Francesco Bagnaia dominated the Sprint race at the MotoGP Italian Grand Prix. Competing at home on the Mugello circuit, the 2022 and 2023 champion took the lead right from the start and never looked back, while Jorge Martín retired.
There was a strong start from the Ducati factory riders, with Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini taking the top two positions ahead of Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati). Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) moved up to fourth.
In the first lap, Martín overtook Martín to reach second place. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia), who started from third, dropped to seventh.
On the third lap, Bastianini crashed after a collision with Martín in turn one, promoting Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) to third after the Spaniard had previously overtaken Binder.
With Bagnaia comfortably leading, on the sixth lap, Márquez managed to pass Martín to move into second place. At that point, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GasGas Tech3/KTM) had already climbed to fourth.
Second time was the charm for @marcmarquez93 ✅
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 1, 2024
The Spaniard is up in 2nd, a little over a second off @PeccoBagnaia 👀#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/hHoMWxhGyQ
More dramatic moments unfolded four laps from the end when Martín crashed at turn one, in a rare error from the Spaniard. It was the first retirement he suffered in a Sprint race.
With Martín out of contention, Acosta moved up to third place in the race. Until the end, there were no changes in the top positions. Bagnaia secured a comfortable victory, beating Márquez by 1.469s, with Acosta completing the podium.
Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac/Ducati) secured fourth place ahead of Viñales and Binder. In the points, finishing between seventh and ninth, were Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46/Ducati), Álex Márquez (Gresini/Ducati), and Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia).
As for Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing/Aprilia), the Portuguese rider retired on the second lap after an incident with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) while running in 16th place.
Results: