Jorge Martin, the MotoGP sprint racing specialist, once again emerged victorious by securing a dominant win on Saturday. Brad Binder and Aleix Espargaro also secured podium finishes, ensuring that three different manufacturers were represented on the podium.
Starting from pole position, Martin made a good start and took the lead at Turn 1. However, Binder, riding for KTM, quickly made up ground from fourth place and challenged Martin for the lead. Martin seemed to be conserving his tires in the early stages, allowing Binder to stay close.
Midway through the race, Martin seemed to be pulling away, extending his lead to just under six tenths of a second. But Binder once again closed the gap. Nevertheless, Martin maintained control and kept Binder at bay, while Espargaro made progress from behind.
Martin led every lap of the race and crossed the finish line with a comfortable 0.548s advantage over Binder, securing the first sprint race victory of the year. Espargaro was less than a tenth of a second away from denying KTM second place. With three different manufacturers on the podium, the stage is set for an exciting event on Sunday, especially with Espargaro closing in on the leaders towards the end of the race.
Defending world champion Francesco Bagnaia held onto third place for most of the race, but struggled with rear grip in the final stages and dropped behind Espargaro. He faced pressure from Gresini’s Marc Marquez in the closing laps, but managed to defend his position and secure fourth place.
Marquez showed an impressive speed, always setting faster laps than the leaders. However, a late mistake cost him a higher position, allowing Espargaro to overtake him. Enea Bastianini finished in sixth, without the pace of the leaders throughout the race, while Alex Marquez from Gresini secured seventh place.
In his debut in the premier class, Pedro Acosta closely followed the Ducati and earned two points with an eighth place. Maverick Vinales secured the final point with a ninth place.
Jack Miller initially ran at the front, but struggled to keep up with the leaders’ pace. He found himself defending against a group of challengers, but managed to hold them off and finished in tenth place. Marco Bezzecchi overtook Fabio Quartararo from Yamaha to secure 11th place in the final moments of the race.
Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez, representing Trackhouse Aprilia, finished in 13th and 14th place respectively, while Joan Mir was the highest-placed Honda rider in 15th place after Johann Zarco from LCR crashed at the end.
Franco Morbidelli, who had limited testing due to an injury during the Portimão tests, only managed to overtake Luca Marini from Honda after starting from the back of the grid on his Pramac Ducati. Unfortunately, Fabio Di Gianantonio from VR46 did not finish the race, suffering a crash with his Desmosedici at the fast Turn 11 after just a few laps.
