MotoGP

Who will win the race in Jerez? LIVE from 2pm

Francesco Bagnaia (center), Marc Marquez (left) and Marco Bezzecchi (right)

(Bild: APA/AFP/JORGE GUERRERO)

MotoGP World Champion Francesco Bagnaia won the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez de la Frontera on Sunday. The Italian Ducati rider won after a dominant ride ahead of his Spanish brand colleague Marc Marquez, who had started from pole position. Third place went to Marco Bezzecchi from Italy, another Ducati rider. It was Bagnaia's second win of the season and third consecutive triumph in Jerez. World championship leader Jorge Martin retired after a crash.

Bagnaia made a brilliant start and rode to the front from seventh position on lap one. The 27-year-old then engaged in close duels and overtaking maneuvers with Marquez, Martin and Bezzecchi at the front. In the end, the two-time MotoGP world champion was ahead by 0.372 seconds after 25 laps. Local hero Marquez was at least able to celebrate his first podium since switching brands. "The first lap was definitely the most important thing," explained Bagnaia after the race. "When you're battling with Marc, you have to be aggressive. It was a very good duel, I really enjoyed that."

The result in detail:

The sprint winner from the previous day couldn't say the same. Martin (Ducati) slid off the track on lap eleven while leading and came away empty-handed this time. However, the Spaniard continues to lead the world championship standings with 92 points, while Bagnaia is now second with 75 points. The race also did not go according to plan for KTM, with Brad Binder finishing sixth.

Acosta in tenth place
Pedro Acosta, who had finished second in the sprint race on Saturday, crashed heavily in the warm-up. In the race, the 19-year-old KTM top talent only managed tenth place. Dani Pedrosa, Jack Miller and Augusto Fernandez were eliminated. Meanwhile, the race organizers announced a new attendance record of almost 300,000 fans on the race weekend.