Francesco Bagnaia was celebrating, however deep inside, a part of him was nonetheless seething.
The reigning MotoGP world champion had simply made amends for a Saturday dash race howler on the Catalan Grand Prix the place he’d crashed from a snug lead at Turn 5 on the ultimate lap by profitable Sunday’s Grand Prix in signature fashion, one which showcased his pace and smarts in equal measure. But even because the champagne started to dry into his leathers, he nonetheless needed solutions. Because Bagnaia at all times needs solutions.
How did I crash after I wasn’t even pushing? Was it my fault? Was it a downside with my bike? Is the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya circuit’s floor even worse than I believed?
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All conundrums he didn’t have a answer for, however questions that would wait. Because Bagnaia and his incredulity that had simmered from Saturday manifested itself on Sunday.
On lap 19 of 24 and with race-leader Jorge Martin powerless to halt his progress, Bagnaia may have most likely handed his Ducati stablemate anyplace he needed … and elected to dive down the within on the similar nook that tripped him up 24 hours earlier to make a level. The message was clear: I’ll take your crash and lift you 25 world championship factors – and a center finger whereas I’m at it.
Bagnaia admitted as a lot post-race, with a grin that made you query whether or not he was being fully genuine, however one you had been ready to consider.
“I decided to do it in corner five, a bit just for what happened yesterday,” he mentioned, commenting that he’d gestured on the nook whereas delving deep into his bag of Italian obscenities as he traversed the activate the cool-down lap again to the pits.
“Yesterday, I crashed there in a very strange situation so I just decided to bust a myth. It worked well. I lost 12 points [for a sprint win] in very … I took it slower and I crashed, so this is something I will never accept.”
Bagnaia’s win was about revenge cooked slowly, exhibiting calm and composure on a boiling-hot Barcelona Sunday that prompted dangers for some, destructively instinctual driving for others – and a full meltdown for Bagnaia’s soon-to-be erstwhile teammate, Enea Bastianini.
BAGNAIA BAKES A WINNING CAKE
The observe floor on the circuit round 30 kilometres exterior of Barcelona is slick at any time – worn out as probably the most used tracks in all of Europe, it’s a distinctive problem for modern-day MotoGP equipment and the sheer grunt the riders have at their disposal beneath their proper wrists. But on a day like Sunday, when the floor temperature at race begin was nudging 50 levels? An aquarium filled with eels would supply extra traction. Which noticed Bagnaia hatch a plan he was decided to stay to.
From second on the grid, the Italian brushed pole-sitter Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) apart to steer the primary 4 laps, however wasn’t that fussed when Martin pushed previous on the subsequent tour. GasGas rookie sensation Pedro Acosta got here by too, and Bagnaia stored a watching transient. His time would come, he figured.
“I started well, and the pace – I tried to stay as constant as possible and not push like Martin and Pedro,” he mentioned.
“When they overtook me, I just tried to do one lap [with] a bit more push, but I saw the front tyres were a disaster, the [tyre] consumption couldn’t be much aggressive on the rear and it was a disaster, so I decided to control it more. I was a bit scared at that moment, but it worked.”
It labored a deal with. Acosta, bidding to grow to be the youngest-ever winner of a MotoGP race sooner or later after his twentieth birthday, crashed at Turn 10 on lap 11. Martin’s benefit over Bagnaia was 1.3secs; inside seven laps, it was two-tenths of a second. The recreation was up, and Bagnaia may plan the place he needed to make his race-winning overtake. Once he’d settled his rating with Turn 5, it was over.
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Martin, who began from seventh after a crash in qualifying, had his personal plan for the race however admitted afterwards he’d received sucked in to duelling with Acosta, and instantly knew the value he’d pay.
“The first corner I was super good on the outside, I overtook five or six riders, and then my target was to go on the lead,” Martin mentioned.
“This worked perfectly but maybe with Pedro behind I pushed a little bit too much, because I wanted to stay in the lead and he was really close.
“Maybe I cooked a bit the rear tyre and the front, and when Pecco catch me I had nothing else to fight with. That was the end of my race.”
MARQUEZ BACKS HIS INSTINCTS
The final podium slot behind Bagnaia and Martin? You’d have gotten lengthy odds on Marc Marquez filling it, which is not any slight on the six-time MotoGP world champion’s capacity to make one thing out of nothing.
Two weeks earlier in France, Marquez miraculously recovered from thirteenth on the grid to complete second within the dash and important race. On Saturday in Spain, he was even higher – 14th on the grid to second in 12 laps. But simply earlier than Sunday’s race begin, he didn’t even know what tyres to make use of within the steaming situations.
Still attempting to get accustomed to driving a Ducati after 11 years with Honda, Marquez went to the grid on his sighting lap on Michelin’s medium-compound rear tyre, however made a last-minute change to a gentle rear tyre because the medium “just didn’t feel good”. It appeared like insanity, anticipating a gentle tyre to final 24 laps in that warmth, however solely Marquez may discover a technique from it.
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While a win was out of the query, Marquez stealthily moved forwards till he was in a fierce combat with pole-sitter Aleix Espargaro, the Aprilia slithering round on a shot medium-rear tyre that ought to have been in higher form than Marquez’s. The Ducati man received by with 4 laps left, and held on. For the primary time since his 2019 title-winning pomp, Marquez had three Grand Prix podiums in succession.
“I’m very interested to understand and analyse the data,” he admitted afterwards after his gamble paid off.
“In Honda, I really understand when was the [right time for the] soft option or medium option [tyre] … here [Ducati], still I don’t know. But today I decide to take that risk, and that soft rear option gave me the podium. The soft rear option was on the limit, but it was possible to finish the race. We managed in a good way.”
The brace of outcomes has Marquez third within the title chase, simply two factors behind Bagnaia in second, however the 31-year-old feels he’s not but on the degree of the highest two.
“Of course, we are a contender. Why? Because we are third in the championship after six races already,” he mentioned.
“But we are third, and it’s our real position because there are two guys who are a bit faster.
“I know that being on the podium here in Montmelo is super special and super important because it’s one of those circuits that I hate. But … when I say it’s a difficult circuit for me I never give up, and I try to do double work to work better.”
BASTIANINI BENDS, THEN BREAKS
One identify conspicuously lacking from a race the place tyre administration was the important thing? Bagnaia’s teammate Enea Bastianini, MotoGP’s foremost tyre whisperer with a CV filled with late-race prices after preserving his rubber higher than any of his rivals.
Bastianini’s driving fashion – the one which received him employed by Ducati over Martin again in 2022 when Jack Miller left for KTM – is simply as potent as ever when it’s deployed appropriately. But Sunday’s race was a kind of days the place the Italian’s rage noticed any ideas of technique, race craft and conserving a cool head thrown within the bin.
Bastianini was incensed when given a long-lap penalty for gaining a bonus after careering by the run-off space at Turns 1-2 after being pushed extensive by fellow Ducati rider Alex Marquez halfway by the race, and easily ignored the order from the stewards. Failing to serve the penalty noticed him hit with a second long-lap punishment, which he didn’t serve both.
With the laps ticking down and Bastianini exhibiting no signal of paying his penance, he was hit with a ride-through penalty, the place a rider has to traverse the pit lane whereas conserving to the pit lane pace restrict earlier than rejoining the race. He didn’t serve that both and crossed the road in ninth – and was then slapped with a 32-second penalty that dropped him to 18th and out of the factors altogether.
Asked afterwards if he merely hadn’t seen his dashboard, which alerted him to the primary penalty, Bastianini admitted his actions had been deliberate.
“The dashboard was too clear, I didn’t agree with the dashboard,” he mentioned.
“I overtook Alex on the straight, and when we arrived on the brakes [into Turn 1] he braked later compared to me and that pushed me out onto the kerbs.
“For me it was impossible to remain on the brakes and the only solution was to cut the chicane. It was possible to come back, but where? On the kerb of Turn 2? No, impossible.
“Then arrived the long lap penalty for me … I didn’t agree, and I decided to continue without doing the long lap.
“I know it’s not the correct choice, but we had to do something because nothing has changed. Every race there is something to explain with the stewards, and it’s not correct.”
With Ducati prone to announce the identification of Bagnaia’s teammate for 2025 at Mugello subsequent weekend – both Bastianini, Martin or Marquez – the Italian’s unhinged actions had been consistent with a man who would possibly already know his destiny, and is aware of he’s about to get bumped from the game’s benchmark group.
‘SILLY MISTAKE’ LEAVES MILLER DOWN AND OUT
If Bastianini’s post-race debrief alternated between offended and adamant, Jack Miller’s was simply downright unhappy. When Michelin’s pre-race tyre data revealed 4 riders had elected to take the chance and run with the soft-compound rear tyre, you sensed the Australian could be one in every of them … and also you virtually knew what the result could be.
Alex and Marc Marquez, from thirteenth and 14th on the grid, had nothing to lose and – in Marc’s case – lots to realize. Acosta ran with the gentle as a result of – partially – he’s a 20-year-old debutant with 5 races of expertise to attract upon. Miller? It felt like a Hail Mary.
The finish got here rapidly for the KTM rider, who – after leaping from ninth on the grid to sixth on lap one with a trademark lightning getaway – crashed on lap three at Turn 10, his race carried out in a tick over three minutes.
Sunday’s DNF was the third crash in as many Grands Prix for the out-of-contract 29-year-old, who tried to be optimistic afterwards as his phrases carried the tone of somebody attempting to persuade themselves, not to mention anybody else.
“I’m extremely disappointed,” he mentioned.
“I let the team down and I let myself down. We’re trying to be better and stop these silly mistakes, and today was just another silly mistake.
“I just trusted the front a little bit too much too early, was lacking a little bit of speed in the last sector, in particular the last two corners. I was just trying to compensate for it in Turn 10, braked pretty hard straight up and down and tried to carry the speed mid-corner as I had most of the weekend, but the track conditions this afternoon were different and without warning the front-end disappeared. There wasn’t much I could do.”
After six rounds, Miller has 27 factors to sit down fifteenth within the championship standings, and is aware of how dire that sounds.
“It’s a very testing time in my career,” he mentioned.
“But with the great people we have around we’ll try to right the ship, right this wrong, and come back stronger in the races to come.”
