2024 MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona - Race Results

26 May 2024

crash.net

2024 MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona - Race ResultsPosRiderNatTeamTime/Diff1Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP24)40m 11.726s2Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP24)+1.740s3Marc MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP23)+10.491s4Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP24)+10.543s5Fabio Di GiannantonioITAVR46 Ducati (GP23)+15.441s6Raul FernandezSPATrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP23)+15.916s7Alex MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP23)+16.882s8Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+18.578s9Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+20.477s10Miguel OliveiraPORTrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24)+20.889s11Marco BezzecchiITAVR46 Ducati (GP23)+21.023s12Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP24)+22.137s13Pedro AcostaSPARed Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)*+31.967s14Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)+32.987s15Joan MirSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)+33.132s16Johann ZarcoFRALCR Honda (RC213V)+34.554s17Luca MariniITARepsol Honda (RC213V)+36.689s18Enea BastianiniITADucati Lenovo (GP24)+50.615s19Stefan BradlGERHRC Test Team (RC213V)+55.295s20Alex RinsSPAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+63.428s Franco MorbidelliITAPramac Ducati (GP24)DNF Augusto FernandezSPARed Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)DNF Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM (RC16)DNF

* Rookie

Francesco Bagnaia makes amends for his Sprint catastrophe by beating title leader Jorge Martin for victory in the 2024 Catalan MotoGP at Barcelona

Bagnaia, who handed victory to Aleix Espargaro with a last-lap crash in the Sprint, shadowed Martin before diving inside at Turn 5 - the corner where he fell on Saturday - with 5 laps to go.

The reigning champion then edged away from title leader Martin for his third grand prix win of the season.

Ten seconds behind the leading duo, Marc Marquez slipstreamed around Aprilia’s Sprint winner Aleix Espargaro, then nursed his soft rear tyre to the flag to claim the final podium place.

Martin had progressed from seventh to third on the opening lap, then made successive Turn 10 out-braking passes on Pedro Acosta and Bagnaia to snatch the lead on lap 5.

The Pramac Ducati star (medium rear tyre) and Acosta (soft rear) then broke into the 1m 39s to put space between themselves and Bagnaia.

Further back, Sprint winner and pole qualifier Espargaro joined the duo in the ‘39s as he closed in on Brad Binder’s KTM in fourth.

Espargaro and Raul Fernandez burst past a fading Binder on lap 10, but there was bigger drama at the front as rookie star Acosta slid out of second.

The race then split into two groups at the front: Martin and Bagnaia battled for victory with Espargaro, Fernandez, Marc Marquez and Morbidelli (who later fell) squabbling over the final podium place.

Marquez proved the stronger, passing Fernandez and then levering local star Espargaro from third.

After the soft rear tyre in the Sprint, the hottest temperatures of the weekend combined with full 24-lap distance meant most riders switched to the medium for the grand prix.

But the Marquez brothers, starting 13th (Alex) and 14th (Marc), plus Acosta (5th) and Jack Miller (9th), rolled the dice with a late switch to the soft rear on the grid in search of early progress.

Either way, the first half of the race was a ‘go slow’ affair as the lead group of six riders - Bagnaia, Martin, Acosta, Binder, Espargaro and Raul Fernandez - saved rubber, with Marc Marquez stuck behind Franco Morbidelli in eighth in the early stages.

Enea Bastianini was given a double long lap penalty after failing to serve a single long lap for shortcutting Turn 2... But he missed that penalty as well and was finally given a 'ride-through', added to his finishing time.

Revised tyre pressure rules for 2024 mean riders must now stay above a lower front minimum of 1.8 bar (instead of 1.88) for 60% (instead of 50%) of a Grand Prix distance, or 30% of a Sprint.

The penalty for failing to meet this minimum in a Grand Prix will be a 16-second post-race time penalty, or an 8-second penalty for a Sprint/short race.

Practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello starts on Friday morning.