Enea Bastianini pulled off a last-lap move on Jorge Martin to secure a historic 100th premier class win for Ducati at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday. The Bologna factory also sealed the 2024 MotoGP constructors’ championship at Misano, with six rounds to go.
- Bastianini wins, 5.002secs ahead of Martin
- Marquez on podium
Bagnaia crashes out of Emilia Romagna GP
Martin took the lead off the line, but Bagnaia had a better exit out of Turn 1 and overtook him right away. Martin closely followed his title rival and finally found a way past him on Lap 4.
As Martin pulled away at the front, Bagnaia dropped to P3 after being passed by his Ducati teammate Bastianini. But just when it seemed like it was going to be a two-way fight between Martin and Bastianini, Bagnaia upped the pace. He got the gap to the lead down to 2 seconds but suffered a costly crash on Lap 21 of 27.
Bastianini pulls off last lap pass on Martin
This swung the title fight in Martin’s favour, but it wasn’t over; he still had to fend off Bastianini. The two were locked in battle for several laps, but Bastianini finally made a move stick at Turn 4, on the very last lap.
“As the laps went by, however, I tried to understand how to minimise the issue. In the final laps, something extra obviously comes out that enables you to battle for the win. In the end, I made my move: when I dove in, Jorge tried to close the door and that forced me to lean a bit, which led to the front-end locking. I tried to rely on the rear as much as I could, while making sure I could make the turn, and it worked," he added.
Marquez on Misano podium
Marc Marquez followed up his San Marino GP win with another podium finish, benefitting from Pedro Acosta and Bagnaia’s crashes.
Marco Bezzecchi took fourth place, ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Maverick Vinales. Fabio Quartararo looked on course for a P5 finish, but the Yamaha rider ran out of fuel and just about made it to finish P7. Aleix Espargaro, Alex Marquez and Miguel Oliveira rounded out the top 10.
Ducati win MotoGP constructors’ championship
With 500 points (261 points clear of KTM), Ducati secured the MotoGP constructors’ championship for the fifth year running. The manufacturer also scored its milestone 100th win in the premier class – becoming only the fourth manufacturer to do so, after Honda (313), Yamaha (245) and MV Agusta (139).
2024 MotoGP championship standings
Bagnaia’s crash has helped Martin extend his championship lead to 24 points. Bastianini is third overall, 35 points behind his teammate Bagnaia.
MotoGP will now head to the Mandalika Circuit for the Indonesian GP from September 27-29.
2024 Emilia Romagna GP results
Dinshaw Magol
