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Megan White

MotoGP San Marino GP: Martin wins Misano sprint, Pedrosa narrowly misses podium

The Pramac rider led from the off, and despite VR46 rider Bezzecchi attempting a fight back after passing Francesco Bagnaia for second, Martin held on for his second consecutive podium.

Despite both carrying injuries after separate incidents in last weekend’s Catalan GP, home favourites Bezzecchi and championship leader Bagnaia completed the podium.

It was far from easy for the Ducati factory rider, who was passed by Bezzecchi early on before having to hold off KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa and Brad Binder, who had a strong charge from seventh.

With Martin getting the holeshot, Pedrosa made up a place off the line, passing Aprilia rider Maverick Vinales for fourth, as further back Binder fell three places to 10th.

Martin was already 0.5s clear of Bagnaia by lap two, and the reigning world champion then ran wide to let Bezzecchi, struggling with an injured hand, through.

Behind, Binder forced his way past Honda’s Marc Marquez, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and VR46’s Luca Marini to run sixth. Binder then attempted a move on Vinales at Turn 6, but was forced to fall back as the Aprilia man put in a staunch defence.

Binder eventually passed Vinales on lap six as he continued his charge, while maligned Honda rider Joan Mir was handed a long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits before receiving a second for failing to serve the first properly.

Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team, Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

The gap between Martin and Bezzecchi stabilised around 0.7s by the halfway mark, while further back Alex Marquez (Gresini) passed brother Marc for ninth, the final points paying position.

With five laps remaining, Pedrosa was closing on Bagnaia, with the gap down to 0.4s by lap eight as Bezzecchi stalled in his charge to catch Martin. A fierce battle for third ensued, with Binder then catching Pedrosa as the KTM duo fought to catch Bagnaia.

Despite having severe bruising on his right leg after last weekend’s crash, Bagnaia managed to hold off both riders for the podium.

But Martin’s victory cuts Bagnaia’s lead in the standings from 50 points to 45 with eight rounds remaining after this weekend.

Pedrosa kept Binder behind to take his best result since Valencia 2017, with Vinales sixth ahead of Marini. Espargaro was ninth, ahead of the Marquez brothers.

Franco Morbidelli initially failed to get off the grid on his Yamaha machine, and though he got going, was also handed a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits. He was then handed a three-second penalty for failing to serve it.

Pol Espargaro met the same fate, as did Mir and Honda test rider Stefan Bradl, while Pramac rider Johann Zarco was dropped one position to 14th after exceeding track limits on the last lap.

MotoGP San Marino GP Sprint Race Results (13 laps):

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points
1 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 13 -       12
2 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 13 +1.445 1.445     9
3 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 13 +4.582 3.137     7
4 Spain D. Pedrosa Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 26 KTM 13 +4.772 0.190     6
5 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 13 +4.931 0.159     5
6 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 13 +6.062 1.131     4
7 Italy L. Marini Team VR46 10 Ducati 13 +6.519 0.457     3
8 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 13 +7.893 1.374     2
9 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 13 +9.264 1.371     1
10 Spain M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team 93 Honda 13 +11.318 2.054      
11 Spain R. Fernández RNF Racing 25 Aprilia 13 +13.365 2.047      
12 Portugal M. Oliveira RNF Racing 88 Aprilia 13 +13.788 0.423      
13 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 13 +14.243 0.455      
14 France J. Zarco Pramac Racing 5 Ducati 13 +14.154        
15 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 13 +17.421 3.267      
16 Spain P. Espargaro Tech 3 44 KTM 13 +17.451 0.030      
17 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing 49 Ducati 13 +18.133 0.682      
18 Italy F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing 21 Yamaha 13 +19.749 1.616      
19 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 13 +20.403 0.654      
20 Italy M. Pirro Ducati Team 51 Ducati 13 +21.454 1.051      
21 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 13 +21.962 0.508      
22 Germany S. Bradl Honda World Superbike Team 6 Honda 13 +23.672 1.710      
23 Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 13 +36.100 12.428      
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