May 16 (Reuters) - Gresini Racing's Alex Marquez won the Catalan Grand Prix sprint on Saturday, pipping pole sitter Pedro Acosta to the chequered flag by 0.041 seconds in what was the closest sprint finish ever in MotoGP.
In a nail-biting battle at the front, Marquez banished the demons of last year's sprint -- when he crashed out of the lead at his home Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya track -- to take his first sprint win of the season.
VR46 Racing's Fabio Di Giannantonio came third while Aprilia's championship leader Marco Bezzecchi finished ninth to take only one point.
Jorge Martin, who was a point behind Bezzecchi before this weekend, now sits two points behind his Aprilia teammate going into Sunday's race.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
