On the evening of April 27th, Beijing time, the MotoGP sprint race at the Jerez circuit unfolded. Francesco Bagnaia from the Pramac team emerged victorious in a battle of survival. Newcomer Álvaro Bautista continued his impressive form to finish second. Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo, starting from 23rd on the grid, miraculously crossed the line in third place. However, he was found to have violated tire pressure regulations during post-race inspections and received an eight-second penalty, ultimately dropping to fifth position. Wildcard entry Dani Pedrosa claimed third place in the sprint race!
On the evening of April 27th, Beijing time, the MotoGP sprint race at the Jerez circuit unfolded. Francesco Bagnaia from the Pramac team emerged victorious in a battle of survival. Newcomer Álvaro Bautista continued his impressive form to finish second. Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo, starting from 23rd on the grid, miraculously crossed the line in third place. However, he was found to have violated tire pressure regulations during post-race inspections and received an eight-second penalty, ultimately dropping to fifth position. Wildcard entry Dani Pedrosa claimed third place in the sprint race!
In the qualifying session held earlier that afternoon, Marc Marquez of the Gresini team, competing on home soil, secured pole position with a time of 1:46.773 in wet conditions, marking his 93rd career pole. Joining him on the front row for the sprint and main race were Bezzecchi and Bagnaia. Ducati bikes occupied eight of the top nine positions, while Aprilia’s factory team and Yamaha struggled, finishing near the bottom of their respective sessions.
The second free practice session, preceding the qualifying, provided a valuable opportunity for riders to test the track in wet conditions for the first time this weekend. Unfortunately, championship leader Martin encountered a setback when his helmet visor detached on the outlap, forcing him to return to the pits for a replacement.
Early in the session, Marc Marquez improved his time to lead the pack, a position he maintained until the end of FP2. Johann Zarco and Bagnaia followed in second and third, respectively, while Martin, after his visor issue, could only manage 12th place.
The qualifying started at 10:50 am local time, with 15 riders vying for just two spots in Q2. KTM’s Brad Binder initially set the pace with a 1:49.112 lap, later improving to 1:48.626. However, Pramac’s Jorge Martín raised the bar significantly in the closing stages of Q1, posting a 1:47.887 lap. Binder also improved his time to 1:47.949, securing his place in Q2 alongside Martín. Zarco narrowly missed out on a better position in Q1, finishing third, while both Yamaha riders, Quartararo and Viñales, were outperformed by all wildcard entries, finishing 13th and last, respectively.
A 10-minute break preceded the pole-position fight in Q2. Marc Marquez carried his strong FP2 performance into Q2, topping the timesheets with a 1:48.016 lap. KTM’s Binder briefly took the lead with a 1:47.807 lap, but after all riders switched to new rear tires, Marquez stormed to a 1:46.773 lap, claiming his 93rd career pole. Bezzecchi and Martín completed the front row, while rookie sensation Bautista, who crashed in his final flying lap, settled for tenth. Both Aprilia factory bikes disappointed, finishing at the back of the Q2 session.
The MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix sprint race started at 9 pm Beijing time. Binder led briefly after the start before Martin overtook him at the end of the first lap, attempting to establish a gap. The Marquez brothers then passed Binder, moving up to second and third places.
Crashes began early, with Aprilia’s Espargaro and KTM’s Miller becoming the first casualties.
In lap 3, Bagnaia found himself sandwiched between Binder and Bezzecchi, resulting in contact and a crash. One lap later, Joan Mir became the fourth rider to crash. Two laps after that, Savadori succumbed to the same fate.
Martin briefly opened a gap of over a second, but Marc Marquez quickly closed in and capitalized on Martin’s error at Turn 7, overtaking him at Turn 9 on lap 7 to retake the lead. Later, Viñales had a lowside crash at Turn 13, but he managed to rejoin the race.
On lap 9, chaos erupted.Binder, Bastianini, and Alex Marquez all crashed at Turn 5. Shortly after, the home crowd’s hearts sank as pole-sitter Marc Marquez crashed at Turn 10. Although he managed to remount, he lost several positions. Bezecchi had also crashed just seconds before Marquez, making it five crashes in lap 9 alone.
With Martin and Bautista’s positions looking secure, Quartararo, starting from 23rd, had quietly fought his way to third, defending against a trio of riders led by Pedrosa.
Vinylés also crashed at Turn 5 on lap 10, ending both Aprilia factory riders’ sprint races in retirement.
After a roller-coaster race, Martin took the sprint victory, 2.9 seconds ahead of Bautista in second. Quartararo held off Pedrosa to finish third, with Pedrosa fourth. In the final corner, Zarco crashed after being overtaken by Morbidelli, dropping from sixth to twelfth. With Marini and Bradl also crashing on the last lap, a total of 15 riders crashed during the race.
Despite his earlier crash, Marc Marquez fought back to seventh place. The last two points-scoring positions went to Augusto Fernández and Oliveira. The official results showed only 16 riders crossing the finish line, with nine unable to complete the race. Undoubtedly, those who finished were the ones who persevered.
Post-race inspections revealed that Quartararo’s tire pressure was not within regulations, resulting in an eight-second penalty that dropped him to fifth. Pedrosa thus inherited third place, with Morbidelli moving up to fourth. Raul Fernandez, Viñales, Miller, and Di Giannantonio were also found to have tire pressure issues and received similar penalties. The most affected was Raul Fernandez, who fell from sixth to outside the points, allowing Honda’s Mir to claim the final point.
Moto2 Qualifying
Adrián Fernández, who will step up to GP next year, continued his impressive run, taking pole position with a 1:40.673 lap, a massive 0.793-second advantage over second-placed Arénas. Dixon and Gresini’s other rider, González, completed the front row in third and fourth, respectively.
Moto3 Qualifying