Francesco Bagnaia’s best chance of keeping his title hopes alive until Sunday’s Grand Prix is ​​to win Saturday’s sprint race and hope other riders can finish ahead of championship leader George Martin. Martin, on the other hand, should stay upright and not get into a fight with anyone. That’s what happened on Saturday. “Everybody did what they had to do today,” Martin said after the race.
After the start, Bagnaia quickly forced his way to the lead, and George Martin dropped to the inside from Innea Bastianini’s last-lap lunge to turn five. Martin happily pocketed the third place point, 19 points ahead of Bagnaia. That means even if Bagnaia wins Sunday’s Grand Prix, Martin will finish ninth and could still take the championship.
George Martin (89) allows Ine Bastianini (23) to make a clean pass for second on the final lap of the Sprint race.
Francesco Bagnaia (1) took the pole and led every sprint race.
Aaron Canet (44) led every Moto2 practice session over the weekend and grabbed pole in the final minutes of qualifying.
Moto3 World Champion David Alonso (80) was 0.347s quicker than the rest of the field and finished cleanly on pole. Fans on the Spanish hill waved banners with his racing number and the phrase “BabyGOAT”. Alonso was born in Spain with Spanish citizenship while competing as a Colombian citizen. Alonso set a new record for wins in a single season for the class with 13 wins so far in 2024.
Raul Fernandez (25) took out the Valencia flag on a cold lap after the sprint.
Trackhouse Racing bid farewell to Miguel Oliveira, who will leave the team in 2025 to join Pramac Yamaha. Oliveira scored his first podium for the team earlier this year, finishing second in Germany.
