Jorge Martin kept the pressure on Francesco Bagnaia with a vital Sprint race victory at Valencia to ensure the MotoGP title battle will go down to the wire in Sunday’s final Grand Prix of the season.
Martin qualified on the second row in sixth place after his decision to use a hard front tyre in qualifying backfired, with reigning champion Bagnaia lining up ahead of him in second place on the front row.
However, Pramac Ducati’s Martin went all-out for the win and secured his ninth Sprint victory of the season, cutting Bagnaia’s advantage to 14 points after the Italian crossed the line in fifth at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.
Should Martin win again on Sunday, Lenovo Ducati’s Bagnaia at least needs to repeat his fifth-placed result to ensure he seals the premier class crown for a second time.
South African Brad Binder rode a strong race to claim the runner-up spot on the Red Bull KTM with Marc Marquez putting the Repsol Honda on the podium in third in his final Sprint race for the Japanese manufacturer, ahead of his move to Gresini Ducati.
Bagnaia made a flying start to snatch the lead on Lap 1 but pole man Maverick Viñales soon nudged past.
Martin was on the move and progressed to fourth ahead of Bagnaia, who was also overtaken on the opening lap by Binder and Marquez.
By the fourth lap, Viñales had a slight gap of half-a-second over Binder, who was being chased by Martin and Marquez. Bagnaia was 1.4s back in fifth ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati).
Frenchman Quartararo then slipped off on the next lap as he attempted a pass underneath Bagnaia.
Binder was piling the pressure on Viñales and finally made a pass stick on Lap 7 as he hit the front, while Martin in third was in the sights of Honda’s Marquez.
However, Martin began to up the ante and the satellite Ducati rider squeezed past Viñales for second place into Turn 1.
Binder then ran wide on Lap 8, gifting the lead to Martin, who remained in front until the finish.
Fabio Di Giannantonio had moved up to sixth behind Bagnaia after passing Bezzecchi and was looking for a way past the defending champion.
On the penultimate lap of 13, Martin held a slender lead of 0.3s over Binder, with Marquez comfortable in third ahead of Viñales.
Bagnaia was still keeping Di Giannantonio at bay in fifth and there was no change to the order on the last lap, with Martin closing out a crucial victory by 0.190s from Binder, who was two seconds clear of Marquez.
Viñales was a further second down, while Bagnaia held on for fifth ahead of Di Giannantonio.
Bezzecchi, Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez, Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) and Augusto Fernandez (GasGas Tech 3 KTM) were the top 10.
Aussie Jack Miller, who showed plenty of promise after qualifying fourth, slipped to 12th on the factory Red Bull KTM behind RNF Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez.
Aleix Espargaro also disappointed for Aprilia in 13th ahead of Luca Marini, who is now officially confirmed to be leaving the VR46 team, paving the way for an anticipated announcement that he will replace Marquez at Repsol Honda in 2024.
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