Francesco Bagnaia missed out on a third consecutive MotoGP crown in 2024 to Pramac’s Jorge Martin by ten points.

The Italian produced one of the best individual seasons in MotoGP history, winning 11 Grand Prix to Martin’s 3.

But the championship loss was due to the number of retirements across the season, as Bagnaia failed to score points in eight races – double the number of retirements his title rival Martin had.

Bagnaia pinpointed the turning point in his 2024 MotoGP championship bid and admitted that the point gap was too far to overcome.

“I will accept [losing the championship] in some days,” Bagnaia told the post-race press conference at the Solidarity Grand Prix.

“But after the crash in Malaysia I understood that it was more complicated, to gain 29 points was quite tough.

“But I just tried to do the maximum, winning all the races remaining, and I think it was the maximum I could do.”

The two-time MotoGP champion admitted that Martin’s consistency led to him winning the title.

“Jorge [Martin] did a better job. In terms of consistency he was better, he finished [16] times second during the season, so it’s something unbelievable.

“From our side, we just had a bit of bad luck, and I had also some mistakes, so it’s difficult to imagine winning a title with eight ‘zeros’.

“We also beat the number of points compared to last season with eight zeros. So, I think we did a very good job, and we almost dominate the races in terms of victories, but it wasn’t enough.

“For next year, I will have to learn from my season, to learn from some situations that happened this season, and try to be better.”

Francesco Bagnaia: Jorge Martin did a “fantastic job” over 2024 season

The factory Ducati rider was one of the first to congratulate Martin on winning the championship in parc ferme.

Bagnaia’s championship hopes ended, but he was happy to see his former Moto3 team-mate make history.

“I was just looking at Jorge,” Bagnaia said. “We know each other very well, and I think if someone had to win the title that is not me, I’m happy for him.

“He deserves it, he did a fantastic job, and I was just smiling seeing him celebrating because I know how nice that moment is.

“You try to arrive to this goal all your life, and as soon as you achieve it it’s the best emotion you can have. So, I was just smiling for what he achieved.”

Francesco Bagnaia “proud” of 2024 season, but “we have to improve”

Despite missing out on the title, Bagnaia’s 11 wins placed him among the most dominant seasons in MotoGP history.

He completed five Sprint and Grand Prix doubles, but he stated that he needs to improve in certain areas in 2025 to come back firing at all cylinders.

“I’m proud of the season, I’m proud of my team because they did an amazing job all season,” Bagnaia said.

“Every time I was having trouble they were helping me a lot to improve.

“I’m looking forward to [the post-race test on] Tuesday, I think that we have to try something great, we have to try the new bike and this is great.

“Then I will have the honeymoon, and I think it will help me a lot to relax.

“We have to say that in the last two seasons, the amount of things to do in a race weekend have increased a lot, and in terms of the mental side it’s tiring you more.

“So, races are becoming the things much easier to do in this moment.

“I’m proud of what we achieved this season, finishing second is not winning but it’s still a good result and we know why we finished second so we just have to improve.”

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MotoGP’s newest champion Jorge Martin revealed he was “crying” under his visor in the final laps of the Barcelona Grand Prix.

The Spaniard held station in third place after the second lap to the end of the race to clinch his first MotoGP championship over factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia by 10 points.

The occasion left Martin feeling emotional in the closing stages as his lifelong ambition approached ever nearer.

 “[Becoming MotoGP World Champion] sounds amazing,” Martin shared in parc ferme.

“I don’t know what to say because I’m completely shocked.

“This is for my people, my family, to the people that are supporting me this is for them.

“The last few laps I couldn’t even ride, I started crying a bit, it was a really emotional race.

 “Thanks to my people, this is for them, it’s been a long journey with a lot of crashes and big injuries.

“But finally we are here and thanks to all the people and all the fans, also for Valencia with a Spanish rider.

“I hope we can keep improving and enjoy the moment – this is the most important thing, leave the present and enjoy the moment.”

Jorge Martin makes history to win 2024 MotoGP championship

Martin’s achievements cemented him in the history books forever as he becomes the fifth Spaniard to win in the premier class.

The Pramac rider joined Valentino Rossi as the only two riders to win the championship with satellite machinery but stands alone as the first in the ‘MotoGP era’, which started in 2002.

Martin produced Grand Prix wins in Portimao, Le Mans, and Indonesia but accumulated 32 podiums in the total 40 races to win the championship.

His closest title challenger, Bagnaia, won a distant 11 races throughout the season, but Martin’s consistency told the story.

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Jorge Martin secured the 2024 MotoGP World Championship after finishing third in the season finale in Barcelona.

The Spaniard maintained third position throughout the race and etched his name in MotoGP history by defeating championship rival Francesco Bagnaia by a ten-point margin.

Martin accumulated six Sprint race wins and three Grand Prix victories throughout the season, but he showed the true mark of a champion, finishing on the podium 32 times in the 40 total races.

The final race of the 2024 season was underway as the two title protagonists of Bagnaia and Martin occupied the first two places into Turn 1.

Marc Marquez placed his Gresini bike through into third ahead of Enea Bastianini, but forced his way through on Martin to snatch second at Turn 1 on Lap 2.

Bagnaia’s approach in the opening stages saw him opt not to push too far away from the field, but the Italian rider insisted previously he wouldn’t use tactics across the weekend.

Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro battled his way through Bastianini to claim fourth spot. The Spaniard’s last race was his home race, but also a faithful ally to championship leader Martin if anything occurred.

Espargaro and Bastianini overtook each other again on Laps 4 and 5, as the Aprilia rider caused havoc to try to give Martin a comfortable advantage in third. By the end of the first five laps, the gap varied between 0.2s and 0.4s over certain parts of the track.

A few bike lengths inside the first third of the race separated the leading duo of Bagnaia and Marquez. The latter wasn’t in a competitive position all weekend but now found himself at the forefront of the grid once more.

On Lap 8, the second factory Ducati rider of Bastianini ran wide at Turn 1 and dropped down to eighth, which promoted Gresini’s Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta and Franco Morbidelli.

This minor error from the Italian led the top eight riders to hold station for the foreseeable. However, younger brother Marquez eyed up a possible move on Espargaro in the final sector on Lap 12 but realised it was slightly too ambitious.

Bastianini overtook Franco Morbidelli at Turn 1 on Lap 13 to reclaim seventh place, a crucial move in his bid to regain third in the championship.

As the final ten laps commenced, championship leader Martin continued to cruise in the middle of the older brothers Marquez and Espargaro. The Spaniard’s comfortable position edged him closer and closer to that maiden MotoGP title.

Gresini’s Marquez overtook Espargaro on the final lap. Still, the Aprilia riders’ last-ever MotoGP race came to a close, but he could do a job to help his friend Martin win the championship. In a changing of the guard, the Spaniard held the pack up and played a role in moving the #1 plate to Aprilia, the team he helped fight for podiums and race wins.

Bagnaia crossed the line to earn his 11th race win of the season, but his race win was meaningless in the context of the championship.

The factory Ducati rider displayed some impressive performances, but his mistakes led to the title of the rider’s championship going to his satellite rival Martin.

Older brother Marquez capped off his season with a second-place finish, ensuring a third-place finish in the final standings in his first year on Bologna machinery.

The second Marquez finished in fourth as Espargaro followed close behind in fifth.

KTM’s Brad Binder recovered up the grid to produce a sixth-placed finish and end the championship season as the lead non-Ducati rider once more.

GP24 Ducati riders of Bastianini and Morbidelli finished seventh and eighth for the factory and Pramac outfit, as Marco Bezzecchi overtook Pedro Acosta to snatch ninth on the last lap.

Acosta’s tenth place saw him cap off his rookie season in sixth place overall, but nearly lost out on a top ten finish to Fabio Quartararo.

Miguel Oliveira’s return to action saw the Portuguese star cross the line in 12th, ahead of KTM’s Jack Miller and LCR’s Johann Zarco.

Maverick Vinales’ last race for Aprilia saw him finish a distant 17 seconds off his team-mate and brought home the final point in 15th.

The Honda duo of Luca Marini and Takaaki Nakagami crossed the line in tandem as both riders finished within 0.070s to finish 16th and 17th place.

Raul and Augusto Fernandez followed to claim 18th and 19th place, respectively, as Alex Rins closed out his season one second behind.

Michele Pirro and Stefan Bradl closed out the final two spots of the classification, a distance away from the full-time riders in front.

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Valencia’s Aron Canet took an emotional Moto2 victory at the SolidarityGP to close out a strong end to the season.

The Fantic rider was able to fend off a late charge from Manuel Gonzalez to take his fourth victory of the year as he ended the campaign second in the standings. 

The front row struggled off the start, with poleman Canet wheelieing off the line as second-placed Gonzalez took the lead.

A chaotic start saw Jake Dixon forced to run wide at Turn 2 as he lost time in attempts to avoid taking a shortcut. 

Dixon rejoined the race safely but collided with Alonso Lopez, which saw him out of the race along with bystanders Jorge Navarro and wildcard Roberto Garcia after contact with a sliding Dixon.

The chaos continued on the second lap as Zonta van den Goorbergh and Deniz Oncu made contact which forced the Dutch rider to run into the back of Oncu’s teammate Celestino Vietti, taking both riders out of the race. 

While the collisions were happening behind, Canet was recovering from his poor start and made his way back into second, allowing the Valencian rider to chase after Gonzalez out front.

Canet’s pass meant he was immediately able to chase down Gonzalez and a strong pass into the penultimate corner saw him take the lead of the race. 

The leading pair were able to break away from the rest of the field as the fight appeared to be for third place, with world champion Ai Ogura fending from Diogo Moreira, who was looking to seal the rookie of the year title. 

Towards the end of the race, the Pirelli tyres appeared to be going off which allowed Gonzalez to drastically close the gap to Canet out front. 

Moreira also looked to take advantage of Ogura’s tyre management as he launched an ambitious move at Turn 3, but the world champion was able to turn under the rookie to retake his position. 

The final lap of the race saw Moreira continuing to pressure Ogura and the Brazilian swept past to take the podium, before Ogura once again responded with a strong move at Turn 10. 

Gonzalez desperately attempted to challenge Canet out front, but the Fantic rider appeared to be too strong for the Gresini man.

Canet crossed the line to take an emotional victory, as the Valencian rider finished 0.165s clear of Gonzalez in second. 

Moreira was able to put a final corner move on Ogura to snatch third place as he sealed the rookie of the year award. 

Filip Salac showed strong pace late in the race and took the flag in fifth, while Sergio Garcia had a strong end to the campaign in sixth. 

Izan Guevara was seventh after his impressive end to 2024 ahead of Albert Arenas in eighth. 

The SpeedUp duo of Alonso Lopez and Fermin Aldeguer finished ninth and tenth respectively, crossing the line side by side and separated by just 0.050s. 

Somkiat Chantra was 11th in his final race before moving up to MotoGP while Marcos Ramirez took 12th and Senna Agius narrowly missed out on the rookie of the year title after taking 13th.

Tony Arbolino completed a difficult weekend in 14th as Jaume Masia rounded out the points finishers in 15th. 

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World champion David Alonso earned another record-breaking win after a perfectly-judged Moto3 victory in Barcelona. 

The Colombian scored his 14th victory of the season after holding off Dani Holgado, a feat that had never been achieved in any class before. 

Alonso got the best start from pole position and was easily able to keep hold of his lead going into the first corner. 

The traditional group racing in Barcelona commenced at the start of the second lap, with Ivan Ortola and Holgado looking to challenge Alonso out front, though the Colombian was able to outbrake the pair to retain his lead.

Holgado maintained a pace advantage throughout the second lap and was able to pass Alonso over the line, and was followed through by Fernandez and Munoz. 

Ortola was also able to overtake Alonso later on the third lap as the world champion was demoted further into the group of 15 riders. 

Fernandez hit the front as the riders continued to exchange the lead due to the power of the slipstream on the home straight. 

Holgado returned to the head of the pack and while the Spanish rider was unable to break away from the group, his late braking allowed him to hold onto the lead for several laps. 

Alonso was slowly beginning to progress through the group, moving from seventh to fifth after overtaking Furusato and Piqueras. 

A small collision between Ortola and Munoz allowed the Colombian to take advantage and gain two more places as he returned to the podium positions while the two Spanish riders were pushed back into the field. 

The world champion made use of the slipstream and was able to hit the front with five laps to go, as he attempted to break from the 12-rider group. 

With three laps to go, the slipstream effect proved too powerful once more as Fernandez, Munoz, Ortola and Holgado all made passes on the world champion. 

A superb double overtake from Alonso saw him retake the lead as he started the final lap at the head of the group. 

Fernandez went wide at Turn 1 and took a shortcut, which pushed him out of podium contention despite rejoining in third. 

Holgado tried everything to get back on terms with Alonso out front, but was too far behind to challenge the Aspar rider. 

Alonso crossed the line to make more history with his seventh consecutive race win, just over a tenth clear of Holgado. 

Piqueras crossed the line in fourth, but inherited the final podium place after teammate Fernandez was penalised for taking the shortcut at Turn 1. 

Jose Antonio Rueda displayed momentous late race pace and took fourth, mere tenths clear of Munoz in fifth. 

Munoz was then demoted one position after the race finished due to irresponsible riding as Ryusei Yamanaka inherited fifth place. 

Taiyo Furusato was just behind in seventh, while rookie Jacob Roulstone crossed the line in an impressive eighth. 

Ortola dropped down the order on the final lap and crossed the line in ninth as Collin Veijer rounded out the top ten.

Fernandez slotted into 11th after being awarded a three second penalty on the final lap ahead of Joel Kelso in 12th.

Tatsuki Suzuki took 13th while the Snipers pair of David Almansa and Matteo Bertelle completed the points finishers in 14th and 15th respectively. 

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Francesco Bagnaia clinched victory in the MotoGP Sprint race in Barcelona, keeping the championship fight alive heading into the season finale on Sunday.

The factory Ducati rider produced a comfortable victory out at the front, and the winner of the 2024 title showdown will be revealed tomorrow.

Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin secured second and third place to round off another 1-2-3 Ducati podium.

Bastianini and Martin battled hard off the line to occupy the front two slots into Turn 1, while Bagnaia’s start from pole position saw him drop down to third.

Bagnaia recovered to overtake his team-mate into Turn 2, the two-time champion shot off into the distance and formulated a few bike lengths gap between himself and the second factory Bologna bike.

The chaotic start continued as GasGas rider Pedro Acosta’s fairing fell off his KTM around the loop into Turn 3 as Marc Marquez cut across his front. The Spaniards collided, but no crashes occurred. Acosta went back to the garage at the end of Lap 1 to retire the bike.

Bagnaia’s lead remained the same inside the opening three laps, and Martin lunged his way through Bastianini to claim second on into Turn 1, before the factory Ducati rider replied a lap later in the same corner.

Martin’s last corner entrance launched him down the straight heading into Turn 1 on Lap 5 and displayed true aggression to force him out onto the curve. As a result, the Rimini rider’s entrance into Turn 3 put him under significant pressure from Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez behind but he maintained the final podium spot.

By this point, Bagnaia’s lead had stretched even further to 1.5s+ due to the chaos behind, but the championship leader was gaining by small margins.

The race’s second half was determined by whether Martin was willing to risk crashing to close the gap to the Italian out front.

The Spaniard opted not to chase Bagnaia but had to stay vigilant of the rider behind. As usual, Bastianini produced the goods in the dying embers and caught up to the back of the Pramac heading into the final lap.

The Italian rider raced the final lap perfectly, placing the bike perfectly into Turn 5. He then secured the all-important move to snatch second place from Martin on his inside line.

Bagnaia’s win saw the championship deficit cut to 19 points for Sunday’s Grand Prix, and he was the best rider on the day, winning by just under a second after the 12-lapper.

Bastianini recovered from eighth in qualifying to secure a strong result for the factory Ducati team, as the Italian has one eye on securing third in the championship standings.

Martin’s third place completed the podium places after securing another important appearance on the rostrum.

Aleix Espargaro dropped down to eighth after the first lap but recovered remarkably to claim fourth spot for Aprilia despite the late pressure of the Ducati duo of Alex Marquez and Morbidelli.

Older brother Marquez couldn’t recover up the grid following his early incident with Acosta and brought the bike home in seventh, as the Spaniard narrowly beat Marco Bezzecchi, Brad Binder and Fabio Quartararo to the line.

All four riders were separated by half a second, but further back, Johann Zarco’s 11th placed finish provided Honda’s best result of the Sprint.

Maverick Vinales’ rapid practice pace meant nothing in the Sprint race itself as he fell to 12th before Joan Mir secured 13th.

Raul Fernandez and Trackhouse finished 14th despite a problematic qualifying outing. The Spaniard produced late overtakes on Luca Marini and Alex Rins, who finished behind.

Takaaki Nakagami occupied 17th place ahead of the returning Miguel Oliveira and KTM rider Jack Miller.

Augusto Fernandez closed out 20th place to cap off a disastrous day for GasGas, as Ducati and Honda test riders Michele Pirro and Stefan Bradl closed out proceedings.

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Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia took a vital pole position in Barcelona MotoGP to qualify ahead of championship rival Jorge Martin.

Bagnaia’s time of 1:38.641 was enough to earn an important pole position as he will start both races in front of Martin, who could only muster fourth. 

There was a chaotic start to the Q2 session as the riders filtered out onto the track in a pack in attempts to get a tow, which resulted in Marc Marquez almost running into Bagnaia’s bike on the pitlane exit.

The Ducati rider was unfazed and set the early pace, immediately heading to the top of the timesheets after setting the benchmark time of 1:38.835. 

Marquez followed the double reigning champion around the Barcelona circuit to get a tow, which saw him into second place, splitting the championship rivals as Martin moved into third. 

The final flying laps came in and Bagnaia was being pursued by Marquez and Morbidelli in their attempts to improve their lap times. 

Bagnaia saw an improvement on his early lap, and set a 1:38.641 to keep a firm hold on his provisional pole position, with Marquez and Morbidelli staking strong claims to the front row behind him. 

Aleix Espargaro was giving a tow to Martin and Pedro Acosta as they seeked to improve on their own times and challenge Bagnaia at the top.

Espargaro moved into second, but his improvement pushed Martin off of the front row and down into fourth.

Bagnaia took arguably his most important pole position of the season and will have the advantage over Martin in both races.

Espargaro took second in his final MotoGP qualifying session in front of an adoring home crowd in Catalonia. 

Marquez took a surprising third after struggling across the weekend as he could prove to be a decisive character in the championship fight. 

Martin will start directly behind Bagnaia on the second row in fourth, ahead of teammate Morbidelli in fifth and Acosta in sixth. 

Maverick Vinales could only take seventh and will start in front of Enea Bastianini in eighth and Marco Bezzecchi in ninth. 

Fabio Quartararo will lead the fourth row of the grid after qualifying in 10th as Alex Marquez recovered from an early crash to 11th, while Johann Zarco finished 12th.

Joan Mir narrowly missed out on a Q2 appearance and will head the fifth row of the grid in 13th ahead of Miguel Oliveira in 14th and Alex Rins in 15th.

Luca Marini finished the session in 16th after a decent showing for Repsol Honda, with Raul Fernandez ending qualifying in 17th.  

A difficult session for KTM saw Brad Binder down in 18th while teammate Jack Miller crashed at the end of Q1 and was unable to improve on 19th. 

Takaaki Nakagami was unable to put a competitive lap time together and finished qualifying in 20th ahead of Augusto Fernandez in 21st.

Michele Pirro finished the qualifying session in 22nd while Stefan Bradl completed the standings in 23rd.

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Maverick Vinales continued a strong weekend for Aprilia by topping the timesheets in the final MotoGP practice session at Barcelona. 

The Aprilia rider set an unbeaten time of 1:40.208 to end the session as the fastest rider ahead of Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli. 

The track conditions were still far from ideal at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the temperature remaining a low 14 degrees throughout the session.

Vinales set the early pace in the season ahead of Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez as Aprilia continued to look strong around one of its best tracks. 

The championship contenders Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia looked to struggle in the session, with both riders on the fringes of the top 10. 

The strongest of the Ducati riders in the morning session was Martin’s teammate Franco Morbidelli as he spent the entirety of practice inside the top five. 

There were a few late improvements, but no one was able to challenge Vinales at the top of the timesheets as he finished fastest. 

Morbidelli was second and ended practice as the top Ducati, narrowly clear of a late charge from Gresini’s Alex Marquez. 

Fernandez was a strong fourth ahead of Pedro Acosta, as the top five were covered by a quarter of a second. 

Jack Miller was sixth, mere tenths faster than Marc Marquez in seventh and Aleix Espargaro in eighth. 

Brad Binder was ninth for KTM while Takaaki Nakagami continued with a strong conclusion to his MotoGP career, rounding out the top ten.

Championship rivals Bagnaia and Martin finished 11th and 12th, with both riders working on set-up before a crucial final qualifying session. 

Martin also had an issue with the practice starts after the session, stalling his Pramac machine as his weekend remained a struggle. 

Marco Bezzecchi was 13th ahead of the Yamaha pairing of Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins. 

Miguel Oliveira was 16th on his return to action for his final weekend at Trackhouse as Enea Bastianini was a lowly 17th for Ducati. 

Johann Zarco led a trio of Hondas in 18th, completing the session narrowly clear of Luca Marini and Joan Mir on the factory machines. 

Augusto Fernandez was 21st in his last practice session as a full-time rider. Stand-in rider Michele Pirro took 22nd as Stefan Bradl completed the standings in 23rd.

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Jorge Martin says he wants “to focus on what he can control” as he attempts to seal a maiden MotoGP title in Barcelona this weekend.

Martin holds a 24-point advantage over championship rival Francesco Bagnaia heading into the season finale at the Solidarity GP. He will take the title if he can score 14 points across the Barcelona weekend or win the Saturday Sprint race.

The Pramac rider insists that he’s “not thinking” about the title has helped him close in on the world championship, and that he will continue to ride at “100%” to achieve his goal. 

“Last season I was always thinking about how I can make history and just focusing on the title,” said Martin via Crash.net. 

“This year I’m not thinking about this, I didn’t think about it during all the season.

“I want to focus on what I can control, that is riding the motorbike at my 100% and performing at my 100% because I didn’t at the end of last season.

“Now I feel in a good moment, I feel strong and feel that I can have a great weekend, so that’s it.”

Martin: ‘it’s time to understand what we need to win the title’

Martin also believes that his consistency is what has drawn him close to his first ever MotoGP championship and that Pramac understand what’s needed to ensure they win the title. 

“I think the key was the whole season, I heard a quote from a fighter who said, ‘I win the championship during training’. 

“For us, I think it means every race you win the title and in the last round you get the medal.

“For sure now something can happen, but the important thing is the work like we did all season.

“We tried our best in every race and now it’s time to understand what we need to take that medal home.”

Martin: ‘I think MotoGP title race will go to Sunday’

Martin could win the title in the Sprint race on Saturday as he needs to outscore Bagnaia by just two points. 

However, the Pramac rider believes that the championship fight will roll onto Sunday’s race and that he is prepared to go the distance. 

“I think that finally I can race without looking at anyone, just myself,” Martin said. 

“Try to enjoy the weekend, try to be fast and for sure if I can take it on Saturday I will take it.

“But I think this will go to Sunday and I really accept this. So yeah, I will try to enjoy it, but try to be competitive. This is the main goal.”

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Francesco Bagnaia topped the timesheets in the second MotoGP practice in Barcelona after posting a late best lap time in the closing seconds.

The factory Ducati rider’s rapid lap time of 1.38.918s arrived after overtaking fellow VR46 Academy graduate Marco Bezzecchi to top the standings.

The second session of the day saw instant improvements from all riders, but still, everyone spent time gauging what tyres provided the best setup for Saturday and Sunday.

The weather in Barcelona throughout the session remained the same at 17 degrees, but the low grip on track meant riders opted for different setup choices.

VR46 Ducati rider Bezzecchi topped the session at the halfway point, as the Italian chose hard fronts and soft rear tyres. Still, other riders below him chose different compounds in the front and rear.

Most notably, championship leader Jorge Martin opted for medium fronts and hard rears in the middle phase of the session.

Earlier, his team-mate Franco Morbidelli was the first rider to hit the deck, as he and the Pramac bike fell into the gravel traps at Turn 2.

As the clock continued ticking down to the final fifteen minutes before the routine time attack from the whole field, no rider could match Bezzecchi’s lap time of 1.39.829s and the top ten were separated by just over half a second.

Martin proceeded to top the timesheets before Johann Zarco made a surprise feature at the top for a brief period considering Honda’s lack of overall pace.

Joan Mir’s crash on his last run left sectors three and four yellow-flagged, leaving multiple riders the decision to call off their respective runs.

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro almost bettered Bagnaia and Bezzecchi’s laps in the final seconds, but produced a quick enough time to be slightly over a tenth behind and finished as the lead Aprilia rider.

Zarco produced a fourth-place finish for Honda, whereas his old Pramac team-mate Martin could only manage fifth despite leading at one point in the session.

Maverick Vinales snatched sixth spot off the Gresini Ducati brothers of Alex and Marc Marquez.

Pedro Acosta and Enea Bastianini sealed ninth and tenth, respectively, as the duo hung onto an automatic Q2 spot by the narrowest of margins.

Brad Binder’s last run almost saw him eclipse the pair in the timesheets before he lost time in the final sector, which saw him finish 11th before his time got removed due to track limits.

Instead, his team-mate Miller finished 11th, whereas the table topper from the first practice, Taakaki Nakagami, couldn’t replicate his mesmerising performance from earlier and finished 12th.

The Yamaha rider pairing of Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins will start in Q1 on Saturday after both finished in 13th and 14th place, but both finished ahead of the GP24 Pramac rider Franco Morbidelli.

Binder’s lap time removal demoted him to 17th in the midst of a Repsol Honda sandwich as Luca Marini came out on top, as Mir’s late crash dropped him down to 18th.

The Trackhouse duo of Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira improved slightly to occupy 19th and 20th place. The duo finished the session miles clear of GasGas rider Augusto Fernandez, Michele Pirro and Stefan Bradl.

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