Tag: Pecco Bagnaia

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MotoGP: What We Learnt During Pre-Season Testing

Pre-season testing is over and we are just 14 days away from our first race of 2025. Things have felt a little different already this year for MotoGP – we have enjoyed our first ever season launch event alongside a very condensed testing schedule, with 6 days of testing across just 8 days. Now we have seen all the bikes on track in both Sepang and Buriram, what have we learnt and what can we expect this season? 

Despite Testing Headaches, Ducati Are Still The Bike To Beat

Ducati are clearly still the fastest bikes on the grid again in 2025. We left Barcelona and Sepang with Gresini on top, thanks to Alex Marquez. Yes; topping two tests! Buriram was led by his brother, Marc Marquez, on the factory Ducati.

Looking at sector times and listening to the rider’s comments, the factory team are evidently the ones to beat and many have argued that they have the strongest rider line up of the year as well. What has been interesting to see is how collaboratively new teammates Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia appear to be working together. There have been some expecting their partnership to blow up and end in tears, but both riders have been sharing data and regularly seen in each other’s half of the garage to share feedback and thoughts. 

However, the test wasn’t plain sailing for them. After listening to feedback from Marquez and Bagnaia, the team have decided to go back to the GP24* machine. And yes, we purposefully used an asterisk there. That’s because it isn’t exactly the same as the machine that crossed the line in Valencia, back in November. It will ultimately be the 2024 spec machine with a number of the 2025 developments that worked well. As Baganai put it, it is seen as the “GP24.9” machine.

Don’t be mistaken – this is not a step back for Ducati and shouldn’t be seen as a weakness ahead of the new season. It’s a sign of how strong and near-perfect their 2024 machine was. Marquez commented that the GP25 had “very weak points” so, having won 16 of 20 races last year, you can understand why Marquez and Bagnaia want to revert back to the “old” machine. 

“Today basically we concentrated most of the day to 2024 engine, because looks like if tomorrow doesn’t change a lot, it looks like it is the way.

Why? Because Ducati is very realistic and they know, and they are very smart, that we cannot take the risk to homologate an engine that if we are not 100% sure is better than 2024.” 

– Marc Marquez during the Buriram test.

 

Jorge Martin Has The Toughest Job This Year

Our 2024 champion has a lot of pressure on his shoulders this year – after being snubbed by the factory Ducati team, he made the bold move to join Aprilia, taking his #1 plate there for 2025. Jumping manufacturers makes his pre-season testing even more crucial, but it could have been worse for the Spanish rider. 

Martin was part of a day one disaster in Sepang, with 6 broken bones across 3 riders who were all declared unfit for the rest of the Sepang test. The champion had a huge highside that left him with a fracture in his right hand and left foot. He returned to Spain for surgery and his recovery left him out of the rest of the test. 

This means that he now has, arguably, the hardest job of anyone on the grid when the first race weekend starts in Thailand. He has to get up to speed with a new manufacturer “on the job”, with no space to find his feet. 

“During the launch, we said that the first phase would be about learning, but clearly with what has happened today that phase has been significantly delayed. All we can do now is wish Jorge the best of luck.” 

– Massimo Rivola (Sports Director for Aprilia) after the Sepang test. 

 

KTM Are Still In Hot Water

Over the winter break, many were concerned about KTM’s future. The MotoGP team entered self administration, made mass redundancies and stopped production of their race bikes after facing financial difficulties at the end of the 2024 season. After securing the needed monetary boost in January, they launched their bike and focused all messaging on their determination to race and fight. 

During pre-season testing, both Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales, on the KTM Tech3 machines, were vocal about their struggles with their new machines. However, the factory riders were notably absent from all media scrums and instructed not to speak to any journalists. No reason has been given for this but it does raise questions over the team’s future, and the bike’s potential success, in 2025 and beyond. 

We all know Pedro Acosta is a future star of MotoGP (more about his testing performance below!) so he will be looking for clear signs of the team’s viability as he aims to showcase his championship winning potential to front-running teams. 

 

Alex Marquez, Pedro Acosta And Marco Bezzecchi Are Best Of The Rest

As we mentioned above Alex Marquez topped two of the three pre-season tests, and came 2nd for the last test in Buriram. He was fast from the moment he threw his leg over the GP24 machine for the first time in Barcelona and is clearly loving his new Gresini for 2025. 

Marco Bezzecchi, as he gets comfortable with his new Aprilia after making the move from the VR46 team, has also looked impressive throughout testing. He was 3rd fastest at the Buriram test and commented that he was “very happy” after making “a lot of progress”.  

Many are excited to see what last year’s rookie and fan-favourite Pedro Acosta can achieve on his new KTM factory bike. He was just behind Bezzecchi in 4th at the end of Buriram’s test and, importantly, head and shoulders above his team mate Brad Binder. 

Excitingly, we’re anticipating that the field will be much closer this year, with testing showing only marginal differences between a number of riders. 

“It was a positive test; we were fast and consistent with our lap times. Overall, the entire pre-season has been like this, and without a doubt, we can call it the best pre-season since I started racing in MotoGP.” 

– Alex Marqeuz after the Buriram test.

 

Yamaha Take The Crown For Most Improved

Many were surprised when Fabio Quartararo chose to stay with Yamaha for 2025 and beyond. However, they promised him team personnel changes and big steps forward in 2025. It seems that the Frenchman’s wishes have come true as his bike appears to have made a whopping 0.8 second gain. 

His biggest gains came in Sepang, with Buriram not fully going Yamaha’s way. However, they had predicted this and still ended testing feeling pleased with their progress. 

It wasn’t just the factory team making gains. Jack Miller on the Prima Pramac, who now run Yamaha engines, enjoyed a top 10 finish in Buriram and said that his new machine “is already my bike” after just the first test in Sepang. 

“It was a different test than Sepang. In these two days, we mainly worked on fine-tuning the bikes for the GP, and we spent a lot of time on electronics set-ups. During Day 1, we had some difficulties, because the track was very green, and for all riders it was difficult to find a good feeling with the front. This got better today as the track conditions improved. We did a decent sprint race simulation, and at the end of the day we did a couple of time attacks which showed that again we were able to narrow the gap to the fastest time also in Buriram.”

– Massion Meregalli (Yamaha Team Director), after the Buriram test.

 

As ever, pre-season testing is not a definitive insight into the season ahead and there is a lot still unknown. But what is certain is that the 2025 season is going to be an exciting one with a large number of riders who have a good chance to win races and enjoy success. But the most important question is who will add their name to the championship trophy after Valencia?

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MotoGP: Jorge Martin is the 2024 World Champion

It may have been the most boring race of the season, but #TheRematch has delivered an emotional, stressful and ultimately hugely enjoyable final weekend of the 2024 MotoGP season.

For the first time in MotoGP’s history, a satellite rider has won the championship. Jorge Martin only needed a 9th place finish today to seal the title but he took a comfortable podium to round out his season in style.

He started 4th on the grid, kept his nose clean at the start and spent the rest of the race in 3rd. Whilst there were battles further behind him, Martin had a lonely race and only needed to keep the bike upright to take the championship. He crossed the line in tears and quickly retreated to the celebration area where he appeared in his new Martinator leathers.

It was a difficult day for peerless Pecco Bagnaia. There was nothing more the Italian could have done this weekend – he took pole and a sprint win on Saturday before leading every single lap of the feature race today. Ultimately, it was mistakes earlier in the season that left him stuck with 2nd in the championship.

Despite the close title race, it was Marc Marquez who was Bagnaia’s closest rival today. He has had a very difficult weekend and has himself said that he was struggling with the track surface and challenges that the Barcelona circuit throws up. But he was able to stay close on the tail of his future team mate, and was typically within 1 second of Bagnaia for the entire race today.

Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Behind the podium finishers, there was a hot battle for “best of the race” in today’s race. Firstly, we had Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro battling hard for 4th place. It was Marquez who came out on top, rounding out a fantastic weekend of blistering form for him.

Just behind them was another battle between Brad Binder, Franco Morbidelli and Pedro Acosta. As Acosta dropped back towards the end of the race, Marco Bezzecchi was also drawn into the battle. After plenty of dicing and lots of on-track fun, this group finished the day with Binder in 6th, Enea Bastianini in 7th and Morbidelli in 8th. Bezzecchi and Acosta then rounded out the top 10, in 9th and 10th respectively.

It was a tricky day for Bastianini – he started the day in battle with Aleix Espargaro for 4th, but drifted back as the race progressed.
Espargaro is an incredibly close friend of Jorge Martin and he spent his last MotoGP race clearly acting as his ally out on track today. Firstly, he was fending off Bastianini and then Alex Marquez.

Our only non-finishing rider today was Joan Mir who ended the day in the same way he has most races this weekend – in the gravel. He will be eager to put 2024 behind him and start fresh when testing kicks off later this week.

TOP TEN
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CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
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LOOKING AHEAD TO 2025

Believe it or not, the paddock is already making plans for the 2025 season – we will give Jorge Martin some time to celebrate his title but testing begins bright and early on Tuesday morning.

This will be our first time to see riders on their new machines. Martin will take his #1 plate to Aprilia, Marc Marquez will be on the factory Ducati and our new rookies, Ai Ogura, Fermin Aldeguer and Somkiat Chantra, will also be on their new premier class machines.

Crew On Two will have all the updates for you so stay tuned.

See you in 2025!

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MotoGP: Bagnaia Wins Barcelona Sprint – #TheRematch Goes To Sunday! 

Pecco Bagnaia has mastered the tricky conditions in Barcelona today, taking a brilliant sprint race win to keep his championship hopes alive. He was joined on the podium by his teammate, Enea Bastianini, and championship leader, Jorge Martin. 

MotoGP has called this weekend the “rematch” weekend and it’s certainly shaping up to a dramatic end to a dramatic season. Coming into this weekend, Jorge Martin was leading the championship by 24 points – comfortable, but by no means done and dusted for the Spaniard. That meant that Martin just needed to win today’s sprint race in order to seal the title. 

However, it was his closest rival who took the victory today. Pecco Bagnaia took a dominant and convincing win, with no one able to come close to him at all in the race. He was totally at one with his machine all day today, taking pole position and then leading for most of the race. 

Image Credit: MotoGP on X

His Ducati teammate, Enea Bastianini, came home in 2nd. He had an amazing start, leaping from 8th to 1st in just one corner. He then had an 8-lap long battle with Martin for 2nd place, before drifting back in the pack during the middle of the race. In typical Bastianini fashion, he came back strong in the latter stages of the race and enjoyed another nail-biting battle with Martin before finally taking 2nd. The Ducati team were elated with a 1-2 finish today. 

Martin has been struggling all weekend, complaining about rear grip and a lack of confidence in the front of the bike. He was therefore thrilled to take 3rd place, despite not being able to win the title today.

Aleix Espargaro, on his final weekend as a MotoGP rider, finished in 4th. He enjoyed a brilliant qualifying session earlier today, stating that this track is his “favourite”, which saw him start on the front row of the grid. 

Alex Marquez finished in 5th – a brilliant result for him after a weekend of equally brilliant form. The top ten was then rounded out by Franco Morbidelli, Marc Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi, Brad Binder and Fabio Quartararo in 6th to 10th respectively. 

There was just one retirement in the race today – our only rookie, Pedro Acosta, made contact with Marc Marquez on lap 1 which saw the front fairing of his GASGAS Tech3 bike ripped off. He sadly wasn’t able to continue on his “naked” bike and soon retired to the pits. 

Top 10
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Championship Standings
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Feature Image Credit: Pecco Bagnaia on X

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MotoGP: Bagnaia Takes The Double In Japan

Pecco Bagnaia has added to Saturday’s sprint race victory with a second win on Sunday. He was joined on the podium by championship leader, Jorge Martin, and his future 2025 teammate, Marc Marquez. 

In the history of MotoGP, only 4 riders have won more than 8 races in a single season. Today, Pecco Bagnia became the 5th rider to join that list. He took a dominant win, heading into the lead on lap 1 and not looking back from there. 

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Italian though – he faced pressure in the late stages of the race from Jorge Martin who surged his way up through the grid and eventually ended the day in 2nd. 

Rounding out the podium places was Marc Marquez, who mostly enjoyed a quiet race once he had made his way up to 3rd.

Image Credit: MotoGP on X

As the race started, we had Pedro Acosta on pole for the first time in his MotoGP career. He was quickly bested by Bagnaia who had the better line in to the first corner and was able to take the lead away from the rookie. 

The first lap was full of drama, which included a scuffle between Maverick Vinales, Franco Morbidelli and Jorge Martin, in which Vinales was forced to sit up and let off the throttle to avoid an incident. Towards the end of lap 1, Enea Bastianini made a late move on Brad Binder to take 3rd – however, this move forced both riders off the ideal racing line. Martin saw the door open in front of him and makes a brilliant move up the inside of the turn 10 hairpin. This move sees him get pasta both Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini, jumping from 6th to 4th. Binder is the biggest winner in the battle, and is able to retain 3rd.

One corner later, the drama continues as Jack Miller makes a similar move with a similar outcome. He forces his KTM machine up the inside of turn 11 and overtakes Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini to take 5th place. Even more impressive is that Miller started the race in 14th and made up 9 places in just one lap. 

Again, one corner later, we have our first crash of the race as Joan Mir and Alex Marquez go down at turns 12 and 13. In a very odd crash, Maquez’s bike got caught in Mir’s rear wheel. Despite staying upright, dragging the extra Gresini machine behind him eventually sends Mir down and the pair retired from the race. After the race, Marquez was deemed to blame for the incident and was handed a long lap penalty ready for the next race in Australia. 

Lap 4 saw our second crash of the race as polesitter Acosta went down at turn 14. It appears that he took too much kerb on the inside of the corner before the bike just slid out from under her on the exit of the corner. 

At the same time as Acosta’s early exit from the race, Martin continued to fight his way up through the field. He had now made his way past Binder and was in to 2nd place, with only title rival Bagnaia ahead. 

One lap later, Binder lost another place. This time, it was Marquez who made his way through to take 3rd place.

It was a difficult race for Vinales – after starting on the front row, he was quickly swallowed by a first lap incident and kept heading backwards from there. Whilst battling with his teammate, Aleix Espargaro, for 10th place, he crashed out on lap 12.

Just as the race seemed to be calming down, the rain began to fall. On lap 10, the white flag was flown which indicated that the riders could now head to the pits and swap their bikes if they wished. None chose to do so and the rain appeared to be light enough for them to contend with on dry tires.

After a hot battle that lasted a number of laps, Bastianini was finally able to find a way past Binder. The pair had been dicing and overtaking each other before Bastianini made a move that stuck to claim 4th. 

Binder was then in the clutches of Morbidelli, in 6th, who is enjoying a recent up turn in form. The battle would continue for the rest of the race, with Morbidelli eventually coming out on top. 

The race then settled down again and gaps grew between the riders. By lap 16, Bagnaia had a 1.5 second lead over Martin, who himself was a comfortable 4.4 seconds ahead of Marquez. Bastanini was the fastest rider on the track and catching Marquez quickly – he had reduced the gap down to 0.8 seconds and was desperate to find a way past.

Whilst Martin did attempt a late-race surge for the lead, he wasn’t able to get the gap to smaller than 0.7 seconds and, eventually, crossed the link 1.1 seconds behind Bagnaia.

For his last home race, Takaaki Nakagami was thrilled to bring home points as he crossed the line in 13th. He was welcomed back into the garage with an enormous cheer from his team.

RACE RESULTS
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CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
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MotoGP: Martin Enjoys Faultless Win in Indonesia

Today’s race in Mandalika was tough for riders up and down the grid, with only 12 bikes finishing the race. However, the two riders at the front were able to control the field and keep their noses clean in an exceptional display of their abilities. 

After a difficult Saturday, Jorge Martin has enjoyed a perfect Sunday here in Mandalika. He started the race on pole, led every lap and controlled the whole race on his way to a brilliant win. He was untouchable with his nearest rival rarely able to get within a second of him.

On the cool-down lap and in parc ferme, he was celebrating as if he had won the title. After crashing during the sprint race, and crashing out of the lead of last year’s Indonesian GP, this was undoubtedly a display of relief from the Prima Pramac rider. This the first race win for Martin since Le Mans, and he will be keen to capitalise on this momentum as we now reach a crucial part of the season.

Image Credit: MotoGP on X

It was an equally fantastic day for rookie rider, Pedro Acosta, who came home in 2nd. He started the race in 3rd, claimed 2nd place on lap 3 and never looked back. As he crossed the line, he was instantly under investigation for a tyre pressure infringement. The team still celebrated in the park ferme and, two hours after the podium celebration, it was confirmed he would keep his 2nd place as no further action was needed.

Martin’s closest championship rival, Pecco Bagnaia, came home in 3rd. Whilst he wasn’t able to end the day ahead of Martin, he will still be pleased with this result. After a horrible start, with the bike bouncing off the grid and dropping him down to 6th, he eventually was able to find his rhythm and make his way back up to 3rd.

It was ultimately a race of attrition today with only 12 riders meeting the chequered flag.

This started on the first lap as Jack Miller hit the kerb on the inside, at the change of direction between turns 2 and 3. This sent his bike down and, as he slid across the track into the gravel, he took down with him Alex Marquez, Luca Marini and Aleix Espargaro. For Marquex and Espargaro, it was their fourth crash of the weekend – certainly a weekend to forget for them both.

It was also a retirement for yesterday’s podium-finisher, Marc Marquez, who wasn’t able to enjoy the same result today. On lap 12, his bike went “bang” and he pulled off the track with his Gresini machine on fire.

For several laps before this technical issue, Marquez had been enjoying a fantastic battle with VR46 rider, Fabio DiGiannantonio. The pair were dicing and fighting, overtaking each other on most corners in a brilliant but clean display of tough racing.

Enea Bastianini, who was setting a blistering pace and numerous fastest laps as he fought his way up into the podium positions, went down at turn 1 of lap 21. He ultimately overcooked it in the corner and the bike went down in the breaking zone.

Both Marquez and Bastianini were clearly disappointed as they made their way back to the garage. Could today’s difficult result be the end of their championship battle?

There were also DNF results for Fabio DiGiannantonio, who crashed out while under pressure from Marc Marquez at lap 9, Joan Mir, who crashed on lap 13, and Augusta Fernandez, who retired with a mechanical failure.

It was a more positive day for Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi, who finished in 4th and 5t respectively. Both riders have had a tough season so far so will certainly enjoy today’s results and the battles they enjoyed along the way.

With action up and down the grid throughout the race, today’s race was a Mandalika classic!

TOP TEN
Image Credit: MotoGP on X
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1 Jorge Martin 366 points
2 Pecco Bagnaia 345 points
3 Enea Bastianini 291 points
4 Marc Marquez 288 points
5 Pedro Acosta 181 points

Feature Image Credit: Jorge Martin on X

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MotoGP: Bagnaia Brings Home Ducati 1-2 in Indonesian Sprint as Martin Crashes

The 2024 MotoGP World Championship is turning into a story of mistakes, not successes. It’s a title that won’t be won, but rather won’t be thrown away. Today, it was Jorge Martin’s turn to make a devastating mistake which he will look back on with frustration as we draw ever closer to the final race in Valencia. 

Image Credit: Enea Bastianini on X

It was a race of contrasts today for our two championship leaders, Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin. With a pole position, a brilliant start and a comfortable early lead, it should have been plain sailing for Martin from there on out. However, he seemingly pushed his tyres too hard too early and ended up crashing at turn 16 of the first lap.

This gifted the lead to his closest rival, Bagnaia, who kept his nose clean and spent the rest of the race with a fairly comfortable lead. It was a near-perfect performance from Bagnaia, despite the dusty, slippery track conditions and chaos happening behind him.

Joining him on the podium were two other championship contenders who have been able to pull closer to the battle at the front.

Enea Bastianini was able to bring home a brilliant Ducati 1-2. It was a strong race from him after stating in 5th but showing his speed as he fought his way up to 2nd.

Marc Marquez took the final podium spot, ending the sprint race in 3rd. He started the race in 12th after a crash in Q2. A classic Marqeuz-style first lap saw him leap up from 12th to 5th before turn 1, and the rest of the race was his to enjoy from there.

Martin failed to score points today – he rejoined the back of the grid after his crash but, despite a valiant battle and a number of aggressive moves, he ended the day in 10th. He looked visibly dejected as he met the chequered flag, undoubtedly considering what could have been today.

It was a much more positive day for Marco Bezzecchi who is back to his former self this weekend, after struggling so far this season. He started the race on the front row and ended the day in 4th – he would have been hoping for a podium finish but, on lap 7, he missed his breaking and almost hit the back of Bagnaia. This forced him out wide, on to the dirt, dusty part of the track and he dropped back from 2nd to 4th, where he spent the rest of the race.

Just behind Bezzecchi were Franco Morbidelli, Pedro Acosta, Maverick Vinales and Johann Zarco in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th respectively. This group were in a huge battle for much of the race, jostling for position and enjoying overtakes on most laps of the race.

This group were also fighting with Fabio Quartararo who is enjoying a much more positive weekend for Yamaha this weekend. Whilst he qualified in 6th, he faded towards the end of the race after a lap 8 bump with Morbidelli which saw him drop down the field. The Frenchman ended the day in 12th.

TOP TEN
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CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
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Feature Image Credit: Marc Marquez on X

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MotoGP: Pecco Pounced to Victory!

Image Credit: @PeccoBagnaia on X

After an incredible performance in qualifying and back to full fitness. The world champion Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) pounced on title rival Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) after Martin ran wide and gifted victory to Bagnaia.

After today’s sprint race, The Martinator only has a 4pts advantage to the Bologna bullet as we head into tomorrow’s 27 lap Grand Prix. Can Martin get to the front and stop Pecco from taking glory in front of his partisan crowd? Can we see Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) take his performance to the next level and beat his title rivals like he did at Silverstone? 

When the conditions are clear and with plenty of grip, it’s clear to see the Ducati GP24s are another level to the rest of the field. A common sight of Pecco, Martin and Bastianini at the front some distance clear of the rest of the pack.

Winner last time out in Misano, Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing) stated he was happy with 4th place after the race and job done recognizing the GP24s have a pace that his Gresini Ducati GP23 simply can’t get near to. Marquez finished the race over 5 seconds behind the front 3.

A special mention to Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team) for riding the wheels off that Yamaha today. We no longer see the frustrated Fabio anymore, we see a more measured and ruthless Fabio proving that if given the bike, Fabio will deliver. Fabio is a world champion for a reason and Yamaha know it!

The level of effort that is going into the factory M1 is monumental. Yamaha now more determined than ever to fight their way back to the top. What they promised Fabio when he signed his new contract, they are clearly starting to deliver on. As soon as the new Yamaha V4 is on track, we can be sure Fabio will take the fight to Ducati. 

Image credit @Michelin_Sport on X
Image credit @Michelin_Sport on X

AS IT HAPPENED

Martin and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had the start of their dreams as Martin blasted into the lead from the off. Binder started from 4th on the grid and up into 2nd up the inside of Pecco into turn 1.

In the early stages, Binder dropped back through the pack and eventually finished in 6th place behind next season’s teammate and rookie of the year Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3).

It was very much game on for the 2 riders at the top of the championship, as Martin lead from the front and Pecco hunted down the Spaniard.

At the half race distance, Pecco got his reward for the pressure put onto Martin as Martin ran wide. A gift to Pecco and an opportunity he was never going to miss.

One mistake was all it took and Pecco Bagnaia with the roar of the Italian crowd crossed the line to take the sprint victory. If Pecco takes victory tomorrow, he will sit atop of the standings as we head to Indonesia next weekend.

There wasn’t much to mention from this sprint race and it wasn’t the most exciting to be honest. All of the overtaking was done within the first few laps and revealed the top 4 riders at the front. Fabio finished in the top 10 which was brilliant for Yamaha and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) battled his way to finish 13th after starting at the back of the grid.

Race Classification 

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP

 

 

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MotoGP: Perfect Pecco wins the Austrian GP

Pecco Bagnaia was in a league of is own today, as he comfortably wins the Austrian GP – it’s his third consecutive win at the Red Bull Ring.

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Pecco Bagnaia has taken a stunning victory today at the Austrian GP today, in the weekend that has seen him re-take the lead in the championship standings. He started 2nd on the grid, took the lead on lap 2 after an exciting battle with his closest championship rival, Jorge Martin, and then never looked back.

Whilst it wasn’t the most thrilling race, or the action-packed weekend we have historically seen at the Red Bull Ring, you cannot deny the stunning performance from Bagnaia today. His ride was utterly flawless whilst, all weekend, others were making mistakes around him. He kept his cool and showed why he is such a brilliant champion after being perfect for every moment of the race.

Jorge Martin, despite starting on pole and leading the first lap, couldn’t bring home the win today. He simply wasn’t able to keep Bagnaia behind him, nor could he close the gap for the lead. It was an undoubtedly frustrating day who felt he could win this race. He leaves Austria having lost 8 points to Bagnaia in the title fight too.

Enea Bastianini brought home a double podium for Ducati today, ending the day in 3rd. It was a very quiet race for the Italian, who sat in 3rd from lights out all the way to the chequered flag without facing any real challenge. Today is his sixth podium of the year and good momentum after double win in Silverstone last time out.

Marc Marquez just missed out on the podium today, coming home in 4th. Most of the on-track action came from the Gresini rider today – he had a ride height device issue whilst sitting on the grid and, as they went to the first corner, he had contact with Franco Morbidelli which left him back down in 10th. He fought hard and gave the Austrian fans lots of entertainment as he came past two KTM riders, two Aprilia riders, a VR46 rider and his own brother on the second Gresini bike. Given his performance today, he may be left thinking about what might have been if his race start had been a clean one.

One of the victims of Marquez’s pressure was KTM rider Jack Miller, who crashed out when the Spaniard was hutning him down. The bike slipped out from under him at the chicane of turn 2, on lap 11.

It was an equally tough weekend for fan-favourite, rookie Pedro Acosta. He has faced a difficult weekend after crashing three times on Friday and then struggling to be on the pace. He simply wasn’t able to set the tarmac on fire today in his normal way, and ended the day in 13th.

Top Ten

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Championship Standings

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MotoGP: Bagnaia Retakes Championship Lead With A Win at Austrian Sprint Race

Pecco Bagnaia has taken a flawless Sprint Race win at the Red Bull Ring today. This puts him level on points with Jorge Martin, but gifts him the lead in the title race thanks to count back.

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Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Today was Pecco Bagnaia’s third Sprint Race win of the season, as he took the gold medal at the Spielberg race track. He took the lead in to the first corner of the race and managed to hold on despite an early challenge from pole sitter, Jorge Martin.

He spoke after the race about his “need to be calm”, which proved crucial as his nearest rivals all made mistakes around him.

The first mistake came from pole sitter Martin – whilst temporarily in the lead, he had a huge moment when under pressure form Bagnaia. He went off the track but was then slapped with a long-lap penalty for not losing enough time when he rejoined the circuit.

Next was Marc Marquez who looked set for a podium finish before crashing out at turn 3 on lap 10. At the point in the race, he was 2nd and chasing down Bagnaia but the front of his bike washed out as he pushed his Gresini bike a little too hard.

His brother, Alex Marquez, also faced a similar fate today as he crashed out on the first corner of the first lap. Whilst he was able to rejoin the field, he finished the day down in 20th.

Ultimately, the final podium position was taken by a thrilled Aleix Espargaro who managed to keep his nose clean and capitalise on the mistakes infront of him. He celebrated like it was a race win as the soon-to-be-retired Aprilia rider soaks up his final season as a MotoGP rider.

Behind him, there were a number of great battles between Enea Bastianini, Jack Miller, Franco Morbiedlli and Brad Binder who eventually came home in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th respectively. It was a solid recovery ride for Miller who has a huge wobble off the start line and nearly went down in the opening moments of the race.

The final point was taken by Pol Espargaro, who finished in 9th. The Spaniard is here as a wildcard for KTM to test some new parts for them – he will be undeniably thrilled with a points finish.

Top Ten

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Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Championship Standings

Despite being level on points, Bagnaia has stolen the lead in the standings from Martin, thanks to 6 his race wins, versus Martin’s 2 wins.

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Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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MotoGP: Pecco Takes the Win in Catalunya

Francesco Bagnaia wins the Catalan GP ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez. Yesterday’s birthday boy Pedro Acosta crashed out when fighting for the lead of the race.

All riders started the race on the medium tyres on the front and rear except for Acosta, M. Marquez and Jack Miller who made the decision to run a medium front tyre and a soft rear tyre. Rear tyre degradation was a large factor in races earlier in the day so the choice for a soft rear was an unexpected one.

Bagnaia had a great start from the front row, but Brad Binder also started well and was making moves around the outside of the track to gain some places. Alex Rins ran wide and accidentally took the long lap loop and fell to the rear of the field.

Acosta and Bagnaia started to break away from the rest of the field but further behind them, Martin made a huge lunge to get past Binder for third place to attempt to catch up with the leaders.

Miller ran deep at turn one on lap two and lost a spot to Raul Fernandez. Acosta kept close to the rear of Bagnaia and looked at making a move at turn ten but wasn’t able to make the move. Acosta continued to stay on the back of Bagnaia’s bike but struggled to find a way past on lap two.

On the third lap, Acosta made the move at turn ten but ran wide so that Bagnaia was able to cut back. At the same corner, Miller crashed.

Martin caught up the leading two riders and passed his countryman Acosta into turn 10 and on lap five, Binder also looked at making the same move on the rookie but was unable to do so. Martin made an impressive move to get past Bagnaia to lead the race.

On lap six, Augusto Fernandez crashed at turn ten.

Again, the front two started to break away from the rest of the field and Acosta set the fastest lap.

Aleix Espargaro, yesterday’s sprint winner, made his way past Binder on lap 11 across the start finish straight and R. Fernandez barged his way past the South African rider at turn one too.

After setting some fast laps, Acosta crashed out the race at turn 10. The champagne was on hold for the rookie rider as he looked to take his first win in MotoGP.

Marquez was able to pass Binder on lap twelve at turn seven as he continued his charge up the field after starting in fourteenth place.

Enea Bastianini received a long lap penalty for taking a short cut at turn two and then he received a double long lap penalty for not taking the initial penalty. He did not take the double long lap penalty and then received a 32 second penalty which was applied at the end of the race.

Martin continued to lead the race, but Bagnaia started to close the gap to the leader. The Italian rider made the move to take the lead on lap 19 at turn 5. Pecco slammed on the brakes to not allow Martin back through. The leading pair had over an eight second lead over the third-place rider Espargaro.

But Espargaro didn’t hold third position for much longer as M. Marquez made the move on him down the start finish straight on the following lap.

The final laps of the race were drama free which allowed Pecco to cross the line in first place ahead of fellow Ducati riders Martin and M. Marquez.  After yesterday’s heroics, Aleix Espargaro was only able to manage fourth place ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio. Raul Fernandez finished the race in sixth place ahead of Alex Marquez, Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo and Miguel Olivera.

Feature Image Credit : Motorsport Images/Gold and Goose

2024 MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona – Race Results
Pos Rider Nat Team Time/Diff
1 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP24) 40m 11.726s
2 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP24) +1.740s
3 Marc Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP23) +10.491s
4 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) +10.543s
5 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA VR46 Ducati (GP23) +15.441s
6 Raul Fernandez SPA Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP23) +15.916s
7 Alex Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP23) +16.882s
8 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +18.578s
9 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +20.477s
10 Miguel Oliveira POR Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) +20.889s
11 Marco Bezzecchi ITA VR46 Ducati (GP23) +21.023s
12 Maverick Viñales SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) +22.137s
13 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) +31.967s
14 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +32.987s
15 Joan Mir SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +33.132s
16 Johann Zarco FRA LCR Honda (RC213V) +34.554s
17 Luca Marini ITA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +36.689s
18 Enea Bastianini ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP24) +50.615s
19 Stefan Bradl GER HRC Test Team (RC213V) +55.295s
20 Alex Rins SPA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +63.428s
  Franco Morbidelli ITA Pramac Ducati (GP24) DNF
  Augusto Fernandez SPA Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) DNF
  Jack Miller AUS Red Bull KTM (RC16) DNF

 

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