Written by Owen Bradley
MotoGP returned to the circuit of Catalunya in Barcelona, with Francesco Bagnaia looking to recover his 44-point deficit to championship leader Jorge Martin.
Bagnaia would seize the lead of the grand prix from sprint winner Aleix Espargaro, as Pedro Acosta followed closely behind. Martin would also come through on Espargaro, as the front three opened a gap to a few seconds.
Marc Marquez would make a good getaway, from 14th on the grid to battling for the top five within just a few laps. Jack Miller would crash out from the race early on, the Australian struggling aboard his Red Bull KTM once again.
Eventually, both Martin and Acosta would overtake Bagnaia, as the Italian began saving his tyre grip for the later stages in the grand prix. Acosta would challenge Martin, the pair of Spaniards on different bikes, with Acosta more dominant in the middle section of the circuit and able to get the bike turned much quicker.
However, after running close behind the rear wheel of the Ducati, eventually Acosta's front tyre would give out, as the rookie crashed at Turn 10.
Fabio Di Giannantonio would manage to climb inside the top five after starting from outside the top ten, the VR46 riders have struggled throughout this season, as teammate Marco Bezzecchi finished in 11th.
Alex Marquez and Enea Bastianini would make contact twice at Turn 1, with Bastianini being run into the escape road both times. Bastianini would pick up a long lap penalty, which he didn't serve. The Ducati rider would then be given a double long lap penalty, sinking him further into the field.
Marc Marquez would close right up to the back of Aleix Espargaro, with just a handful of laps remaining. Eventually, Marquez would make a move on Espargaro for third place, another impressive ride from outside the Top 10. Elsewhere at the front of the field, Bagnaia would close the one second gap to Martin.
Bagnaia eventually dived down the inside of Martin at Turn 5, where he crashed in the sprint race just one day ago. Bagnaia had conserved his tyre grip and made sure to utilise it at the end of the race, opening a lead of close to two seconds. Martin would pick up comfortable points, the gap between the pair is 39 points after this race.
Bagnaia would come across the line to win the Catalan Grand Prix, with Martin and Marquez further down the road. Espargaro made a late charge in the final lap, almost taking the final podium spot in his final Catalan GP, but alas it was not quite to be, with Marc Marquez taking yet another podium finish.
MotoGP Catalan GP Results
1st Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati
2nd Jorge Martin, Pramac Ducati
3rd Marc Marquez, Gresini Ducati
4th Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia
5th Fabio DI Giannantonio, VR46 Ducati
6th Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Aprilia
7th Alex Marquez, Gresini Ducati
8th Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM
9th Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha
10th Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Aprilia
11th Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Ducati
12th Maverick Vinales, Aprilia
13th Pedro Acosta, GasGas KTM
14th Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda
15th Joan Mir, Repsol Honda
16th Johann Zarco, LCR Honda
17th Luca Marini, Repsol Honda
18th Enea Bastianini, Ducati
19th Stefan Bradl, Honda Test Team
20th Alex Rins, Yamaha
DNF Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Ducati
DNF Augusto Fernandez, GasGas KTM
DNF Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM
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