2024 San Marino MotoGP at Misano: Sprint as it happened

Marc Marquez has found a way past Bezzecchi for eighth, while Bastianini has just taken fourth. 

Incident - Lap 2

Fabio Di Giannantonio has crashed at Turn 14 but is back on his bike and going again. 

Bagnaia has closed in on Martin as this second lap draws to a close. 

lap 2/13

Martin leads Bagnaia by half a second over the line to start the second lap. The dream start to this sprint for the championship leader!

Marquez has gone back to ninth at the end of that first lap, with Fabio Quartararo 10th on the Yamaha. 

Terrible first lap for Bezzecchi so far. He's gone from third on the grid to eighth behind Jack Miller, who's up from 12th. 

lap 1/13

Martin leads Bagnaia and Morbidelli, while Marc Marquez has gained one spot to eighth. 

The safety car has set off, which means it's almost time to go racing!

Marc Marquez has a job on coming from ninth on the grid after his Q2 crash. 

But the Gresini rider has come from further down the grid several times this year and reached the podium. 

Interesting to see most riders getting to the grid fairly quickly, except for Jorge Martin, who looked to be having a very steady exploratory lap. 

Fuel consumption shouldn't be a big issue in the sprint. But Martin, coming from fourth, will have to push quite hard early on if he wants to get into victory contention. 

One rider to keep an eye on this afternoon is Tech3's Pedro Acosta. 

He showed strong race pace on Friday and feels like he's much closer to the leaders than he has been for a while. 

15-minute warning

The riders are heading out for the sighting lap to the grid. 

That means there's just 15 minutes until lights out!

There is a fear that Bagnaia could clear off at the front. He had strong race pace on Friday on the medium rear tyre.

But Martin was incredible on used soft rubber, which will be the preferred choice for the sprint today.

It's a first front row for Franco Morbidelli since the 2021 Spanish GP at Jerez.

Incidentally, that was the last time the Pramac rider stood on a MotoGP podium. Could that end today?

This sprint will be run over 13 laps this afternoon. 

Conditions are perfect at Misano. 

Championship standings

Ahead of this sprint race, Jorge Martin leads the championship by 23 points over Bagnaia.

Marc Marquez is third in the standings, 70 points back of Martin, while Bastianini is fourth a further point down.

If you didn't tune into our coverage this morning, you'll notice Joan Mir's name is absent from that grid. 

The Honda rider has withdrawn from the remainder of the San Marino GP due to illness. 

That's all from us for now. 

But joins us from 2pm UK time for what will surely be an exciting sprint race at Misano. 

See you later!