Bagnaia scorches to Czech MotoGP sprint victory, Bezzecchi suspended / Photo: Michal Cizek - AFP
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Bagnaia scorches to Czech MotoGP sprint victory, Bezzecchi suspended
Italy's Francesco Bagnaia scorched to victory in the Czech MotoGP sprint in Brno on Saturday, while championship leader Marco Bezzechi was suspended for Sunday's race for striking a steward.
Bagnaia pipped pole sitter Ai Ogura, on an Aprilia, to the victory, with Ducati teammate Marc Marquez finishing third.
Bezzecchi started from fourth on the grid but failed to hold on to the spot and crashed out with two laps to go.
His afternoon got worse after race organisers penalised him for his altercation with a race steward.
"Following a crash you pushed and struck circuit Marshals who were trying to recover your machine," organisers said in a statement.
Television footage of the incident showed him striking a steward twice in the face as the marshall grabbed his handlebars following the crash.
He now runs the risk of losing his championship lead to Aprilia Racing teammate Jorge Martin if he finishes on the podium.
Bezzechi leads with 180 points, Martin has 165 and Fabio Di Giannantonio, on a VR46 Ducati, has 144.
The 29-year-old Bagnaia started from third on the grid and capitalised from a rocket start that saw him top the pack into turn one.
He hailed Ducati's decision to use soft rear tyres on the burning hot tarmac.
"Luckily it was the correct one," he said.
"The first two laps made everything. I started well, I tried to push, open the gap and then I tried to control a bit," he added.
Ogura settled for second and never got close enough to attack the Italian in the lead.
"I thought that I could have something more at the end of the race," said Ogura, riding on medium tyres both at the front and the rear.
The 25-year-old Japanese rider topped Friday's practice and then also dominated Saturday's qualifying to clinch his first-ever MotoGP pole position.
Seven-time world champion Marquez in turn did not find the pace to try to overtake Ogura, but he safely held off Di Giannantonio in the fourth spot.
Marquez won the last GP in Hungary two weeks ago and also dominated both the sprint and the race in Brno in 2025.
Brazil's Diogo Moreira got off to a great start from sixth on the grid, settling in third place until turn 12 of the first lap when he crashed out.
Pedro Acosta, fourth overall, also crashed out of the sprint on lap five.
F.Pedersen--AMWN