MotoGP
Moto GP 2024: Bastianini wins the weekend
The 3 day action at the Silverstone GP gave us fans plenty to talk about. From 110% performance from Bastianini to heartbreaks for others, we had everything. Read it all in DRC’s review of the weekend.
Bastianini delivers double victory for Ducati
We are quite familiar with Ducati bikes dominating entire weekends in Moto GP this year. However, this time at the British GP, it was not Jorge Martin or Francesco Bagnaia that achieved this feat. But it was Enea Bastianini. He showed exceptional pace on Saturday and Sunday causing his fellow riders to play the catching game.
He started his British weekend slow. Finishing FP1 in 6th position, he was nearly 4 tenths back on the table topper Martin. However, he still was the lead Factory Ducati. In the second competetive session, Enea placed 5th, that saw him safely sail through to Q2.
The final qualifying session was curtailed as Maverick Vinales dropped his bike in Turn 2. Bastianini, however, posted a time well enough for P3 while his rivals Pecco and Martin started in P2 and P4 respectively.
The next session of Sprint, however, was where the points would be awarded. And Bastianini let all his pace out of the bag. As the dust settled and some laps passed, it was Bastianini fast on the tail of Martin for the lead. Another bomb that dropped in this sprint was Pecco crashing at Lap 5, turn 4. This meant that if Martin wins, he would be leading the championship. However, he still had Bastianini to contend with. In an ongoing scrap, Bastianini shot into the lead at Lap 6 and started opening up the gap. And with the final lap remaining, Bastianini extended his lead to a second, and secured his first trip to the Sprint podium in style.
The Race
With a spectacular performance on Saturday, Bastianini was looked upon by many as the top contender for the win. As the race started, Bagnaia got the best start out of the front runners. Overall, the top trio of Bagnaia, Bastianini and Martin, all passed Espargaro at the start. Martin was determined to do one better than Sprint and soon passed Bastianini for 2nd. He was passed by Espargaro too. As the race progressed, however, Bastianini passed Aleix to get back into the podium places and back on the attack.
‘The Beast’ wasn’t done here. He soon pounced on a mistake by Bagnaia and began applying pressure on Martin. With six laps to go, Bastianini closed the gap tenth by tenth. Finally with just 2 laps left, Enea was right at the tail of Martin. The #23 bike surely looked intimidating for Jorge as he slid wide twice, with Enea passing him at the second time.
Just within the final lap, Bastianini pulled out a gap of nearly 2 seconds on Martin. Just another way to flex on your opponents.
This superb weekend has resulted in Enea replacing Marquez from the P3 spot in championship. He now leads over Marquez by 13 points.
The Championship table changes once again
Throughout the first part of the weekend, Jorge Martin looked determined to take his championship lead back. He capitalized on every mistake that his rivals made.
When we entered into this weekend, Jorge Martin trailed the world champion by 10 points. However, as the weekend progressed we saw how determined he was to get back into the lead. Out of the top 2, Martin looked more dialed in this weekend. Going into the sprint, he was the most probable winner on everyone’s cards. Even as Francesco Bagnaia fell off his bike in sprint, Martin kept his cool and eventually finished in 2nd. This made him just one point short of the lead in Championship.
Even in the race, Martin was the better of the two as he finished nearly 4 seconds ahead of Bagnaia. Bagnaia even exclaimed that he risked crashing in the race if he tried catching up to Martin.
Another change in the championship is Marc Marquez being replaced by Enea Bastianini for P3. Marquez had a subpar weekend by his own standards. He qualified in 7th for the sprint and the race. In the closing stages of the sprint, he lost his bike which didn’t help his case either.
In the race, Marquez was part of the top 5 that broke away from the rest of the field. Come the end, he was on track to catch Pecco for third but ultimately ran out of laps. He finished P4 on track. But with Bastianini finishing first, Marquez conceded his championship position to Bastianini.
Aprilias unable to deliver
The bikes of Aprilia Racing were looking quite fast as the weekend started. Both the factory Aprilias were fast in FP1, scoring a P2,P3. In the practice session, Aleix Espargaro posted a time for P2, missing P1 by 0.045 seconds. This difference was vanished, however, in the qualifying session.
Aleix Espargaro secured pole position over Francesco Bagnaia by 2 tenths. However, a large part of that difference is down to the qualifying session being interrupted. Maverick Vinales in the other Aprilia crashed at Turn 2, which brought out the yellow flags. Hence his performance was not on full display. He qualified P8 on the grid.
This was as good Aprilia’s weekend would get however. Aleix Espargaro was unfortunately unable to capitalize on his pole position in both Sprint and the Race. In the Sprint, he scored a P3 but was far from the leading 2. Vinales was at the tail-end of points scoring postions as he came home in P8.
On the Race day, Espargaro was again unable to get a good start as he dropped to P4. However, he was able to keep up with the top riders, and even had some fights himself. But ultimately, he crossed the finish line in 6th. He was passed by VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio who had a superb comeback drive from 10th to 5th. Vinales, meanwhile, finshed the race down in P13.
It was not a smooth Sunday for their satellite team as well. Raul Fernandes had recieved RS-GP 24 from this weekend. But he wasn’t able to put it to full use as both Trackhouse bikes retired on first lap. This mishap happened as Raul lost his bike at Turn 6 on the first lap and took out Miguel as well.
KTM – GASGAS battle
Perhaps the biggest battle of the weekend apart from the top riders was between the bikes of Brad Binder(Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3). Both the KTM riders and future teammates were fighting tooth and nail in sprint for 5th place at the moment.
In a fiery scrap that ensued, Acosta and Binder came too close for comfort, even shattering their winglets. Marquez was able to get past both of them, but Acosta swept back past the spaniard.
With these two soon to be team-mates at KTM, such fights might be the new normal from 2026.
Championship standings
After the British GP, here is how the championship looks like:
Here we wrap up our review from the weekend. Moto GP will return after a week’s break. The next round will hosted at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, from 16-18 Aug.
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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.
MotoGP
MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix Review: Bagnaia shines in Spielberg
Bagnaia masters the Red Bull Ring to deliver yet another dominating weekend.
The Red Bull Ring in the Austrian mountains was the stage to the 11th Round of the 2024 FIM MotoGP world championship. Read about it all in DRC’s weekend Review for the 2024 MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix. Read the weekend preview here .
Bagnaia completes the Double
The Ducati domination continues. After missing out last time in Silverstone, Francesco Bagnaia was on top form as he scooped up both the Sprint and the Race victory at the Red Bull Ring. The Italian qualified second behind title-fight rival Jorge Martin, missing on pole by just one and a half tenths.
Pecco produced a fantastic hole-shot lights out on Saturday. He and Jorge Martin were then scrapping for the lead, after which Martin had to serve a Long Lap Penalty and settle for second in the sprint, Pecco finishing with a very comfortable margin.
Going into Sunday, both Bagnaia and Martin were tied on 250 points, with Pecco becoming the leader by the virtue of more race wins.
On Sunday, Bagnaia got a good start, and converted it into the lead at the end of Lap 1, completing the move and becoming the leader officially as He and Martin barreled into Turn 1 on the second lap. After which, he went on to inflate his lead eventually finishing a whopping 3.2 seconds ahead of Jorge. Bagnaia would go on to put in the fastest lap of the race. The speedy 1:29:519 also breaking the lap record in the process. This show of performance puts the reigning champion 5 points ahead of his nearest rival Martin.
Marquez has a topsy turvy weekend
Difficult, draining and rocky were the words to describe Marquez’s weekend in Austria. The Spaniard qualified third, half a second off pole. Although he was happy about the front row start, he was also dissatisfied with his lack of pace.
Come Saturday, he would maintain that third place, but as Jorge Martin served his long lap penalty, Marquez pounced and took second place. He had the pace to secure a silver medal in the sprint, but crashed out at turn 3.
Sunday didn’t bear much luck for the Spaniard either, as he collided with the Prima Pramac Ducati of Franko Morbidelli. The pair, who also collided in Sachsenring, saw Marquez coming off worse once again and dropping deep into the field. Marquez would then go on to make his way through the field, picking off places one after the other, to finally finish fourth.
One positive from his weekend was the great race pace he showed. He was able to keep up with Jorge Martin and even pull a gap on him. Qualifying pace needs to improve, however, as he tries to prove why he is the right choice for the Ducati ride next year.
Aprilia, Honda and Yamaha fail to deliver
Aprilia for the second weekend in a row, fail to deliver the goods after a promising start. Friday was frustrating for Aleix Espargaro, but he recovered to a third place finish in the sprint after Marquez crashed out. On the other factory Aprilia was Maveric Viñales, disappointed by a low P6 in Qualifying. The Trackhouse Aprilias were also disappointing, finishing 13th and 20th in Qualifying.
Things would only get difficult for Sunday. Both the factory Aprilias went backwards from the start, finishing P7 and P9. Oliveira on the Trackhouse Aprilia could only muster 12th. A growing concern for the Aprilia bikes is that they are loosing a lot of pace as the race goes on. After a decent start, every single Aprilia was overtaken as they sunk to the lower points paying positions.
Meanwhile, the Japanese manufacturers were once again starved for pickings. Honda and Yamaha combined managed to score only two points at the hands of Nakagami. Honda and Yamaha seem to be deep in the lower-midfield slump, and still have miles to return to the top competition.
Lukewarm home race for KTM
Celebrating the Austrian GP as their home grand prix, KTM had a weekend with very high peaks and the lowest of lows.
Pedro Acosta, who is the lead KTM rider in the championship, started with three different crashes on Friday. That, however would be the least of his troubles. The wonderkid was unable to recreate his magic that got him multiple podiums earlier in the year. He finished the race in 13th, scoring 3 points in a tumultuous weekend. His teammate Augusto Fernandes also struggled over the weekend, finishing with a single point.
The factory KTM team had a much better weekend though. The KTM hero Brad Binder made it to Q2, albeit in 12th place. His team-mate Jack Miller produced a blistering lap to start fifth come race-day, the Aussie still looking for a ride for next season. However, the talking point in qualifying was the Wildcard.
Pol Espargaro impressed and not only managed to get into Q2, but also out qualified Binder and started 10th. He would then finish 11th, in the points for KTM on Sunday.
Come raceday, Jack Miller went backwards, but still just. He was only overtaken by Marquez as he charged. However, that would all change as Miller crashed out of sixth at the turn two chicane. This was his first major points paying position since the last year, and will surely hamper his chances of getting a seat next season.
The Sunday man Brad Binder delivered a brilliant home race for KTM on the other side of the garage. He managed to climb up all the way from P12 to P5, and was set for a P4 finish had Marquez not charged past him. This now puts him 6th in the bigger scheme of things and he overtakes Pedro Acosta as the lead KTM in the championship.
Rider Market and Injury Updates
The MotoGP grid will be getting a new rookie next season. Trackhouse Racing have signed Moto2 rider Ai Ogura for two years starting 2025.
Congratulations are also in order for Frank Morbidelli, who joins Pertamina Enduro VR46 for the 2025 season and beyond. VR46 have also extended Fabio Di Gianntonio’s contract for another two years.
In other news, Diggia suffered a pretty heavy crash this weekend, which left him with a dislocated shoulder. He was not able to start either race and qualifying, and it is uncertain if he will recover for the next round.
Championship Standings
This is how the championship looks like after the Austrian Grand Prix:
The next round of the world championship will take place from Aug 30-Sep 1 at the Aragon circuit in Spain.
Follow DRC for more updates related to the world of motorsports.
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