Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Enea Bastianini barged past Jorge Martin on the final lap to take a controversial win in the MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, while Francesco Bagnaia crashed out.
Pramac rival Martin had been successfully absorbing pressure from Bastianini's factory Ducati, until the Italian sent his bike up the inside into Turn 4 with the chequered flag in sight.
Martin was forced off the track and raised his hand up in frustration, while Bastianini continued on to take his second victory of the 2024 season.
Second place was still a significant result for Martin in his bid for the riders' title, after his chief rival Bagnaia made a grave error with six laps to run and retired.
At the start of the 27-lap contest, Martin got the holeshot from Turn 2 but ran too wide into Turn 1, allowing Bagnaia to immediately swing back into the lead.
The Pramac rider made another attempt at passing the two-time champion on the third lap, but again failed to get the bike stopped on time, maintaining the status quo.
It was finally on lap four when he could find a way past the two-time champion, outbraking his rival at Turn 8 to snatch the position.
Once in the lead, Martin found it easy to pull away from the factory Ducati rider, who slipped behind his team-mate Enea Bastianini at Turn 10 on the following lap.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
However, despite Bagnaia apparently struggling for pace, Martin’s win was far from guaranteed, with Bastianini closing right on his tail by lap 8.
Martin was able to build a small buffer in the middle of the race, but Bastianini came back at him in the closing stages of the race, as Bagnaia continued to slip back behind the leading duo.
On lap 23 Martin ran deep into Turn 8 and brought Bastianini into play, but managed to do enough to stay at the front.
Martin started the final lap in the lead but going into the hard braking zone of Turn 4, Bastianini made an aggressive pass on him into the Turn 4 left-hander - sending him well outside the track and on to the tarmac run-off.
Martin subsequently took his foot off the gas and took the chequered flag five seconds behind Bastianini, who celebrated Ducati’s 100th grand victory in the premier class.
Bagnaia had looked set to finish third having upped his pace to set the first 1m30s lap of the weekend, but the two-time champion lost the front of his bike into Turn 8 on lap 21, suffering his third DNF of the year.
Gresini’s Marc Marquez picked up the final spot on the podium after the late error from Bagnaia, having started the race from seventh on the grid after a crash in qualifying.
Fourth place went to VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi, while Franco Morbidelli completed the top five for Pramac.
-
+5.002
5.002
+7.848
7.848
+9.200
9.200
+13.601
13.601
+15.484
15.484
+20.922
20.922
+22.795
22.795
+27.704
27.704
+31.891
31.891
+33.062
33.062
+35.411
35.411
+36.335
36.335
+37.395
37.395
+38.909
38.909
+40.454
40.454
+46.394
46.394
+47.755
47.755
+1.250
1.250
7 laps
19 laps
Source: Autosport