. The defender of the crown, Pecco Bagnaia, fulfilled his role impeccably this Saturday and achieved the pole position and an incontestable victory in the race sprint to extend his infinite duel with Jorge Martín, fourth on the grid and third in the short test after handling the tension of the fight for the title with integrity. 19 points now separate the Spaniard, leader of the competition, from the Italian, who will need a disaster from the San Sebastián de los Reyes driver to retain the title. With a ninth place in the grand prix this Sunday (2:00 p.m., DAZN and La Sexta), the Spaniard would be enough to achieve his first title in the premier category no matter what the enemy does.
Bagnaia demonstrated from the first minute at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The current champion showed no cracks in his plan to pressure the enemy, and also sought to put drivers between him and his rival without all the success he would have desired. “I have tried to give a wheel to many drivers, because I need it,” he commented on his strategy in qualifying. Marc Márquez was one of those who took advantage of his wheel and will start third this Sunday, just behind Aleix Espargaró who was second and collaborated with Martín without completely nailing the strategy among friends.
The Aprilia rider, who says goodbye to racing this weekend at the age of 35, has already expressed several times that he prefers his good friend’s title to a victory or a podium of his own in his farewell, although during the race he fell towards back and was not a participant in the always tense fight for the crown, finishing fourth. It was Enea Bastianini, Bagnaia’s teammate on the official team, who made Martín’s life the most complicated in Saturday’s test, appearing out of nowhere at the first corner to take first place from his eighth place on the grid.
The man from Rimini, who will join KTM in 2025, is playing for a third place in the championship that would give him a notable bonus with Márquez who had a contact with Pedro Acosta in the early stages and could only finish seventh. Bastianini was very aggressive after Bagnaia quickly regained the preferred position and exchanged second place several times with Martín, who saw how on the last lap the Italian went all out in turn five, forcing him to lift the bike and settle. with a third place that paves, in any case, its alirón this Sunday. Everything except a fall or a sinking was enough for the Madrid native, who avoided risking more than necessary after giving everything at the start, without cutting himself too thin in the battle with his rival’s teammate for the title.
“I feel good, it has been a spectacular fight with Enea. Today was a day to compete as always, and so it has been. The goal tomorrow will be similar. We are on the right track. I will go all out and we will close this title,” Martín commented from the parc ferme. “This podium has been unexpected, but I am super happy. I want to see my exit repeated,” Bastianini celebrated. Bagnaia, who absolutely needs to win or be second to have a mathematical chance of lifting his third consecutive crown, was satisfied and took off his hat with the mettle of his former bunkmate in the entry category to the competition. “We have fulfilled our mission today. More than this was impossible, and Jorge has done a great job. “I am happy with what I have achieved,” added number one.
