Author: Daksh Salgia

The Algarve International Circuit hosted a riveting MotoGP event in Portugal, marking the Second installment of the 2024 season.
From an authoritative triumph to a poignant mishap, a noteworthy debut podium, and a contentious encounter between seasoned champions, this race encompassed a plethora of compelling narratives. Let us delve into the pivotal moments that reverberated among fans long after the race ended.

Qualifying :

Marquez and Acosta Blaze Through Q1, Bastianini Steals the Show in Q2: Drama unfolded in Algarve qualifying as Alex Marquez and rookie sensation Pedro Acosta clawed their way out of Q1 with impressive laps.

But the real fireworks happened in Q2. Enea Bastianini, on fire this season, put down a scorching 1:37.706 to secure his first-ever pole position for Ducati! Maverick Viñales wasn’t far behind in second, and Jorge Martin kept things tight in third.

Sprint

Vinales’ Weekend of Woes and Wins:
The “Top Gun” looked primed for a return to glory in Aprilia colors. A flawless performance in the Saturday Sprint saw him battling Pecco Bagnaia for the win, ultimately taking the top step after Bagnaia’s heartbreaking late-race mechanical failure.
However, Sunday brought a cruel twist – a gearbox issue forced Vinales wide, resulting in a high-side crash and a DNF that extinguished his hopes of a repeat podium.

The Race

The Martinator Takes Charge:

Redemption was the theme for Jorge Martin. After a disappointing crash at Portimao last year, the Spaniard delivered a masterclass. He rocketed off the line, controlled the race from the front, and built a commanding lead. This dominant victory cements his status as a title contender and propels him to the top of the championship standings.

Clash of the Titans:
The battle for Ducati supremacy took a fiery turn as reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia and eight-time world champion Marc Marquez tangled on a final lap battle. Both veterans, piloting machines capable of victory, fought for a podium spot but ended their race with Zero points.

While stewards deemed it a racing incident, the aggressive on-track battle sparked speculation of a brewing internal war within the Ducati camp. Buckle up, MotoGP fans, this rivalry promises fireworks!

“For me, it was a mistake from Pecco (Bagnaia), but not just the incident because in the end, he tried to come back. It was too optimistic, and contact can happen… He was suffering a lot, especially with the rear tyres. In the end, when three, or four laps remain, you know you will lose the position. So it’s not necessary to come back in that aggressive mode, but he decided this, and the consequence to Ducati is zero points.”

– Marc Marquez

Bagnaia slightly disagreed with Marc’s point of view –

“When Marc arrived, he just tried to overtake, he went wide, I tried to cross the line, he crossed his line, and we collided,” said Bagnaia.

“Something that makes me angry, but it’s normal. It’s a racing incident and we have to move on to the next one.”
-Francesco Bagnaia

The Shark Attacks the Podium:
The hype surrounding Pedro Acosta is undeniable, and the young Spaniard is proving the doubters wrong. Nicknamed “The Shark,” Acosta carved his way through the pack from a seventh-place start, battling toe-to-toe with established champions. When Vinales’ misfortune opened a door, Acosta pounced, securing a sensational third-place finish in just his second MotoGP race. The future of MotoGP shines bright with this young talent at the helm. The Portuguese GP lived up to its billing, delivering a race packed with drama, controversy, and exceptional performances. With the championship wide open and tensions simmering within Ducati, the stage is set for an electrifying season ahead

As the spectacle transitions to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for the ensuing round, anticipation brews regarding the potential for another unforeseen victor akin to Alex Rins’ triumph last year or will the hunting ground of Marc Marquez bring him his first Ducati Win?
How will Ducati fare? Can Pecco Bagnaia exorcise the haunting memories of past encounters at COTA?
With myriad uncertainties abound, tune in on Monday, April 15th, at 12:30 AM IST to unravel the unfolding narrative

We saw the 5 lights go off and riders go full throttle to start the 2024 season of Motogp under the night sky in Qatar at the Lusail International Circuit.
Qualifying, Sprint, or the Race – It was all packed with action and the MotoGP circus delivered.

Jorge Martin Sprints

Motogp’s very own Mr. Saturday, Jorge Martin seems to love Saturdays the most.
Martin started the year where he left it, securing Pole position on a Saturday and then converting that Pole into a Sprint Race win. Martin got a good launch in the Sprint race and never looked back. Aliex and Aprilla also got their first podium in Qatar for the sprint race.
The Sprint race of the Qatar GP ended poorly for Fabio Di Giannantonio. The Pertamina Enduro VR46 rider suffered a dramatic crash that forced him to retire early in the Sprint.

A Champion’s Ride for the Race

Continuing the ongoing trend in Motogp, Saturday is where Martin shines the brightest but when it comes to the main race or the race that gives the maximum points the 2 time MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia is always there to take those points.
We saw Pecco get a lightning start and was Super aggressive in early laps to take the lead. Once Pecco got in the lead he never looked back winning the race after starting P5 position and building up his title defense in Pecco style.

Top 7 – A Tale of 6 Ducatis and 1 KTM – Brad Binder

Brad Binder was right in the mix. Throughout the weekend we saw him challenging the Ducatis for podium places. That KTM in the hands of Brad Binder was no joke in Qatar and he made sure to extract everything out of that bike to be the only challenger in the Top 7 where 6 Bikes were Ducati.
We even saw KTM matching Ducatis on the straight with the help of a slipstream, it was in the right place to attack, however, Braking was where the KTM struggled against the Ducati but Brad made sure to try his might to take that 2nd position from Jorge Martin in a fight that went on for 11 Laps.

“I think the same as last year. We’re super close, but we haven’t shown that we can do it yet. For me, I feel like I’m a little bit pushing at 100% all the time. I feel like they have a couple of percent in their pocket when they want to use it. I’m waiting for this last little bit of help, and then we try again.” 

With that, Brad is now the only non-Ducati rider in the top 5 of the Championship standings.

Ducati Chapter begins for Marc Marquez

Yes, Marc Marquez started a GP not for Repsol Honda but for Gresini Ducati. On his debut for Ducati, Marc got a P5 in the sprint race and a P4 in the main race.
Qatar which has not been a strong front of Marc in the past was a successful race this time, Even though Marquez did not achieve podium places he performed within his expectation of being in the Top 5 and built confidence for his new challenge with the Gresini Ducati. Marquez is still getting to grips with the Ducati GP23 while trying to get rid of that Honda habit and the associated riding style.
After the sprint race, Marc said

“Of course, I could be happier if I finished more in front. But I’m happy”

Nobody is safe from the shark attack! Not Even Marc Marquez

P8 in the sprint race and p9 in the main race is a very good way to start your Motogp career. Pedro Acosta had everyone talking about him. He has the speed to go toe to toe with the veterans of the Motogp. The only concern was the tire management which cost him the the top six places in the main race which he will learn as he gets more and more time on the GP bike.
After the race, Pedro commented :

“It’s like when you lose your virginity everything starts to be good and it’s a disaster”

A Case of Aborted Race Start

After a promising Saturday for Raul Fernandez and the Trackhouse Racing squad, Sunday was a day to forget for Raul after he had an electrical issue on the grid just before the first race of the year was set to burst into life. 
This resulted in an aborted Race start, after which the race was shortened to 21 race from 22, as the Riders had to take another formation lap after the hindered race start.
Raul had to start from Pitlane after the issues, where he changed his bike to begin the race.

“We had to jump on the other bike, but it had a super used tire and that was the race done then. I tried to finish the race but it was really difficult in the last five laps to manage the tyre, I couldn’t ride so I said we’re here doing nothing, so I had to stop.”
– Raul Fernandez

The Japanese Struggle

The pre-season test showed that both Honda and Yamaha were moving in the right direction, whether with the engines or the chassis. But come race day the story remains the same. Both Yamaha and Honda were in the lower part of the group. The highest-placed Japanese bike was of 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo followed by his countryman Johann Zarco and 2020 world champion Joan Mir. Takaaki Nakagami and New boy Luca Marini were placed 19th and 20th respectively.

“We are further last year. We have improved a little bit, but they are even faster. They are even better and faster than last year. So the gap between all the European manufacturers and us is bigger. Even to Honda, I felt that today we were missing something. They are also struggling a lot, but I felt like we were even worse today.” 
– Fabio Quartararo

Both Honda and Yamaha have a lot of work to do if they want to catch their European rivals The first round of Motogp is done and dusted and we can see Pecco vs Martin part 2 for this year as well. Will other riders be fighting and will be in the title campaign like Brad Binder and Marc Marquez? Still, a long way to go in this season.

MotoGP next heads to Portimao, on 22-24th March 2024 for “Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal”.

MotoGP raced for the first time ever in India at the Buddh International Circuit on 24th September 2023. A race that was very well received by the fans despite some teething problems the event had after a lot of confusion created by the foreign media which ranged from Safety issues (which were later cleared by the FIM- Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme the global governing body for the Motorbike events)  to Visa issues many teams and journalists faced.

The event was an overall success as MotoGP Riders praised the circuit layout and reception by the Indian fans. MotoGP in India was broadcast on Jio Cinema and Sports18 for the 2023 season.
On 22nd February 2024, It was that announced Eurosport would be the Television broadcaster 2024 season onwards. Eurosport reacquired the broadcasting rights for MotoGP from 2024 to 2026 in India and South Asia region. Eurosport India, from the house of Warner Bros. Discovery, had earlier broadcasted the sport in India from 2020 to 2022, However, in 2023 the Official broadcast partners were Sports18 (TV) and Jio Cinema (OTT) both owned by Viacom 18.

The Eurosport announcement did clear up details for the Indian fans regarding television broadcast but they were still left confused about the OTT broadcaster as unlike in the Past when Motogp was broadcasted on Eurosport, Discovery+ used to be the OTT partner, However, this time Discovery + was not the OTT partner.

Fans rely on OTT platforms very much to stream their favorite sports after the recent digital revolution in India, which made India the second highest internet population with 1.2 billion users in 2023, Off these 1.05 billion users access the Internet on their Mobile phones.
India currently has 481 Million OTT users and 102 million paid OTT subscribers as per a Delloite report.
This was even recognized by Formula 1 when they moved to their official Streaming platform F1tv for Indian customers in 2023 and then they partnered with Fancode for 2024 as their official broadcast partner in India. Not to our surprise even the Fancode announcement came very late for the Formula 1 fans just before the first F1 race weekend began on 29th February 2024.

Speculations

On 6th March, 2 days before the MotoGP action to begin at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar on the 8th March 2024 fans still had no official confirmation about the OTT broadcaster for their favorite motorsport.
One interesting thing that we and many other fans noticed on the official broadcast information mentioned on the MotoGP website was that they mention both Eurosport and Viacom18 as their broadcasting partner

With this, we had suspected that Jio Cinema might be the OTT broadcaster which 1 day before the race weekend starts remains unconfirmed.

Confirmation

Now on 7th March 2024 (1 day before the Live action on track begins), Jio Cinema has made an Official confirmation with us that they will continue to be the OTT partner for the Moto GP Broadcast. ( As we say in Hindi देर आये दुरुस्त आये “Better late than never”)

Problems due to Advertisements in 2023

We cannot miss the fact that last year with Jio Cinema and Sports18 fans were disappointed with the long Advertisements they ran during the Live racing action ( Yamaha Call of the Blue and others ) which ruined key moments for them. There was widespread disappointment expressed by the fans online after every Race weekend but the Advertisements remained, fans requested Jio Cinema by tagging them on X (Twitter) to find alternate solutions.
American broadcasters use Pop-up ads for Indy and Nascar which display advertisements in a window while keeping the live broadcast action in a Pop-up window which enables an unhindered racing experience for the fans.
Whether Jio Cinema (Viacom18) improves this for the 2024 season, we will know only by the End of the 1st race weekend.

You can also read this article on our Website – Click Here

The Qatar GP schedule ( In Indian Standard Time) –

MotoGP engines will roar again as the MotoGP circus comes to Losail International Circuit – Qatar for the official Qatar Test.
The Testing will be for 2 Days – Monday, 19th February 2024, and Tuesday 20th February 2024

Marquez: A New Challenge?

The testing is one to look out for Marc Marquez fans, as it marks Marc’s new challenge at Gresini Racing, riding the GP23 Ducati. Marquez will be trying to get himself more in tune with the machine as he transitions from the very different handling style of the Honda to a Ducati machine. In a video posted by MotoGP of a conversation between the current world champion Francesco Bagnaia and Marc – Bagnaia mentioned, “You are riding it (GP23) like the Honda,” which shows how much of a gap Marquez will have to bridge to extract the most out of the machine. 

The Champions

The eyes would be set on the factory Ducatis of Bagnaia and Bastianini as they ride the 2024 Spec bike GP24. Bagnaia posted the fastest time of 1.56.682 on the final day of the Sepang Test, with Bastianini being a close 3rd with a gap of 0.233.

Fightback from Martin?

Another Rider that fans will be keeping a close eye on is last year’s championship rival, Jorge Martin, who finished 2nd in 2023. Martin will be riding the GP24 in his Prima Pramac Racing team. In 2023, he put up a strong fight against Bagnaia, with the latter ultimately securing the championship. Martin is eager to start the season on a high note as he sets his sights on the factory Ducati seat for the 2025 season.

Other Constructors

Aprilia and Red Bull KTM have introduced numerous updates and aero devices to their bikes, making aero the focal point of discussions in the paddock. However, these innovations, including winglets and unconventional designs, haven’t garnered positive reactions from fans, Riders, and pundits within the MotoGP community.
Honda, too, is making a concerted effort to regain ground in the development game after two challenging years, ultimately leading to Marquez’s departure. Luca Marini has stepped in as Marquez’s replacement. Marquez, commenting after the Sepang test, expressed his impression of the progress that Honda has achieved, indicating that he is closely monitoring their advancements.

All these manufacturers aspire to challenge the dominance of Ducati. The question looms: will they succeed?
Only time will tell.

The 2023 season proved to be challenging for Yamaha, with the 2021 world champion, Fabio Quartararo, going winless and securing only three podiums throughout the season. These struggles were attributed to issues with the Yamaha M1 machine.

In an interview with The Race, Quartararo expressed his hopes for continuous improvement, acknowledging the mental toll of the tough season, stating, “Hopefully we can keep going like that and improving. But it was a really tough season, especially mentally.”

Yamaha faced setbacks not only in terms of engine power but also with the ride height device and aero innovations. These challenges resulted in a pace and handling deficit for their Riders. Yamaha is determined to make a comeback, particularly with the concessions they have received in terms of development restrictions from the sporting regulatory body.

The Rookie Wonder?

Another face that attracted attention has been the talented rookie Pedro Acosta, who set impressive fast laps on day 1 and a decent number of laps on days 2 and 3 of the Sepang test. Acosta’s performance was lauded by many as he stands to be tested by the twists and turns of the MotoGP rookie season. Don’t forget to keep your eye on the lap times this rookie sets at the Qatar Test.

Schedule in IST 
19th Feb 2024 – 4:30 PM to 11:30 PM
20th Feb 2024 – 4:30 PM to 11:30 PM

The Test will not be streamed live – However, Live Timing will be available on MotoGP’s official website, with live Text Live text running as well. You can stay updated with the key events and incidents there.