Martin strikes gold as M. Marquez crashes from the lead in a dramatic Sprint

Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) is back on top, winning an epic Tissot Sprint for the first time since the opening round! The #89 battled hard on the first lap to steal the lead and fought hard with Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) throughout the Sprint before crossing the line to claim victory with a comfortable gap after at the Gran Premio Estrella Galicia 0,0 de España on a Saturday which had many twists along the way.

The battle for the podium was intense, with Marc Marquez crashing out, promoting Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) to second, and Daniel Pedrosa (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) claiming third after a tyre pressure penalty for Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™).

There was potential for drama at turn one, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) claiming the holeshot after a sensation start for the South African. Martin soon found a gap on pole-sitter Marc Marquez, who tried to fight back at turn two but would abort the mission, sitting sights for a move later in the Sprint. Martin soon hit the front of the race, leaving Binder to fight with the Marquez brothers behind.

Reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) then suffered his Sprint drama, sandwiched with Binder and Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing) at turn one – bringing a premature end to the #1’s Sprint, with no further action to be taken on the collision but Bagnaia the only rider sidelined because of it.

At the front, Martin put the hammer down straight away, building a gap of one second to Marc Marquez, who was working hard to close the gap. The #93 clawed the gap back to half a second before Martin ran wide, allowing Marquez to pounce on lap seven of the race – causing the Jerez crowd to erupt.

Behind the race leaders was a great battle brewing for third between Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), Binder, and Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), before suddenly all three riders lost the front at turn five. Seconds after, Marc Marquez would lose the front from the Sprint lead, crashing out and dropping down to ninth position. This promoted Martin back into the lead, Acosta into second, and Quartararo into third.

On the final lap of the race, Martin had a comfortable four-second lead and looked unbeatable on the final lap. The #89 held onto the victory, crossing the line to win the Tissot Sprint ahead of Acosta and Quartararo.

Pedrosa was unable to find a gap in Quartararo’s armour in the final lap, crossing the line to finish in fourth. However, Quartararo would be later handed a penalty promoting the returning #26 to third place ahead of Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing), who was promoted to fourth with Quartararo rounding out the top five after the eight-second tyre pressure penalty was applied. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) ended the race in sixth, but a penalty for him then promoted Marc Marquez, who remounted, to P6.

Marc Marquez was also forced to drop one position in the closing stages of the race after colliding with former Repsol Honda teammate Joan Mir, but completed the charge. Augusto Fernandez made it a double-point scoring finish for the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 squad, classified seventh ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) and Mir, who was promoted to P9 by Raul Fernandez' penalty.

There were a handful of other fallers throughout the race, including Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio, who would also crash in the early stages at turn 13 before Bezzecchi would fall with four laps remaining. Both Aprilia Racing machines of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales would also DNF from the Sprint, and Luca Marini (Repsol Honda Team) and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed out.

It is not even race day yet, with MotoGP™ back on track for Warm Up at 9:40 local time (UTC +2) on Sunday, before it is time for the awaited Spanish GP with lights going at 14:00 local time.

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