Bastianini wins in Emilia-Romagna thriller
Italian Enea Bastianini has won his home Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix after a final lap showdown with Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin to give Ducati a 100th MotoGP victory.
Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia crashed out while in third place in Sunday’s race, helping Spain’s Marc Marquez finish third for Gresini Racing at the Misano circuit.
With three Ducati bikes on the podium, the Italian manufacturer also clinched the constructors’ championship with six rounds to spare.
With Spaniard Martin leading the race on the final lap, Bastianini made an aggressive overtake on turn four that elbowed the Pramac Racing rider out of the way before he took the chequered flag as the home crowd roared in delight.
“Jorge was perfect for all the race and it was too difficult to try to overtake him,” Bastianini said after his second race victory of the season.
“In the last lap I saw a bit of space inside turn number four, I entered a bit on the limit but at the end I closed the line.
“It’s incredible to win today here in Misano in front of my friends.”
Martin finished second and the result extended his lead over Bagnaia in the riders’ championship to 24 points.
Polesitter and sprint winner Bagnaia briefly fell to second when Martin had yet another perfect launch off the line but the Italian immediately took back his place at the head of the pack on the next turn.
However, Martin did not give up and after swapping positions once, he eventually made an overtake stick on the inside, forcing Bagnaia to back off before his teammate Bastianini also moved up as the reigning champion fell to third.
Bagnaia seemed to be having trouble with his pace with slower laps as Martin quickly extended his lead but Bastianini gave chase on his home circuit.
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