Bastianini Wins Emilia Romagna GP after dramatic final lap pass on Martin, as Bagnaia crashes out

Enea Bastianini won the MotoGP Emilia Romagna GP after a dramatic final lap pass on Jorge Martin. Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of the race.

Bastianini rode an impressive race, managing his tyre wear and eventually coming back to overtake Martin on the final lap and take a poignant victory.

A powerful start from Jorge Martin would propel the Spaniard into the lead of the race going into Turn 1, with Francesco Bagnaia managing to get back ahead of his championship rival into Turn 2, re-taking the lead and pulling out a short gap.

Enea Bastianini would hold third place at the start from the aggressive Brad Binder, who attempted to ride around the outside of Bastianini at Turn 2. Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini would eventually ride after Bagnaia, hunting down the Italian, with a lot of the field having conerns about tyre wear and not wanting to run behind another bike for too long.

Brad Binder would crash from fourth place early on, the South African’s KTM sliding out from underneath him at Turn 4.

Martin would attack Bagnaia heading into Turn 8, getting his Prima Pramac Ducati stopped at the apex as Bagnaia attempted to get back underneath the Spaniard on the exit of the corner. However, Bagnaia would be stopped in his tracks as Martin cut just across the front of Bagnaia, forcing the reigning champion to lift the throttle and cease the position.

Bastianini would then come past Bagnaia just a lap later heading into Turn 10, as Bagnaia seemingly struggled for tyre grip, a dark grey ring forming on the Ducati Desmosedici GP24’s rear tyre.

Pedro Acosta would crash out of the race at Turn 15, the rookie clipping the inside kerb mid-corner and going down after running in fourth place, which was then inherited by Marc Marquez.

Bagnaia would drop back from Martin and Bastianini for a number of laps, with Bastianini challenging Martin for the lead of the race, the pair separated by just half a second. The Factory Ducati machines seemingly worked better than Martin’s Prima Pramac Ducati in the high speed technical section.

Bagnaia would begin closing to the pair ahead, setting multiple Fastest Laps in a row as the Italian drew closer, having conserved his tyres. Meanwhile, Bastianini would close on Martin, the pair running incredibly close as Bastianini started throwing different shapes and racing lines behind Martin, attempting to shape a move up the inside of the Spaniard into Turn 2, Turn 4, Turn 8 and Turn 14.

However, with just a short few laps remaining, Francesco Bagnaia would crash out of the race at Turn 8, losing his Ducati on the entry to the corner after cutting the gap down by well over a second.

Martin and Bastianini would continue their battle in the closing stages of the race, with Martin eventually under threat coming out of Turn 6 from Bastianini. Martin would cut across the track, distracting Bastianini as the Italian became hesitant to dive up the inside of the championship leader into Turn 8.

On the final lap, in dramatic fashion, Bastianini would dive up the inside of Martin heading into Turn 4, with the pair making contact as Martin ran off the track, evidently frustrated as the championship leader was gesticulating coming over the start/finish straight.

Bastianini’s victory, with Martin and Marquez completing the podium – ensures that Ducati have become the 2024 MotoGP Constructor’s World Champions.

Marc Marquez would finish in third place after inheriting the final podium position, as Marco Bezzecchi came across the line in fourth, followed by fellow VR46 Academy rider Franco Morbidelli. Maverick Vinales would finish in sixth as the Top Aprilia rider, followed by the Top Yamaha rider, and only Yamaha rider, Fabio Quartararo – who rounds off an incredible weekend for Yamaha with a seventh place finish and a good points haul.

Joan Mir and Luca Marini would score impressive results for Honda, as the pair of them finished in 11th and 12th place, perhaps their best result of the entire season.

MotoGP Emilia Romagna GP Results

1st Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati
2nd Jorge Martin, Prima Pramac
3rd Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
4th Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing
5th Franco Morbidelli, Prima Pramac
6th Maverick Vinales, Aprilia
7th Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha
8th Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia
9th Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
10th Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Racing
11th Joan Mir, Repsol Honda
12th Luca Marini, Repsol Honda
13th Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing
14th Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing
15th Johann Zarco, LCR Honda
16th Jack Miller, Red Bull Factory KTM
17th Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda
18th Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull GasGas KTM
19th Brad Binder, Red Bull Factory KTM
DNF Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati
DNF Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GasGas KTM

Featured Image: Ducati Corse Media