Jorge Martin produced a stunning final lap to snatch US MotoGP Sprint victory away from former title rival Francesco Bagnaia.
Martin gambled on the medium rear tyre before the start of the race and used its longevity to full-effect, moving from seventh on the grid to fourth by the end of the first lap after drama with Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marc Marquez.
Bagnaia initially made the best start from the second row of the grid and eased into the lead ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta in second.
Marquez also got a good get away and rose from sixth on the grid to third at the first corner. However, a firm move from polesitter Di Giannantonio demoted the Spaniard down to fourth place, in Turn 3, which didn’t go down too kindly with the Ducati rider.
Marquez tried to regain the position in the run down to Turn 12, but braked far too late and crashed out of the corner, taking Di Giannantonio with him and ending both of their chances for victory.
After overtaking Pedro Acosta and Joan Mir, Martin found himself behind team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, until he crashed out of second place with three laps to go.
It still looked improbable that Martin would be able to close the 1.352s gap to Bagnaia in the lead. However, on the final lap he cut almost a second out of the Italian’s lead to make it into a tense final shoot-out.
At Turn 12, the Spaniard made his move and forced Bagnaia to sit up on the exit of the corner and took the lead of the race – eventually crossing the line to win by 0.755s.
Bagnaia ultimately came up short, but still recorded his best result of the season with his second place.
Acosta crossed the line in third, but was immediately placed under investigation for tyre pressures.
Enea Bastianini used his traditional late race pace to move up to fourth, overtaking Alex Marquez who settled for fifth on the final lap.
Luca Marini took the flag in sixth ahead of the Trackhouse Aprilia pair, with Raul Fernandez in seventh leading Ai Ogura in eighth.
Johann Zarco earned the final point in ninth, as Fermin Aldeguer completed the top 10.
Fabio Quartararo was top Yamaha in a distant 11th, while Brad Binder crossed the line in 12th.
Franco Morbidelli struggled to 13th after spending the majority of the race in last place, while Jack Miller had tyre problems in 14th.
Mir suffered a late crash out of podium contention but rejoined to 15th, while Alex Rins also had a late-off and reclaimed 16th.
Marquez also rejoined following his clash with Di Giannantonio, completing the finishers in 17th.
Di Giannantonio himself re-entered the race, but had to retire due to a technical problem, while Bezzecchi did not see the finish following his crash.
Diogo Moreira retired due to a technical problem, while Toprak Razgatlioglu also had to pull off the track because of an issue and completed the non-finishers of the Sprint.
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