"Diggia" Wins with a Stunning Performance

Jorge Martin won yet another Sprint but was not so fortunate on Sunday with Gresini's Fabio Di Giannantonio putting in a stunning performance to claim his maiden MotoGP victory

- Azaman Chothia

Sprint

IN AN INTENSE QUALIFYING SESSION, Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing) took pole. Starting in P2 and P3 were Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing) and teammate Alex Márquez respectively. Meanwhile, the championship contenders, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), started the race in P4 and P5 respectively.

At the start, Marini got the holeshot while Alex Márquez slotted himself into P2 and there was contact between Martin and “Pecco” Bagnaia. Martin was able to hang on to P3 and Bagnaia was now down to P4. Later on during the lap, Alex Márquez and Martin were slightly wide and this allowed Pecco to shoot back past Martin as Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) also attacked and got through. Martin snapped back not long after and was back on the rear wheel of Bagnaia. On lap two, it got really close again as Martin got past and, a few corners later, “Diggia” did the same.

Meanwhile, at the front, Marini and Alex Márquez were battling it out. Marini managed to hold on to the lead as Martin was getting closer to the duo. With seven laps to go, Alex Márquez tried to get into the lead but Marini was quick and responded with an immediate cutback. This squabble brought Martin closer to them, after which he was able to get past Alex Márquez who was then left to defend against Diggia. The move from Martin to take over the lead came at the final corner as he was able to hold Marini off going into Turn One. Meanwhile, Diggia was able to get past Alex Márquez to get into P2 at Turn One. Bagnaia was in fifth with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) around half a second behind him.