Francesco Bagnaia wins the Solidarity GP sprint race. One-two for Ducati Lenovo Team at Montmeló with Bastianini second

• Jorge Martín is third aboard Pramac Racing Team’s Ducati machine

The Ducati Lenovo Team has come out victorios with Francesco Bagnaia in the final sprint race of the season at Montmeló’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Enea Bastianini crossed the line in second place at the end of the 12-lap encounter.

Bagnaia had an excellent start from pole position, took the lead already during the opening lap and remained unchallenged up to the chequered flag, courtesy of a superb race pace aboard his Desmosedici GP machine. With one race left, Pecco has narrowed the gap to Martín down to 19 points.

Bastianini put together an incredible start from the third row, moving all the way up to first position from eighth on the grid. After dropping down to third during lap five, Enea managed to bridge the gap to Martín in the closing stages and ultimately overtook the opponent a turn five and successfully defended second place up to the chequered flag.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will resume proceedings tomorrow morning at 9:40 local time (GMT +1) for the warmup session, with the 12-lap, final race of the season to get underway at 14:00.

Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“We did what we had to do, but 19 points still represent a huge gap and it’ll be difficult to take them back. We’ll do our best and what will be, will be, but in any case, I’m having fun out there this weekend: we’ve been fast from the first session and that makes me happy. We simply have to keep going this way. Enea did an incredible start, maybe the best start I have ever seen with a Ducati, but at turn one I didn’t brake as hard as I could because I know that turn one can be a bit tricky here. It was important to get first position back as soon as possible and we did it, and I believe we’ll have to do something similar tomorrow.”

Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd
“It was a fantastic race, and I still cannot fully grasp how I managed to have such a sturt. I had to build some confidence in the opening laps, but then I was able to get up to speed and push hard. The battle with Jorge was a good one: when he overtook me at turn one, I got pushed wide a little and lost a little time; this is racing, especially when there’s so much at stake. In the closing stages, I was able to bridge the gap and overtake him, and I’m very happy because it was quite an unexpected podium finish.”