After a crazy Tissot Sprint on Saturday, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) walked away with the victory, taking an extra 12 Championship points. The #89 now sets his sights on Sunday, with things already beginning to heat up in Jerez with many questions remaining unanswered. Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) is one of those questions, after qualifying on pole position and then crashing in the Sprint, he will look to take a first race win with Ducati on Sunday in officially the most competitive MotoGP™ field as 17 different premier class winners will line up on the grid. So have a look below at 10 amazing facts that you must know ahead of the Spanish GP!
1. Marquez has qualified on pole position for the first time since he joined Ducati this year. This is Marquez’ first pole since Portugal last year (399 days ago) and the #93rd in his GP career.
2. Marco Bezzecchi has qualified second for his first top three in qualifying since he qualified on pole position in India last year, when he took his most recent GP win.
3. At the Spanish GP a new record will be set of 17 premier-class winners lining up together on a grid.
4. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) has qualified in third position for the third top-three start so far this year along with Qatar and Portugal. He won the Sprint (his 11th Sprint win) and is the only rider to have been on the podium in the opening four Sprints of 2024.
5. Martin now aims to take his seventh MotoGP™ Race win and equal Loris Capirossi for fourth place on the list of the most successful Ducati riders in MotoGP™.
6. Their first at Jerez? - Aprilia and KTM/GASGAS riders will be aiming to give their manufacturer(s) their first win at Jerez. So far, the best Aprilia result here is P3, while the best for KTM/GASGAS it is P2.
7. Reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia has qualified seventh – meaning he’s not yet managed to qualify on the front row in 2024. The last time he failed to qualify in the top three for four successive races was in 2021 from Doha to France. He crashed out in the Sprint.
8. 50 Podiums in a row? - This is the 64th GP in a row with a Ducati in the top three in qualifying. This is the first time there are eight Ducati within the top nine in qualifying. If a Ducati is on the podium, they will extend their record to 50 consecutive GP races with at least one rider on the podium, becoming the fourth different manufacturer to reach this milestone in the premier class along with Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha.
9. Rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) finished P2 in the Sprint (his maiden Sprint podium) and, aged just 19 years and 339 days old, he will aim to become the youngest rider to win in the premier class, taking the record away from Marc Marquez (20 years and 63 days old in Austin in 2013).
10. Winner of the GP race last time out in Austin from pole, Viñales has qualified 11th for his worst qualifying result since he qualified 13th in Germany last year. He crashed out in the Sprint but will now be aiming to win back-to-back MotoGP™ races for the first time since the opening two races of 2017.
Will we see a repeat of the Sprint, or will we see a new winner on Sunday? Make sure you tune in at 14:00 local time (UTC +2) to find out on motogp.com!