Francesco Bagnaia took pole position at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Saturday, breaking his own lap record at the Misano circuit as Ducati bikes locked out the front row with Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini in the top three.

Francesco Bagnaia seized the opportunity to narrow Jorge Martin’s championship lead to just four points after winning the MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix sprint race. The reigning world champion set a new lap record to claim pole position at Misano but was once again outpaced off the line by Martin.

Francesco Bagnaia won an exciting sprint race at the Emilia-Romagna MotoGP on Saturday to cut championship rival Jorge Martin's lead at the top of the riders' standings. He was 23 points behind Martin after crashing out of the Aragon MotoGP but if he wins Sunday's GP he will take the championship lead.

MISANO ADRIATICO, Italy (Reuters) -Reigning MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati recovered from a poor start to win the sprint at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Saturday after the pole sitter capitalised on a mistake by championship rival Jorge Martin of Pramac Racing.

Italy's double MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia won the sprint race at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Misano track on Saturday. The Ducati factory team rider took the chequered flag ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin of the Ducati Pramac team.

Bagnaia maintains his edge over Martin at Misano as he outguns him in qualifying