San Marino MotoGP, Misano – Sprint Race Results

* Rookie

Jorge Martin takes a lights-to-flag victory in the 2023 San Marino MotoGP Sprint race, reducing the injured Francesco Bagnaia’s title lead to 45 points.

Martin converted a lap record pole position into the holeshot at turn one and was never headed.

Marco Bezzecchi, riding with an injured left hand from Barcelona, lurked threateningly on the Pramac Ducati’s rear wheel for much of the 13 laps but was unable to attempt a pass and called off his challenge in the closing stages.

• Misano Sprint Race: New MotoGP World Championship standings

By contrast, Bagnaia, who injured his leg in last Sunday’s horrific Barcelona fall, came under intense pressure from KTM’s wild-card star Dani Pedrosa, who was swarming all over the back of the Ducati in the closing stages.

But Pedrosa, in turn, had KTM team-mate Brad Binder breathing his exhaust fumes and, ultimately, Bagnaia gritted his teeth to keep both RC16s at bay.

Franco Morbidelli, Joan Mir, Stefan Bradl, Pol Espargaro and Johann Zarco all received post-race penalties for exceeding track limits… Mir received a record three long lap penalties during the race (one of which, like Augusto Fernandez, he served).

• San Marino Moto2: Latest Results
• San Marino Moto3: Latest Results

Ducati’s reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia took a reduced 50-point title lead over Pramac’s Jorge Martin into this afternoon’s race after a shocking accident on the opening lap in Barcelona last weekend.

Bagnaia highsided from the lead and landed in the path of Brad Binder, who couldn’t avoid hitting his legs. Miraculously Bagnaia escaped without any fractures and was passed fit for this weekend.

However factory Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini is absent from Misano, India and Japan after fracturing his left hand and ankle after triggering a multi-rider pile-up just moments before Bagnaia’s highside.

Dani Pedrosa is making a second wild-card appearance of the season for KTM, and using a carbon fibre chassis, with fellow test riders Stefan Bradl (Honda) and Michele Pirro (Ducati) also back on track.

Bradl is using a ‘2023.5’ RCV: This year’s engine (as required by the rules) combined with a range of prototype 2024 parts. Bradl’s bike, plus perhaps more new developments, are set to be tried by the official Honda race riders in Monday’s test.

LCR Honda’s Alex Rins remains absent due to his Mugello leg injuries and, with Iker Lecuona returning to WorldSBK duty, is replaced by Japanese test rider Takumi Takahashi.

But Takahashi, whose previous MotoGP start was in 2015, failed to lap within the 105% time in practice and was thus unable to take part in qualifying or this weekend’s races.