The MotoGP title battle ignited at the San Marino Grand Prix as Jorge Martin’s brilliant double victory allowed him to close the gap on championship leader Francesco Bagnaia. Pramac’s Martin broke his pole duck in 2023 with a stunner in qualifying to smash the lap record, and duly converted this into dominant wins in the sprint and the grand prix.
It has allowed him to cut the championship lead down from 50 at the start of the weekend to 36 to Bagnaia, who battled through the pain of his injured leg to take a brace of thirds. It was nonetheless a valiant effort from Bagnaia and fellow injured Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Academy) to grit their teeth, delighting a feverish home crowd in the baking sunshine.
