place would have been good for us," said Marquez, who started seventh on the grid.
"Today was a present, this podium, because three guys were clearly faster than us but I'm happy."
Starting second on the grid, Martin was fastest off the line but was quickly overtaken by Bagnaia on the first set of corners before the Variante del Parco turn.
But Martin was on Bagnaia's tail from that moment and took charge of the race in the fourth lap with a brilliant overtake, after which began battles with Ducati's two Italians.
Meanwhile Bagnaia, who was clearly struggling in the early part of the race and conceded second place to Bastianini, suddenly picked up pace and posted the two fastest laps one after the other.
But his crash left Martin to continue uninterrupted his thrilling battle with Bastianini, who drew roars from the crowd when he took the lead with seconds remaining in the race.
It was a dreadful end to the weekend for Bagnaia, who had posted two track records and won Saturday's sprint, but a great one for Ducati who sealed the constructors' championship by moving 261 points ahead of KTM.
AFP