Qualifying:

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) stormed away to claim the pole position for the Gran Premio Pramac dell’Emilia-Romagna, breaking the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli lap record with a flying lap time of 1:30.031 – finishing 0.214s over Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing).

Q1 is never short of drama, with riders aiming to prove themselves worthy of progressing to Q2, and Misano was no exception. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) crashed early on in the Q1 session at Turn 1, however, was quick to make his way back to the pit box, aiming to set a time in the final stints. 

Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) topped the standings early on before Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) improved, sending the pair through to Q2 after they both had equally strong final laps.

With Q2 quickly underway, Martin set the pace for the rest of the qualifying grid – his first flying lap clocking in at 1:30.245 to break the lap record for the first time almost instantly. However, it was a qualifying session to forget for Gresini Racing as Marc Marquez crashed out into the gravel early on at Turn 3.

With the time ticking into the final few minutes, the tension was building as every rider was back out onto the track to try and improve their time from the first run. Bagnaia and Martin put on a show for the Misano crowd as they set red sectors, with the reigning World Champion setting a time of 1:30.031 to destroy the lap record and place himself two-tenths clear of Martin. Binder briefly claimed third place before Bastianini crossed the line with an even quicker time to complete the front row.

With Binder losing out in the closing moments of the session, he would be set to start in fourth and head the second row of the grid for the Tissot Sprint and the Grand Prix race. He would be joined by Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) in fifth, with the rookie’s pace continuing to improve, alongside Marco Bezzecchi (Petramina Endura VR46 Racing Team) in sixth position.

Marc Marquez would be set to head the third row after being unable to improve on the time he set on his first run after returning to the track. He would be joined by Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) in eighth and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team) in ninth, as the Frenchman’s performance continues to improve in the latter stages of the season.

Sprint Race:

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) made a statement on Saturday at the Gran Premio Pramac dell’Emilia-Romagna, taking victory in the Tissot Sprint to cut the gap to just four points in the race for the Championship. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) claimed second place with Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) following the two home to round out the podium in third.

Pole-sitter Bagnaia dropped down to third place in the opening corners of the race, as Martin had a good launch off the line before attacking the Ducati Lenovo rider on the run up to Turn 1. Whilst Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) utilised the poor start from the reigning World Champion to move into second place, Martin seemed to pull the pin and push hard on the opening laps to try to establish a gap to his chasing rivals.

Binder’s pace soon dropped off as he dropped down to fourth by the time he reached Turn 8, with Bagnaia and Bastianini making a move past, before Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) began to mount the pressure. 

With the eight-time World Champion aiming for some redemption for his P7 start after his crash in qualifying, Marquez made quick work to pass the South African, with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) soon making a move of his own.

Out at the front of the race, Bagnaia began to edge closer to the Championship and race leader, closing the gap to under half a second, with the pair pulling away from Bastianini in third.

Crossing the line to start Lap 8, Bagnaia was now sat on the rear wheel of the Pramac bike, before experiencing a front end moment and then having to gather the momentum back up. The pressure on Martin worked, as the race leader had some drama of his own, heading wide off the track and leaving just enough space for Bagnaia to make a move.

Whilst initially the gap began to increase between the pair, moving into the final few laps, the Prima Pramac rider began to close on the reigning Champion, moving within six tenths on the penultimate lap before edging closer and closer until the chequered flag was waved as the lap counter ran out and he was forced to settle for second place by less than three tenths.

Bastianini claimed third place to continue his 100% podium record at the Misano circuit in the premier class. Marc Marquez finished in fourth place after making a mistake at Turn 13 – soon having Acosta too close for comfort, with the rookie sitting less than a second behind throughout the entire race. By the flag however, the Gresini rider had enough of a gap to ensure he gained those few valuable extra points, with Acosta coming home in fifth as the top KTM/GASGAS rider ahead of Binder in P6.

Further back, an intense battle was on the cards for the final point-scoring positions in the Tissot Sprint, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team) finishing in seventh, holding off Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Endura VR46 Racing Team) and Prima Pramac Racing’s Franco Morbidelli who rounded out points in the half-distance race.

Grand Prix:

Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) claimed victory at the Gran Premio Pramac dell’Emilia-Romagna with a controversial move on the final lap of the race. Crossing the line to take home glory, the Italian also added to the celebrations after helping Ducati claim the Constructors’ World Championship title and their 100th win in the premier class.

Bastianini finished ahead of Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) with the latter extending his title advantage after Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) crashed out on Lap 21, with Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) securing another podium after finishing less than three seconds behind Martin on the line.

Martin once again had a strong launch off the line, taking the lead of the race on the run up to Turn 1, before Bagnaia made a crucial move on the opening lap to retake his position, whilst Bastianini sat strong in third place.

Drama on Lap 2 came as a result of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashing out of the race after losing the front of his bike at Turn 4. He rejoined the Grand Prix in 21st place, with the team asking for a lot from the downed rider for the remaining laps of the race.

Bagnaia made a small error in the closing stages of Lap 2, closing his advantage and allowing Martin to make an overtake attempt at Turn 8 on the next lap. With the front pair battling, Bastiani had managed to close the gap and was now waiting to capitalise on a mistake from his position in third.

On Lap 4, Martin mirrored his previous attempt and this time managed to make it stick, with the reigning World Champion soon dropping down to P3, as Bastianini also managed to make a pass.

With 19 laps remaining of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Acosta’s race came to an abrupt end as he suffered a crash at Turn 15, in turn promoting Marc Marquez to fourth place and Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Endura VR46 Racing Team) into the top five.

After closing the gap to the front two riders down to below two seconds, Bagnaia’s race also finished early as the reigning Champions crashed out into the gravel. With the rider up and moving, Bagnaia was forced to watch the duel for Ducati’s potential 100th win from the sidelines.

With Martin in the lead and Bastianini chasing on his tail, the battle for the win was enthralling, as the race leader went slightly wide and any advantage quickly diminished as Bastiani was almost alongside. 

The decisive move came on the final lap of the race at Turn 4, with Bastianini forcing his way past, causing Martin to have to sit up his seat and sending the #89 wide out of the corner. With some fans calling the move controversial, the Stewards declined to investigate, as Bastianini went on to take the chequered flag first and extend his 100% MotoGP podium record at Misano, whilst also securing Ducati’s 100th MotoGP win and the Constructors’ crown.

Martin was forced to settle for second place, with Marc Marquez rounding out the podium in third after being promoted thanks to Bagnaia’s crash. Bezzecchi claimed fourth place in another solid weekend for the rider.

A late issue – speculation that the rider ran out of fuel – for Fabio Quartararo saw the Frenchman trying to hold on round the final corner of the race, before being forced to watch Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) claim fifth and sixth, with Quartararo equally his best finish of the season so far in P7.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) completed the top ten to take the final points of the race.