2024 MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona - Race Results

* Rookie

Francesco Bagnaia makes amends for his Sprint catastrophe by beating title leader Jorge Martin for victory in the 2024 Catalan MotoGP at Barcelona

Bagnaia, who handed victory to Aleix Espargaro with a last-lap crash in the Sprint, shadowed Martin before diving inside at Turn 5 - the corner where he fell on Saturday - with 5 laps to go.

The reigning champion then edged away from title leader Martin for his third grand prix win of the season.

Ten seconds behind the leading duo, Marc Marquez slipstreamed around Aprilia’s Sprint winner Aleix Espargaro, then nursed his soft rear tyre to the flag to claim the final podium place.

Martin had progressed from seventh to third on the opening lap, then made successive Turn 10 out-braking passes on Pedro Acosta and Bagnaia to snatch the lead on lap 5.

The Pramac Ducati star (medium rear tyre) and Acosta (soft rear) then broke into the 1m 39s to put space between themselves and Bagnaia.

Further back, Sprint winner and pole qualifier Espargaro joined the duo in the ‘39s as he closed in on Brad Binder’s KTM in fourth.

Espargaro and Raul Fernandez burst past a fading Binder on lap 10, but there was bigger drama at the front as rookie star Acosta slid out of second.

The race then split into two groups at the front: Martin and Bagnaia battled for victory with Espargaro, Fernandez, Marc Marquez and Morbidelli (who later fell) squabbling over the final podium place.

Marquez proved the stronger, passing Fernandez and then levering local star Espargaro from third.

After the soft rear tyre in the Sprint, the hottest temperatures of the weekend combined with full 24-lap distance meant most riders switched to the medium for the grand prix.

But the Marquez brothers, starting 13th (Alex) and 14th (Marc), plus Acosta (5th) and Jack Miller (9th), rolled the dice with a late switch to the soft rear on the grid in search of early progress.

Either way, the first half of the race was a ‘go slow’ affair as the lead group of six riders - Bagnaia, Martin, Acosta, Binder, Espargaro and Raul Fernandez - saved rubber, with Marc Marquez stuck behind Franco Morbidelli in eighth in the early stages.

Enea Bastianini was given a double long lap penalty after failing to serve a single long lap for shortcutting Turn 2... But he missed that penalty as well and was finally given a 'ride-through', added to his finishing time.

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 will be a 16-second post-race time penalty, or an 8-second penalty for a Sprint/short race.

Practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello starts on Friday morning.