MotoGP Spanish GP: Martin wins demolition derby sprint from Acosta

Martin leaped into the lead on the opening lap but was quickly reeled in and passed by poleman Marquez, who looked on course for a first Gresini Ducati win.

But on lap nine of 12 Marquez fell off at Turn 9, just seconds after third-fifth-placed Alex Marquez, Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder all slid off at Turn 5.

Maverick Vinales crashed at the same place on the following lap while running third, while several others all had front-end crashes through to the finish.

In all, 16 riders out of 25 made it to the chequered flag, but everyone from 12th down also suffered crashes at some stage.

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia was involved in a collision with Marco Bezzecchi and Binder at Turn 1 on lap three which took the factory Ducati rider out.

Through all the chaos, Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta found himself in second, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo rose from 23rd on the grid to complete the podium.

Martin now leads the championship by 29 points from Acosta, while Bagnaia is now 42 adrift.

Early rain threats came to nothing as the lights went out for the 12-lap Jerez sprint, with Binder jumping into the lead from fourth on the grid on his factory KTM.

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Martin slotted into second ahead of Marquez, while Bagnaia found himself mired in sixth.

At Turn 9 Martin took the lead away from Binder, while Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro became the first crasher of a dramatic sprint at Turn 8.

Jack Miller slid off his KTM at the last corner at the end of the first lap, but remounted to finish 14th.

At the front, Marc Marquez overtook Binder at Turn 9 for second with a tough move, but the KTM rider scythed past again into the last corner on the third tour.

This move let Alex Marquez come through on the pair of them, while Binder ultimately lost the most.

Marc Marquez repassed his Gresini team-mate and brother Alex Marquez for second at Turn 1, while Binder reclaimed fourth as Bezzecchi threw his VR46 Ducati up the inside of Bagnaia.

Bezzecchi ran wide and forced Bagnaia to open the door to Binder, who came steaming up the inside but connected with the factory Ducati rider, sending him down. The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM stewards, but no further action was taken.

Through all this chaos, Martin had opened a 1.3s lead over Marc Marquez come the start of lap four – though the Gresini rider had closed the Pramac GP24 down by the start of the seventh tour.

Marquez capitalised on a moment for Martin going through Turn 7 to line up a move into Turn 9, which he executed cleanly to move into the lead.

But on lap nine his hopes of a first win since Misano 2021 were dashed when he fell at Turn 9, doing so seconds after Alex Marquez, Binder and Bastianini had identical crashes at Turn 5.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3, Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Martin was released into a comfortable lead as a result, with the Spaniard taking his second sprint win of the year by 2.970s from Acosta.

Yamaha’s Quartararo was already enjoying a strong fightback from a career-worst 23rd on the grid as he circulated in ninth before the chaos that enveloped the end of the race unfolded.

After Vinales fell at Turn 5 while running third on lap 10, Quartararo found himself in an unlikely rostrum spot and fended off KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa by 0.050s to secure third.

Franco Morbidelli completed the top five for Pramac Ducati, passing LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco at the last corner of the final lap before the Frenchman also tumbled off his bike.

Raul Fernandez was sixth for Trackhouse Racing as Marc Marquez recovered to ninth – though was forced to drop a spot for punting Honda’s Joan Mir wide at Turn 13 on lap 11.

Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse) – who was shuffled down to ninth after another aggressive Marquez overtake – secured the final sprint points.

Mir was 10th, 0.135s outside of the points, with LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami 11th as Zarco, Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46), Miller, Alex Rins (Yamaha) and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) saw the chequered flag despite crashes.

Honda’s Luca Marini and Stefan Bradl were late fallers, as was Bezzecchi.

MotoGP Spanish GP Sprint Results

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

1

 - 

5

Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89		Ducati	0	19'52.682		160.2		12
2	P. Acosta Tech 3	31		KTM	0	19'55.652		159.8		9
3	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	0	19'59.734		159.2		7
4	D. Pedrosa Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	26		KTM	0	19'59.784		159.2		6
5	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21		Ducati	0	20'01.163		159.0		5
6	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25		Aprilia	0	20'08.564		158.0		4
7	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93		Ducati	0	20'10.813		157.8		3
8	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37		KTM	0	20'10.960		157.7		2
9	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88		Aprilia	0	20'11.100		157.7		1
10	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36		Honda	0	20'11.235		157.7
11	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30		Honda	0	20'13.818		157.4
12	J. Zarco Team LCR	5		Honda	0	20'14.630		157.3
13	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49		Ducati	0	20'16.160		157.1
14	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43		KTM	0	20'30.583		155.2
15	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42		Yamaha	0	20'54.970		152.2
16	L. Savadori Aprilia Racing Team	32		Aprilia	0	21'15.661		149.7
dnf	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10		Honda	0	18'33.619		157.2	Accident
dnf	S. Bradl HRC Test Team	6		Honda	0	18'33.761		157.2	Accident
dnf	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12		Aprilia	0	14'58.553		159.4	Accident
dnf	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	0	13'16.272		159.9	Accident
dnf	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	0	13'16.515		159.9	Accident
dnf	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23		Ducati	0	13'16.799		159.8	Accident
dnf	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72		Ducati	0	13'18.393		159.5	Accident
dnf	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1		Ducati	0	3'25.135		155.2	Accident
dnf	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41		Aprilia	0				Accident
View full results