Jorge Martín has started the 2024 World Cup being the lord of Saturdays. The Madrid rider of the Prima Pramac Ducati took the pole and the victory of the first Sprint race with great authority, showing that this year he wants revenge.
Brad Binder, as explosive as in 2023 in the short races, was second, ahead of a great Aleix Espargaró who beat Marc Márquez and Pecco Bagnaia to get on the podium. The champion was fourth and the multiple champion from Cervera, fifth in his first test with the Ducati.
At the start, Martín maintained the first position on the grid, conquering the first corner with an advantage, Aleix Espargaró and Marc Márquez were delayed. The one from Granollers gave up second position to Binder, who came out like a missile with the KTM, and the one from Cervera lost ground to Di Giannantonio and Miller, whom he regained positions in the first lap. Bagnaia remained fifth, and gained a place over his teammate Bastianini.
While Martín, with a superior pace exhibited in training, tried to open a gap on Binder (he only gained 2 tenths in 5 laps), Bagnaia and Márquez took positions behind him. The Italian got on the podium, taking third place from Aleix Espargaró, while Márquez set the best lap of the race and was stalking Bastianini's fifth place.
Having passed the halfway point of the race (v. 6/11), Márquez overtook Bastianini to take fifth position and passed Aleix Espargaró like a plane on the straight, on the outside. He was already fourth with four laps remaining, and had Bagnaia in his sights.
Martín opened a safety gap of 6-7 tenths over Binder to put his first victory on track, while the duel for the podium between Binder, Bagnaia, Márquez and Aleix became very heated.
With four laps to go, Espargaró took fourth position from Marc, taking advantage of the fact that he was going a little long off the track. An unexpected error by the 93, which in a single lap lost contact with the Aprilia by one second. Aleix was encouraged and put the bike into Bagnaia to try to hunt for the last place on the podium. Before the penultimate passage across the finish line, the one from Granollers swallowed up Bagnaia's red Ducati to get on the podium.
In the last lap, Martín secured his first victory with a distance to spare, Binder kept second place and Aleix Espargaró tied third. Bagnaia, fourth; Marc Márquez, fifth, recovered his smile; and Bastianini sixth, with Àlex Márquez, seventh and Pedro Acosta in a creditable eighth place in his debut in MotoGP.
