The hard-fought three-riders battle ends with a victory for Jorge Martin, who wins by a few thousandths over the current World Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi and teammate Fabio di Giannantonio. (ph. Marco Lanfranchi)
The leading characters in the final battle for the first step on the podium were Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi, and Fabio Di Giannantonio: the three riders immediately run ahead, conducting the race with great strategies and starting the real fight for the victory a few laps before the end. The Spanish poleman crossed the finish line first, beating the World Championship leader by just 19 thousandths, and his teammate by 24 thousandths.
The race started with Martin’s excellent kicking off, followed right after by Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio. The latter managed to overcome both Sasaki and Suzuki, who both started from the front row. The Spanish rider tried to run ahead, but soon the two Italian riders reached him. The crowded group of riders running after them (20!) lost Norrodin on the way because of a violent high side on Borgo San Lorenzo turn (he had done a great Qualifying though). Wildcard Stefano Nepa had to leave the race early too, concluding his first race in the World Championship with a fall. Rookie Dennis Foggia also had to withdraw, going back to the pit lane for technical issues on his KTM.
This has been a tactical race for the three leading riders up until the last lap (they even managed to avoid a hare, who crossed the track halfway through the race), while there were four riders fighting for the 4th place, Migno, Arbolino, Rodrigo, and Bastianini. Unfortunately, rookie Jaume Masia had to pull back from the race as he slipped on Poggio Secco turn after hitting his teammate Ramirez. Suzuki got a penalty and lost one position gained after going off track on Palagio turn. On the last lap, Yurchenko had to withdraw too and went back to his pit lane.
The three riders on the podium arrived at the finish line in just 24 thousandths, and both their final battle and their race should be applauded. Jorge Martin wins at the photo finish, Marco Bezzecchi is 2nd and Fabio Di Giannantonio 3rd. The 4th place goes to Gabriel Rodrigo, who finished ahead of a group of Italian riders that filled the top ten: Andrea Migno 5th, followed by Enea Bastianini and Tony Arbolino; far behind them arrived Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Niccolò Antonelli (who performed an excellent come back after an initial hit) and wildcard Manuel Pagliani, who closed a great Grand Prix. Nicolò Bulega got the 21st place, while Nepa and Foggia had to retire.
The ranking
