MotoGP
Catalan GP 2024: Bagnaia closes the gap to the top of the championship
At the track of Circuit de Barcelona- Catalunya, it was another showing of what Moto GP does best – CLOSE UNPREDICTABLE RACING.
With Motogp riders arriving in the paddocks of the Catalunya circuit, it was understood that the championship leader would not change statistically. Still, the Catalan GP presented itself as an opportunity to close the gap to the table toppers. Here is a timeline of how the weekend unfolded-
Free practice 1
With Jorge Martin topping the first practice session on Friday closely followed by Marc Marquez in second position, the weekend already looked set for another great battle. They were followed by the KTM machines of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3)
With Aleix Espargaro announcing that he’ll be hanging his boots come the season’s end, it was the last Catalan Gp he would be attending as a rider. He started his weekend by placing his bike in 5th position in free practice 1.
Here’s how the top 10 looked at the end of FP1:
Practice
With a 60-minute practice session presenting itself as an opportunity to have a direct entry into Q2, Riders were pushing their limits to have a position inside the top 10. With the factory KTMs keeping the top positions for themselves for the majority of the session, it was looking like a strong weekend for the KTM riders.
It was Aliex Espargaro however, who topped the session in a perfect start to the weekend. Brad Binder came in a very close second, only 0.072s adrift of the top step. With Pedro Acosta coming in 3rd place, it was yet another strong performance from the rookie.
The top 10 gaining a direct entry into Q2 were –
Free Practice 2
With Saturday providing the riders with a last 30-minute FP2, everyone was out on track to gather data to fine-tune their setups.
Aleix Espargaro continued his pace from Friday practice to top FP2 before the all-important Qualifying. Elsewhere it was Francesco Bagnaia who had a strong start to his Saturday from finishing P2 in FP2 followed by two fast Prima Pramacs, with Franco Morbidelli in 3rd and Jorge Martin in 4th. Pedro Acosta rounded up the top 5 positions.
Qualifying
With 10 positions in Q2 already decided from Friday’s practice session, Q1 was ever important as it gave the riders entry into the final 2 positions in Q2. As a fast Q1 came to an end, Fabio Di Giannantonio topped the session with a time of 01:38.208. However, it was Raul Fernandes of Trackhouse Racing who gathered the most eyes as he outqualified both Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez, and entered Q2.
Come Q2, the competition was as fierce as ever. It was Aleix Espargaro at his home run, who broke the lap record and secured pole position for himself. Beside him was Francesco Bagnaia who posted a lap time 0.031s slower than the Spaniard. Coming in P3 was Raul Fernandes who got his lap time reinstated. However, it was a disaster for the Prima Pramac Racing garage as both Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli came down at the same corner barely moments apart. Jorge Martin eventually qualified in P7, with plenty of work to do. Elsewhere, Alex Rins pushed his Yamaha to a brilliant p8.
Here are the full results- Qualifying Results
Sprint
With the weekend hinting at a close race, we were not disappointed in the sprint. With 3 Riders crashing out of the lead, it was anybody’s win.
At the start, it was the world champion with the best of the starts followed closely by Pedro Acosta in his GASGAS machine. It didn’t take much time for the rookie to start attacking Bagnaia for the lead resulting in a back-and-forth battle between the two. Behind these two, a fast-charging Trackhouse Racing machine of Raul Fernandes was lurking.
As Acosta cleared Bagnaia at Lap 3 of the race, Fernandes too took his chance and overtook Pecco to slot into P2. Raul Fernandes made easy work of Acosta and was now leading the race. Behind them, Brad Binder too had arrived at the scene and started fighting with Acosta. Meanwhile, it was a disastrous end for Raul Fernandes as he slid off the track in turn 10, understandably dejected.
Now the duel between Pedro and Brad looked like it would become one for the race lead, but KTM of Binder built a gap for himself, leaving Pedro Acosta to defend himself from Francesco Bagnaia in P3. But Binder’s race lead wasn’t long-lasting either, as he lost it in Turn 5.
With Pecco inheriting the lead, Acosta was again left to fend his position from Aleix Espargaro, with the Aprilia rider quickly clearing the GASGAS rider. It was now a match between Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta for the final position on the podium.
The front of the sprint was looking sealed until the very last lap, when Francesco Bagnaia lost his Ducati in Turn 5, with Aleix Espargaro inheriting the lead in almost a fairytale end of the Sprint for the Spaniard.
A scrap for p2 on the grid between Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta went all the way up to the final sector. Jorge Martin finished in P4, with Enea Bastianini finishing in P5 from outside the top 10.
Here are the top 10 –
Race
If anything could be made out of the Saturday sprint, it was a certainty that Sunday’s race would be a close-fought battle. And as the five lights went out, we fans were certainly not disappointed.
It was Francesco Bagnaia who got the best of the starts followed by Pedro Acosta in P2. Brad Binder slotted into 3rd as Aleix Espargaro being not so lucky, fell down the grid. Jorge Martin shot up from P7 to P4.
Martin looked determined to move up the grid as he cleared Brad Binder with an ambitious lunge into turn 10 of lap 1 itself. Further ahead Acosta had started his attack on Pecco, allowing Martin and Binder to close onto them. Martin eventually passed Acosta into turn 10.
Martin was looking very determined as he passed Pecco as well into turn 1. Next, it was Acosta who passed Pecco into turn 10. The rookie was looking very quick as he easily closed the gap to Martin and started attacking the Pramac Rider.
Behind Bagnaia, a fierce scrap ensued between Brad Binder, Raul Fernandes, and Aleix Esparago. Eventually, both Fernandes and Esparago passed Binder who got shuffled back into P6.
Further ahead, it all came crashing down for the rookie Pedro Acosta as he slid off the track into the gravel at turn 10.
This promoted the #1 bike to P2. From there, Bagnaia drove on his toes to close the gap to P1 and eventually passed Jorge Martin for the lead of the race.
From then on, Pecco shot ahead in the distance, with Jorge dropping. Eventually, Jorge managed to maintain the status quo and maintain his second position until the chequered flag.
Further behind, Marc Marquez had clawed his way back to the front from all the way back in P14. It was now a battle between Aleix Espargaro and Marc Marquez for the final podium position. Marquez made the overtaking move on Esparago and made it stick. He just had to hold onto it till the end of the race. In a battle that happened until a drag race to the line, it was finally Marc Marquez who finished in third position.
Elsewhere, one of the heroes of the entire weekend was Raul Fernandes. From maiden front row start to leading the sprint to eventually finishing the race in P6, it was an overall great weekend for the Spanish rider.
Praise shall also be showered at Pedro Acosta who after falling off his back, managed to claw back into the points and finished p13
Championship Standings
After the CatalanGP, the championship looks like this:
The next race takes place at the iconic Mugello circuit in Italy from 31st May to 2nd June.
MotoGP
MotoGP 2024: MotoGP back at Misano for exciting weekend
MotoGP is back at Misano as the title fight reaches it’s climax.
MotoGP once again returns to Misano for the second time this season. The original race was scheduled to be in India, then in Kazakhstan and finally in Misano. Join us as DRC previews an exciting weekend ahead of the 2024 Emilia Romagna Motorcycle Grand Prix. Read the last race review here.
Table of Contents
Three-way MotoGP title fight brewing
At the start of the year, it looked like it would be either Jorge Martin or Francesco Bagnaia who would be the title protagonists. It looked like it was the case even in Silverstone. But with his recent return to form, Marc Marquez has also made his claim as a potential title challenger. With back-to-back wins, the last one on the same circuit in Misano, he is one of the favorites to win. Right now the Gresini rider sits 3rd in the championship, 53 points behind leader Jorge Martin. With a bit of luck and a lot of victories, Marquez surely has a chance at his ninth title.
While Marquez needs some luck, the two at the front don’t. Both Martin and Bagnaia are 50 points ahead of the opposition and have dominated this year with all but 3 wins going to them. 7 points separate them with martin leading the championship by 7 points. A lot of pressure will be on him to outscore Bagnaia for some crucial points. Another big talking point will be how well can Martin handle pressure. Pecco has been very good at putting Martin under loads of pressure, which often culminates in him making a mistake or crashing out. Martin in the past has been vocal about how he needs to be better in the psychological battle against Bagnaia.
Francesco Bagnaia will come into this weekend as confident as ever after topping the Misano test right after the San Marino GP. He is the home-crowd favourite and has more wins than anybody else this season. Misano historically has not been his best track, with him winning twice in 8 starts since his debut.
Yamaha aim improvements
The last race at Misano was an excellent stride in improvement for Yamaha. Fabio Quartararo put his factory Yamaha in the top seven. And this was not just the rain mixing things up. Fabio was 6th and 9th in the practice sessions, got a straight entry into Q2 and qualified ahead of every single Aprilia. Alex Rins had a fantastic ride as well and was at one point fighting for tenth place when the rain came.
This is the first time in nearly a year that a Japanese bike has cracked a top-10 finish. Further, Fabio finished fifth in the Misano test earlier on and showed great improvement with the new tire compounds being tested. This was received by the community as a huge leap forward for Japanese motorcycle racing, and Yamaha has said with recent improvements they aim to be fighting at the top end by the end of the 2025 season. With Prima Pramac also switching to Yamaha 2025 onwards, the team will also benefit from having European expertise involved in the development process.
Honda on the other hand, are facing blow after blow. Both Repsol Honda riders sat out the San Marino Grand Prix due to sickness. Repsol also parted ways with Honda after a very successful partnership that saw them win 15 titles and score more than 450 podiums in MotoGP.
The LCR Honda team scored some points for the Japanese powerhouse, but the outstanding problems with the bike are still fixed. Zarco was the lead Honda in the Misano test in 18th place 1.3 seconds off the lead. Johann Zarco even went on to say that there were some problems whose cause have not even been identified as of now, and a “total postmortem” of the bike is necessary to make it competitive. He also went on to say that it is not that Yamaha and Honda are bad, just the fact that Aprilia, KTM and Ducati are way better.
KTM look to impress again, Aprilia try to bounce back
KTM were the team that took the challenge to Ducati here two weeks ago. Three KTMs were in the top three with Brad Binder, Jack Miller and Pol Espargaro finishing ahead of every single Aprilia. The wonder rookie Pedro Acosta was also on point fighting for a potential 4th place but crashed out while duelling with Morbidelli and had to finish a lap down in 17th.
Acosta was once again the lead KTM in the Misano test, finishing a strong 4th by the end of the day. He was the leader of the pack until the final hour when Bagnaia, Morbidelli and Bastianini put in very quick laps to overtake him. Binder, Miller and Dani Pedrosa also impressed with the consistent pace.
Aprilia have traditionally not fared well at Misano and it showed in both the San Marino GP and the test. The only Aprilia to score points last time out was that of Miguel Oliviera for Trackhouse. They were outpaced and outraced by the KTMs and hence dropped valuable points to them in the Constructer’s championship. KTM will once again try to jump on this opportunity to score more points than Aprilia. It is rumored that they may bring in Pedrosa as a wildcard in-order to score more points, just like they did with Espargaro last time out.
Weekend Schedule and weather report
This is how the weather looks like for the Emilia Romagna GP
This is the weekend schedule. All times are in IST. Races can be watched live on Eurosport and on Jio Cinema.
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MotoGP
MotoGP 2024: Marquez wins back-to-back in Magical Misano
Marc Marquez won a chaotic flag-to-flag race in Misano as Jorge Martin gambles and looses out big.
The 2024 MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix was a race of treacherous conditions, insane rides and vicious gambles. With uncertain weather conditions, this flag-to-flag race is already amongst the greats. Join us as DRC reviews a fantastic San Marino Grand Prix weekend. Read more MotoGP news, reviews and previews here.
Table of Contents
What is a flag-to-flag race?
Before we get into the review, lets talk about what a flag-to-flag race in MotoGP is. Unlike Formula One or other forms of car racing, MotoGP or any Motorcycle Grand Prix racing employs other forms of pitstops. MotoGP pitstops work in the sense that there are different bikes with different sets of tires on them, so if you want to pit, you just ride into your box and hop onto another bike.
In MotoGP, a rider can freely enter the pits during qualifying and practice, but only at certain times during the sprint and the race. This is during times where the weather conditions have drastically changed and it would be unsafe for riders to continue on the same tires. This is signaled to the riders in the form of a white flag, allowing them to enter the pits. This type of race with changeable weather conditions wherein a rider can use multiple bikes in the same race is called a Flag-to-Flag race.
Some famous flag-to-flag races in MotoGP include the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, the 2016 German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring and the 2015 San Marino Grand Prix at Misano.
Marquez reigns in the chaos
Marc Marquez did not have a good saturday at all. After his comeback win in Motorland Aragon last week, the Spaniard looked quick from the get go. But his chances at pole slipped when he crashed out from a pole worthy lap in Q2. He would then start and finish the sprint in a lackluster ninth place.
He was in ninth for a little while when the race started, but quickly picked off places from Fabio Quartararo, Alex Marquez and Marco Bezzechi before capitalizing on Pedro Acosta and Franky Morbidelli’s crash to move up into fourth. This was when the chaos started. A white flag was waved in leu of rainfall at the track. Jorge Martin was the first to enter the pits to swap bikes and Marquez moved upto third behind Jack Miller and Bagnaia. He would then pass both of them the next lap and win comfortably with a huge margin of 3.1 seconds.
Martin on the other hand, changed bikes too early and was racing with wets on a relatively dry track. He had to pit again and had to go a lap down, ultimately finishing 15th. Francesco Bagnaia followed his guts and managed to finish second ahead of team mate Enea Bastianini who once again, sliced through the field on a late charge to the podium.
This in Marc’s own words, was a ‘special win’ as he led Gresini to their first home win. He also dedicated his win to the late Fausto Gresini, in whose honor the team was running a special livery.
KTM and Jack Miller Impress, while Aprilia struggle
KTM was the main contender of Ducati in Misano instead of the Aprilias. Pedro Acosta was the lead KTM as he qualified fifth ahead of another KTM of Brad Binder, both the Gresini Ducatis and the factory Ducati of Bastianini. Binder would then show why he is called the ‘sunday-man’ after losing out in the start to utimately finish in fourth. Acosta the rookie was also impressive, dueling with the Prima Pramac Ducati of Morbidelli until he crashed from fourth place. Thankfully he was able to get back up but finished a lap down in seventeenth.
Another talking point for the weekend was Jack Miller. The Australian finished 8th, but there is more to that story. He was running as high as second, and even dueled with Bagnaia and Bastianini, but would then be passed after his tires ran out of grip. This is a much needed result for Miller, as he is without a ride next season and this race showcased just how great his racing skills are. Wildcard Pol Espargaro finished tenth, making it three KTMs in the top ten, ahead of every single Aprilia.
The Aprilias struggled for pace all weekend. Maverick Vineales was the lead Aprilia in Qualifying in 11th, while Miguel Oliviera was the only Aprilia to score points in the weekend when he finished eleventh in the race. Top Gun finished sixteenth, a lap down while Raul Fernandes finished eighteenth a lap down. Aleix Espargaro retired from the race in a pretty dismal weekend for Aprilia.
Fabio and Yamaha blitz out, while Honda No-Show
Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha have clearly taken their recent lump very seriously, and are hard at work trying to fix the bike’s problems. This weekend at Misano was a very good one for them. Fabio locked in his world title here back in 2021, and now he puts Yamaha in the top 7 this year. Quarataro finished 6th and 9th in the practice sessions, guaranteeing himself a spot in Q2. He would then outqualify the Aprilia of Maverick Vineales and then go onto to finish an impressive seventh in the race. Alex Rins was also running in the top 12, but finished 19th at the flag due to the downpour.
Honda on the other hand, had a mixed weekend. The LCR Honda team, who were running Stefan Bradl as a wildcard this weekend, finished 9 points at the hands of Johann Zarco, Taka Nakagami and Stefan Bradl respectively in 12th through 14th. The factory Repsol Honda team on the other hand was a no show. Both Joan Mir and Luca Marini were sick from friday and decided not to participate in the race saturday itself, with Mir set to miss the Misano test as well. This comes as a salt on wounds type situation for Honda, after Repsol ended thier partnership with them earlier this weekend.
Championship Standings and the next races
Following the San Marino Grand Prix, the championship looks like this:
The next race is also at Misano with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix taking place September 20-22.
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The last time we were in Motorland Aragón, the year was still 2022 and Francescco Bagnaia was yet to win a Moto GP championship. Fast forward to 2024 and Bagnaia is the rider to beat this weekend as he leads Championship. All you need to know about the race weekend and what news has dropped since the last race, read it all in the weekend preview report from DRC.
5 points in it: The Title battle
Last time out at Austrian GP, it was a blockbuster show by the World Champion.
After entering the weekend just behind Martin and a point to prove, Pecco put on a masterclass and won both the Sprint and Race. Now leading the Champion, Bagnaia still can’t rest as his nearest rival is just five points away. Bagnaia is also en-route to shatter his own record of most wins in a season. He is currently sitting at 7 wins which is equal to his record. Hence a win here will be one for the history books.
However, Bagnaia will not be the only one gathering eyes this weekend.
Jorge Martin has proved time and again this season that he’s a force to be reckoned with. We have seen a number of times this season how the Championship leader gets changed after every other Race weekend. And with Martin just trailing to Bagnaia by 5 points, it is very likely to happen again.
The other protagonist in the title fight is Enea Bastianini. The last time around the Motorland Aragón circuit, Bastianini tasted the winner’s champagne as he just pipped Bagnaia at the last lap. (0.042s). A similar show by Bastianini would stregthen his hold at the title fight.
Marquez in desperate need of a come-back at Aragón
Marc Marquez is not having the best of form lately. After crashing out at the Silverstone Sprint, Marquez entered Austria with determination to do himself one better.
However, his Silverstone form was yet to leave him. He was running in P2 in Sprint after Martin had to serve his Long Lap penalty but he fell off his bike, throwing away a well points paying position. In the race, Marquez fell down the owing to a crash with Franco Morbidelli, but eventually did well enough damage limitation and finished fourth.
Marquez currently sits 4th in the championship, 83 points away from the table-topper Bagnaia. This gap is not impossible to claw back, however, Marquez will need to improve his Qualifying pace and rectify his mistakes in races to still have a chance at the Championship.
Driver signings, Private tests and more
The most recent signing in the Moto GP paddock is of Fermin Aldeguer to Gresini Racing.
He was signed by Ducati back in March and now gets the seat of the outgoing Marc Marquez. Currently sitting in P5 in the Moto 2 Championship, the Spaniard impressed the Ducati squad after finishing P3 in Moto2 in 2023 season. He has been signed for a period of 2 years.
In other news, Yamaha are coming into this weekend after conducting a private test last week at Misano. For the same, Andrea Dovizioso stepped up as a replacement for the recovering Cal Crutchlow.
The tests seem to have brought some positivity into Japanese team. Fabio Quartaro exclaimed-
“We had the opportunity to try some new things at the private Misano test. At the test we noticed that the new items give us a small improvement. This weekend we’ll have another chance to try these items, but this time in a race-weekend setting.“
With continued push by the Japanese team, Yamaha riders look in a better place to finally aim for better positions at the Motorland Aragón.
When and Where to watch
All the sessions from Motorland Aragón will be streamed on Eurosport (TV) and JioCinema (Web Broadcast).
The Schedule is as follows:
Friday
14:15-15:00 – Free Practice Nr. 1
18:30-19:30 – Practice
Saturday
13:40-14:10 – Free Practice Nr. 2
14:20-15:00 – Qualifying
18:30 – Sprint
Sunday
17:30 – Race
Make sure to follow DesiRacingCo to keep up with Moto GP at Motorland Aragón.
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