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Australia Australia
Race report
MotoGP San Marino GP

MotoGP San Marino GP: Marquez storms to victory, Martin makes bike swap blunder

The Gresini Ducati rider takes advantages of track conditions in the San Marino Grand Prix for his second victory in a row as Jorge Martin’s blunder closes the championship gap

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Pol Espargaro, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team
Takaaki Nakagami, Team LCR Honda
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing Team
Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Fans
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Racing crash
Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Racing crash
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Pol Espargaro, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR26 Racing Team
Pol Espargaro, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team podium
82

Marc Marquez surged into the lead during a brief rain shower and held on to win the MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix from Francesco Bagnaia, as Jorge Martin made a premature bike swap that left him 15th.

With spots of rain on the starting grid, humid and cloudy conditions briefly delivered substantial rain after seven laps of the Misano race, leading to half a dozen riders pitted to change motorcycles, including world championship leader Martin who had been running second on the Pramac Ducati.

But Gresini Ducati’s Marquez stayed on track, chased and passed Bagnaia and then broke the Italian’s challenge with the fastest lap of the race in the closing stages to storm to a second consecutive victory.

The threat of heavy rain never delivered which allowed a dry line to persist, forcing Martin to re-enter the pits for his original race bike with slick tyres.

The Spaniard classified 15th for the final point and his margin at the top of the standings shrunk to just seven over Bagnaia.

“For me the most important was the speed after the rain,” said Marquez of his 61st MotoGP win. “This one is for the team Gresini,” he added, having carried his late team owner’s dedicatory championship livery at Misano.

“Today, more than second was impossible, Marc was in too good shape,” conceded Bagnaia.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

In third was Ducati’s Enea Bastianini who had a decent gap to KTM’s Brad Binder as the first non-Ducati rider past the line. Local rider and VR46 racer Marco Bezzecchi atoned for his error in the Saturday sprint to take fifth place.

Gresini’s Alex Marquez ran as high as fourth but then suffered with traction problems and faded late on to sixth, just ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo in seventh and KTM’s Jack Miller in eighth.

VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio defied weakness and pain from his right shoulder to score ninth and KTM’s wildcard test rider Pol Espargaro was 10th.

Trackhouse Racing’s Miguel Oliveira was the first of the Aprilias to the finish in 11th ahead of LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco.

GasGas Tech3’s Pedro Acosta started strongly, fighting in the top five in the opening laps, but had a near-escape on the second lap when he clipped the rear of Franco Morbidelli’s Pramac Ducati and lost his right aero, before falling two laps later.

The flag-to-flag status allowed him to enter for a second bike but he was far behind in 17th.

Franco Morbidelli was another early faller, as he went down on the on entry to Turn 3 in the opening phases of the race when the rain briefly intensified.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Just like Martin, Yamaha’s Alex Rins, Aprilia duo Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales plus Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez all entered the pitlane twice due to early bike swaps which put them out of the points.

The stomach virus that sidelined Repsol Honda’s Joan Mir appeared to also prevent team-mate Luca Marini from starting the race as he was ruled out with a similar complaint on Sunday morning.

Misano will see more MotoGP action tomorrow for the final mid-season one-day test of 2024. The championship will then stay parked at the Rimini track in preparation for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from 20-22 September.

MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix - Race results

1
 - 
5
1
 - 
2
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points
1 Spain M. Marquez Gresini Racing 93 Ducati 27

41'52.083

163.5 25
2 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 27

+3.102

41'55.185

3.102 163.3 20
3 Italy E. Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 27

+5.428

41'57.511

2.326 163.1 16
4 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 27

+14.185

42'06.268

8.757 162.5 13
5 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 27

+16.725

42'08.808

2.540 162.4 11
6 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 27

+17.582

42'09.665

0.857 162.3 10
7 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 27

+17.642

42'09.725

0.060 162.3 9
8 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 27

+19.327

42'11.410

1.685 162.2 8
9 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46 49 Ducati 27

+27.946

42'20.029

8.619 161.7 7
10 Spain P. Espargaro Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 44 KTM 27

+38.781

42'30.864

10.835 161.0 6
11 Portugal M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team 88 Aprilia 27

+46.386

42'38.469

7.605 160.5 5
12 France J. Zarco Team LCR 5 Honda 27

+1'02.637

42'54.720

16.251 159.5 4
13 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 27

+1'10.717

43'02.800

8.080 159.0 3
14 Germany S. Bradl HRC Test Team 6 Honda 27

+1'17.547

43'09.630

6.830 158.6 2
15 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 26

+1 Lap

42'10.721

1 Lap 156.3 1
16 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 26

+1 Lap

42'11.570

0.849 156.2
17 Spain P. Acosta Tech 3 31 KTM 26

+1 Lap

42'24.712

13.142 155.4
18 Spain R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team 25 Aprilia 26

+1 Lap

42'41.158

16.446 154.4
19 Spain A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing 42 Yamaha 26

+1 Lap

42'50.509

9.351 153.8
dnf Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 14

+13 Laps

23'50.259

12 Laps 148.9 Retirement
dnf Italy F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing 21 Ducati 6

+21 Laps

9'18.531

8 Laps 163.4 Accident
dnf Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 6

+21 Laps

9'28.503

9.972 160.5 Accident

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