2024 Spanish MotoGP, Jerez - Race Results

*Rookie.

Francesco Bagnaia braves it out in a thrilling wheel-banging battle with Marc Marquez to win Sunday’s Spanish MotoGP at Jerez. 

Bagnaia’s second victory of the year was even sweeter with runaway title leader Jorge Martin crashing out of the lead while being chased by the reigning champion at the midway stage.

Martin’s first major error of the season occurred just before the halfway stage when he lost the front under braking for the Turn 6 hairpin.

That gave Bagnaia a one-second buffer over Marco Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez. 

The Gresini Ducati rider passed Bezzecchi with 12 laps to go, then - cheered on by the roar of the 145,000-strong crowd - began hunting down Bagnaia.

The only multiple MotoGP champions on the grid traded fastest laps, with pole qualifier Marquez - who had fallen from the lead of the last two races - close enough to strike with 6 laps to go. 

Marquez passed Bagnaia twice at Turn 9, but was immediately muscled aside by the #1 - physically on one occasion, leaving the #93 with tyre marks on his leathers - as the factory Ducati star prevailed by just 0.372s.

Nonetheless, Marquez was all smiles after his first grand prix podium as a Gresini rider while Bezzecchi was delighted to turn his difficult start to the season around with third.

• Spanish Moto2: Latest Results
• Spanish Moto3: Latest Results

Rookie Pedro Acosta, second in the Sprint, suffered a big accident in warm-up and was left 17th at the start of the grand prix. The teenager worked his way up to tenth at the flag.

Fabio Quartararo, who charged from 23rd to 3rd on Saturday, only to be stripped of a podium by a post-race tyre pressure penalty, managed just 15th, with team-mate Alex Rins the top M1 in 13th. 

Home wild-card hero Dani Pedrosa, who inherited a podium after Quartararo’s penalty in the Sprint, crashed out early in the race.

Pedrosa fell from his KTM at Turn 8, the scene of some of Saturday’s damp patches.

COTA winner Maverick Vinales was never a frontrunner while Aprilia team-mate Aleix Espargaro fumbled a pass on Johann Zarco, taking them both down hard. The incident is under investigation.

Another potential penalty incident occurred when Jack Miller was taken out by Franco Morbidelli during a battle for 11th with 8 laps to go, leaving the Australian furious.

All riders, except Stefan Bradl (soft rear), used medium compound rubber front and rear.

An official post-race test will be held at Jerez on Monday.

Home star and 31-time MotoGP race winner Pedrosa headlined three wild-card entries this weekend, alongside Honda’s Stefan Bradl and Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori.

The trio were all race-testing some new parts. Pedrosa remained tight-tipped on the KTM developments, Savadori is described as riding a 'lab bike' (but no sign of the carbon fibre frame) and Bradl's Honda visibly featured extensive aero updates.

Revised tyre pressure rules for 2024 mean riders must now stay above a lower front minimum of 1.8 bar (instead of 1.88) for 60% (instead of 50%) of a Grand Prix distance, or 30% of a Sprint.

The penalty for failing to meet this minimum in a Grand Prix is a 16-second post-race time penalty, or an 8-second penalty for a Sprint/short race.

After no pressure penalties in the opening three rounds, five riders were sanctioned on Saturday.