In total, 15 riders of the 25 starters suffered falls across the 12-lap sprint, with 10 of those tumbles occurring in about 10 minutes between lap seven and the end.

At Turn 5, Vinales fell on lap 10 having inherited third when Alex Marquez, Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini all had identical front-end crashes the tour before.

Moments after they did this, Marc Marquez crashed out of the lead at Turn 9, while Luca Marini, Stefan Bradl, Johann Zarco and Marco Bezzecchi slid off soon after.

The race was not stopped despite the sudden spate of falls, with Pramac’s Jorge Martin going on to win from Pedro Acosta and Fabio Quartararo before the latter was hit with a tyre pressure penalty.

Most riders noted that there were damp patches in several key places, with Vinales noting that the one he crashed on at Turn 5 was impossible to see.

Asked about what happened, the Aprilia rider felt the race should have been stopped as so the circuit could be inspected.

«At the end it [the track] was 95% dry and the 5% that was wet was completely in the middle of the line,» he said.

«And especially at Turn 5 you could not see with your eyes that it was wet. For example, on the warm-up lap I passed Turn 5 and I just looked back to see where was wet and all the corner looked dry.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing crash

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«So, was impossible to see. Also, last corner it was impossible to see [the damp patches].

«I think after the crash of Binder and all the guys, I think race direction should understand that the track was not rideable for these kinds of bikes.

«I just passed maybe on the same line and then I crashed without any warning. So, we need to really be careful when the track is on these conditions because it’s so easy to make a big crash.»

He added: «I don’t think it’s about luck. It’s about the track, the conditions of the track.

«For sure if I’m in a test I don’t go out with these conditions. I wait till it’s dry. Obviously, it was completely in the middle of the line, so that’s why I say race direction should understand that if we are 20 [riders] – or something like that – and 14 riders crash, it’s because of something. Put a red flag and check the conditions.»

Vinales also noted that riders have been asking for ways to be able to communicate from the bike to race direction to signal if there is a problem on track for it to investigate, but nothing has come of that so far.

Alex Marquez noted that Jerez being slow to dry in places is «typical» of the asphalt there, but says since the track was resurfaced in 2019 Turn 5 has been a bigger issue.

«Yeah, it’s typical, but also for many years it’s been the same problem,» he added.

«So, we need to make something to avoid these things because it’s something there… I think they resurfaced there, I don’t remember the year, but from that point we’ve had this issue.

«So, we need to do something to avoid this because for sure for the spectators it was really fun and was a spectacular race. But for the riders… it was good, but not the things we want to ride.»

Binder says his crash at Turn 5 was a result of him reacting to Alex Marquez falling in front, and in checking up he touched the damp patch.

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Aleix Espargaro, Vinales’s team-mate – who crashed on lap one – doesn’t believe halting that race was the correct solution, but questioned whether it should have gotten underway when it did.

«I mean, yeah, you guys all saw the track conditions,» he said.

«I don’t think the red flag was the solution. Once you start the race, if the track is not getting worse for some circumstances and the track was not worse on the last lap than the first one.

«But the question mark is whether we should have started that race or not. It’s difficult really to have a fully agreed decision between all riders.»

Asked if the race should have been delayed and the track dried out, he added: «I spoke to Loris this morning and he said ‘yes, we are going in corner two and five every time to try to dry up before the sessions, but there was not time enough’.

«So, for me it’s very dangerous to have these super powerful bikes to go out on the slicks when there are some wet patches.

«But it’s difficult also for race direction because how you control that one rider doesn’t put on the slicks at the end of Q2 and risk? It’s too difficult, really.»

Yamaha’s Quartararo qualified a career-worst 23rd in the damp Q1 session, but put on a sensational fightback in the early stages of the 12-lap sprint at Jerez on Saturday.

Leaping up to 11th on the opening lap, Quartararo was in the points in ninth on the third tour and vaulted up to third after a spate of crashes in the latter stages.

Quartararo fended off KTM wildcard Pedrosa by 0.050 seconds to score a first podium since the Indonesian Grand Prix last October.

However, Quartararo was later found to have broken the minimum tyre pressure rule and has been handed an eight-second time penalty.

This drops Quartararo down to fifth and promotes Pedrosa to the podium, marking his first rostrum of any kind since he won the Valencia GP in 2017 when he was a full-time racer.

Ahead of this season, the penalty for riding underneath the minimum tyre pressure of 1.8 bar for more than 30% of a sprint and 60% of a grand prix was meant to be disqualification.

However, this was tweaked earlier this year so that the penalty was eight seconds for a sprint in fraction and 16s in the grand prix.

Quartararo has become the first rider this season to be penalised for breaking the minimum tyre pressure rule.

Trackhouse Racing Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez has also been penalised eight seconds for breaking the minimum tyre pressure rule, which promotes Marc Marquez to sixth after his chaotic race. Alex Rins and Jack Miller were each handed eight-second penalties too.

Dani Pedrosa

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

While it has not been confirmed if it was front or rear tyre pressure that was out of the minimum limit, all penalties for the infraction last year were down to front pressures.

If it was the front, due to the 2021 world champion’s starting position, it’s likely his Yamaha crew set his tyre pressures for the 12-lap sprint in anticipation of him circulating in the pack for the duration and thus experiencing a quick increase in pressure that would have ensured he avoided a penalty.

Pedrosa’s podium return comes a year on from his rides to sixth in the sprint and seventh in the grand prix as a wildcard for KTM at Jerez.

At the San Marino GP, he finished fourth in both races.

Speaking about his 2024 Spanish GP sprint, Pedrosa said: «I was around P13 more or less and I was already behind Fabio.

«Then I wanted to overtake him immediately in the first two laps but I saw one crash, then in the next lap another crash, then in another lap another crash.

«Then I said ‘Okay maybe just don’t push too much because maybe the tyres are not ready and the track is tricky’.

«So, I go step by step. So I stay behind Fabio for the race but every two or three laps, two guys off.

«Three guys off. Another guy off after. I didn’t know my position anymore because when I was passing in the straight line I was trying to overtake Fabio and I always pass on this side and I don’t see very well my board.

«So, in the last lap we didn’t know we were P3, P4. I thought we were P6, P7.»

Martin leapt into the lead on the opening lap but was quickly reeled in and passed by poleman Marquez, who looked on course for a first Gresini Ducati win.

But on lap nine of 12, Marquez fell off at Turn 9, just seconds after third to fifth-placed Alex Marquez, Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder slid off at Turn 5.

Maverick Vinales crashed at the same place on the following lap while running third, with several others all having front-end crashes through to the finish.

In all, 16 riders out of 25 made it to the chequered flag, but everyone from 12th down also suffered crashes at some stage.

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia was involved in a collision with Marco Bezzecchi and Brad Binder at Turn 1 on lap three which took the factory Ducati rider out.

Through all the chaos, Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta found himself in second, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo rose from 23rd on the grid to complete the podium.

Martin now leads the championship by 29 points from Acosta, while Bagnaia is 42 adrift.

Early rain threats came to nothing as the lights went out for the 12-lap Jerez sprint, with Binder jumping into the lead from fourth on the grid on his factory KTM.

Martin slotted into second ahead of Marquez, while Bagnaia found himself mired in sixth.

At Turn 9 Martin took the lead away from Binder, while Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro became the first crasher in a dramatic sprint at Turn 8.

Jack Miller would slide off his KTM at the last corner at the end of the first lap, but would remount to finish 14th.

At the front, Marc Marquez overtook Binder at Turn 9 for second with a tough move. However, the KTM rider scythed past again into the last corner on the third tour.

This move let Alex Marquez come through on the pair of them, while Binder ultimately lost the most.

Marc Marquez repassed his Gresini team-mate and brother Alex Marquez for second at Turn 1, while Binder went to reclaim fourth as Marco Bezzecchi threw his VR46 Ducati up the inside of Bagnaia.

Bezzecchi ran wide and forced Bagnaia to open the door to Binder, who came steaming up the inside but connected with the factory Ducati rider and sent him down.

The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM stewards, but no further action was taken.

Through all this chaos, Martin had opened a 1.3s lead over Marc Marquez come the start of lap four – though the Gresini rider would close the Pramac GP24 down by the start of the seventh tour.

Marquez capitalised on a moment for Martin going through Turn 7 to line up a move into Turn 9, which he executed cleanly to move into the lead.

But on lap nine his hopes of a first win since Misano 2021 were dashed when he fell at Turn 9, doing so seconds after Alex Marquez, Binder and Bastianini had identical crashes at Turn 5.

Martin was released into a comfortable lead as a result, with the Spaniard taking his second sprint win of the year by 2.970s from Acosta.

Yamaha’s Quartararo was already enjoying a strong fightback from a career-worst 23rd on the grid as he circulated in ninth before the chaos that enveloped the end of the race unfolded.

After Vinales fell at Turn 5 while running third on lap 10, Quartararo found himself in an unlikely rostrum spot and fended off KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa by 0.050s to secure third.

Franco Morbidelli completed the top five for Pramac Ducati, passing LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco at the last corner of the final lap before the Frenchman also tumbled off his bike.

Raul Fernandez was sixth for Trackhouse Racing as Marc Marquez recovered to ninth – though was forced to drop a spot for punting Honda’s Joan Mir wide at Turn 13 on lap 11.

Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez and Oliveira, who was shuffled down to ninth after another aggressive Marquez overtake, secured the final sprint points.

Mir was 10th, 0.135s outside of the points, with LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami 11th as Zarco, Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46), Miller, Alex Rins (Yamaha) and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) saw the chequered flag despite crashes.

Honda’s Luca Marini and Stefan Bradl were late fallers, as was Bezzecchi.