Hashtag: Marco Bezzecchi

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MotoGP: Bagnaia Puts in a Champions’ Performance to Win the Spanish GP, Ahead of Marc Marquez

Pecco Bagnaia has shown everyone why he is a two-time MotoGP world champion, taking a phenomenal and hard-fought win at the Spanish GP in Jerez.

It wasn’t an easy win for the Italian – he first had to battle with Jorge Martin, after losing the lead to him on lap 2. He kept the pressure on but just couldn’t find a way past. When Martin went down at turn 6 on lap 11, Bagnaia was able to take over at the front, with a comfortable lead of the rest of the pack.

Then, in the latter stages of the race, he had a fiery Marc Marquez on his tail and had to fend off numerous moves from the home hero. Both ended the day with rubber on their leathers after bumping and making contact a few times.

As many MotoGP fans know, there is no love lost between Marquez and Bagnaia after numerous clashes already this year, as well as the behind-the-scenes unhappiness when Marquez moved to Gresini (a Ducati sister team). But it was clear who the fans were cheering for and their deafening cheers were all for their home hero, Marquez.

Marquez certainly won’t be disappointed with 2nd place today. It’s his first race podium in nearly two years and his first podium with Ducati. It will mean even more to him, given that this track nearly ended his career 4 years ago after a horrific crash.

The final podium position was taken by Marc Bezzecchi, who turned parc ferme in a huge party. He was evidently thrilled with his first podium of the year, having struggled so much at the start of the season. It was a much-needed result for him with big boss Valentino Rossi watching trackside this weekend!

Image Credit: MotoGP on X
AS IT HAPPENED

Much like yesterday’s Sprint Race, it was Brad Binder who had a great start off the line. It was short lived though, as he was pushed wide at turn 1 and ended up shuffling back to 6th. So the race began with Marc Marquez leading, from pole, with Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi slotting in behind.

Pecco Bagnaia was super aggressive at the first two corners, which saw him rocket from 7th up to 4th. It was an equally positive start for Miguel Oliveira, leaping from 15th to 7th, and Jack Miller, jumping from 15th to 8th.

Meanwhile, Augusto Fernandez, enjoying a pretty poor start to the season, was slapped with a double long lap penalty for a jump start. He then failed to serve this within the required 3 laps so his penalty increased to a ride through penalty instead.

As the grid approach turn 6, the Dani Pedrosa corner, Bagnaia was ridiculously late on the breaks and flew up to 2nd place. He was then quickly battling for the lead and took over at the front as they crossed the line to start lap 2.

The drama continued as we had 3 abreast going in to turn 1, which ended with Bagnaia leading ahead of Martin in 2nd and Marc Marquez in 3rd. As the lap then ended, Bagnaia went wide at the final corner to gift the lead to Martin.

Behind them, as the grid settled down, we had Bezzecchi in 4th, Alex Marquez 5th, Binder 6th, Oliveira 7th and Miller 8th. Enea Bastianini and Fabio DiGiannantonio rounded out the top 10.

On lap 4, we had our first crash of the race. Dani Pedrosa, a wildcard for KTM, went down at turn 8 in a very fast crash. Later in the lap, Bezzecchi was able to snatch 3rd place away from Marc Marquez who responds by setting the following lap next time around. At this point in the race, there was hardly anything between the top 4, with Bagnaia achingly close to the back wheel of Martin but unable to find a way past.

Aleix Espargaro was the next to crash, going down at turn 5 on lap 10. He bumped in to the back of Johann Zarco, taking him down too. Zarco was a completely innocent bystander, with no way to avoid Espargaro’s uncharacteristically silly move.

There were some gaps forming in the pack as everyone settled in to the race – everyone except Bagnaia who was still desperately trying to find a way past Martin who was holding firm in 1st. On lap 11, it seems like the pressure became too much for Martin and the bike folded underneath him, sending him in to the gravel at turn 6. He was left utterly dejected, forced to watch on from the escape road.

So this left us with Bagnaia in the lead, a comfortable 0.8 seconds ahead of Bezzecchi in 2nd. Marc Marquez had now been promoted to the final podium spot, with a gap between him and Binder in 5th, Oliveira in 6th and Bastianini in 7th.

Tyre struggles for Bezzecchi on lap 14 allowed Marquez to finally retake 2nd place. He had made an attempt the lap before, when Bezzecchi went wide on the final corner, but there was some smoke from his rear tyre and he couldn’t find the speed he needed to make the move. It appeared that he was perhaps having a technical problem, possibly with a part of bodywork rubbing on his tyre. But once he made the move, he was able to pull out a 0.2 second gap within just 2 corners.

As Marquez kept putting air between himself and Bezzechi, Bagnaia was now leading by 1.4 seconds.

Further back, there was a battle raging between Miller and Pedro Acosta, with Acosta coming out on top. There has been lots of talk about Acosta potentially replacing Miller next year so he will have been disappointed to be bested by the rookie.

By lap 16, Marquez had reduced the gap at the front to 0.6 seconds and it was game on for the race win today. Marquez was setting fastest lap after fastest lap, including setting a new race lap record. Then, on lap 21, Bagnaia and Marquez were side by side for a large portion of the lap, even bumping in to each other at turn 10. It was a breath taking tussle, with reigning champion Bagnaia coming out on top.

He then proved to us exactly why he is a two-time champion, responding to Marquez’s attack by laying down qualifying-style lap times and further smashing the race lap record. It was a hugely impressive feat, given he was on 23-lap-pld tyres at this point.

It was this blistering pace, with error free laps, that allowed Bagnaia to take the win and leap frog up to 2nd in the championship standings.

RACE RESULTS
Image Credit: MotoGP on X
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Feature Image Credit: Ducati on X

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MotoGP: Martin Wins Sprint Race in Indonesia, Giving Him The Championship Lead

For the first time this season, Pecco Bagnaia is no longer leading the championship standings. After winning today’s Sprint Race, Jorge Martin now leads the title race by 7 points! He was joined on the podium by both VR46 riders, Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi.

We have reached a crucial point in the season now – Indonesia is the first venue for the final 6 races of the season and marks the countdown to the end of the year. We have two triple-headers now, which can make or break a rider’s championship hopes.

Today’s Sprint Race was won by the rider who is currently riding high on momentum, and the points haul has given him the top spot in the championship standings. This is the first time in 2023 that Pecco Bagnaia has not topped the standings.

Jorge Martin showed his prowess today as he fought his way through from 6th on the grid to be leading the race by lap 5.

Joining him on the podium were both VR46 riders who have both had recent surgery on their collar bones, making their double podium even more impressive. Luca Marini, who started on pole, came home 2nd with Marco Bezzecchi less than a second behind him.

Image Credit: MotoGP

Maverick Vinales led the race in the early stages but eventually slipped back and ended the race in 4th. He looked to be struggling on his Aprilia machine, with the front of the bike not where he would want it to be. This saw him going wide in a number of corners and that’s what saw him ultimately miss out on a podium.

Fabio Quartararo came home in an promising 5th place, just ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio. This was the best race result of the season for the Gresini rider who is, at the moment, without a ride for the 2024 season.

The two Ducati riders were next to see the checkered flag, with Enea Bastianini in 7th, returning from his crash in Catalunya and Pecco Bagnaia in 8th, unable to make any significant moves in the race. Rounding out the points-finishing position, in 9th, was Jack Miller and his Red Bull KTM machine.

AS IT HAPPENED

As the lights went out it was Luca Marini, our pole sitter, who flew off the line and led the field off the grid. At turn 1, Maverick Vinales made an aggressive move up the inside of the leader to take over at the front.

It was a bad start for his teammate Aleix Espargaro, who quickly dropped from 3rd to 6th. This promoted Fabio Quartararo up to 3rd but it was clear he was lacking pace and that held up the rest of the field behind him. With clear air ahead of him, Vinales and Marini were able to break away from the pack.

On turn 11 of the first lap, Marc Marquez found himself in the kitty litter as the rear end let go and the bike just slid out from underneath him.

Jorge Martin quickly made his way past Quartararo and in to 3rd, with a move at turn 10 on lap 2. He quickly got his head down and began chasing down the leading pair.

A few corners later, whilst making a move up the inside of Brad Binder for 5th place, Espargaro’s bike slid out from underneath him and he took Binder down with him. The incident was under investigation for a short while, before the Stewards quickly decided there was no penalty necessary.

Image Credit: MotoGP

These two DNFs promoted Pecco Bagnaia up to 9th and in to the points. Meanwhile, Martin, his championship rival was setting fastest laps and getting ever closer to the leading two riders.

On lap 5, Martin was finally able to make a move past Marini and took over in 2nd place.

At the halfway point, Vinales continued to lead the race and was 0.8 seconds ahead of the rest. Martin was in 2nd, with Marini and Marco Bezzeccho in 3rd and 4th.

By lap 9, the gap at the front was down to 0.2s and that allowed Martin to throw his bike down the inside of Vinales to snatch the lead with a very risky and aggressive move.

Vinales seemed to be facing a few issues in the closing stages of the race and was going wide in multiple corners as the front of the bike seemed to get away from him. This left him vulnerable to the two VR46 riders.

Exactly one lap after he lost the lead to Martin, Vinales then lost 2nd place to Marini. The move was an exact mirror image on Martin’s move, with Marini throwing it up the inside at turn 10.

Across the line to start lap 11 and Bezzcchi was now dicing with Vinales as the Aprilia rider continued to slip backwards. However, it wasn’t until turn 10 of the final lap when he was able to get past and take the final podium position spot.

FULL RESULTS
1st Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
2nd Luca Marini Mooney VR46
3rd Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
4th Maverick Vinales Aprilia
5th Fabio Quartararo Yamaha
6th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini
7th Enea Bastianini Ducati
8th Pecco Bagnaia Ducati
9th Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
10th Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF
11th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
12th Johann Zarco Prima Pramac
13th Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
14th Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF
15th Franco Morbidelli Yamaha
16th Joan Mir Repsol Honda
17th Pol Espargaro GASGAS Tech3
18th Alex Rins LCR Honda
19th Brad Binder Red Bull KTM

DNF = Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda).

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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MotoGP: Delhi Delight for Bezzecchi

Image Credit: MotoGP

In the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, Marco Bezzecchi was simply too good at the Buddh International circuit. Bezzecchi finished the race over 8 seconds clear of Jorge Martin in 2nd and Fabio Quartararo in 3rd place. 

Championship leader Pecco Bagnaia crashed out losing a lot of points in the championship race. We head to Japan next weekend with Pecco only 13 points clear of title rival Jorge Martin.

AS IT HAPPENED

Martin got off to a great start and moved up to first into turn 1, with Pecco up into 2nd ahead of Bezzecchi in 3rd. Only a few corners later, Martin went wide into turn 4 and Pecco got through to take the lead of the race.

Binder was up 4 places into 8th mid way through lap 1. A great start for the KTM rider but Aprilia man Viñales was down 10 places at the end of lap 1 due running wide into turn 1 at the start of the race.

Martin dropped back further into 3rd with Bezzecchi blasting by as Martin opened the door running wide. At the end of lap 1 Bezzecchi went by Pecco and took the lead of the race for the first time at the start of lap 2.

All of the riders with a soft rear tyre had to be careful to not burn the tyre out so early on in the race. Bezzecchi set the fastest lap with Pecco 2nd and Martin 3rd. Martin resisting the pressure from Marc Marquez behind and had a lot of work to do to catch Pecco and Bezzecchi ahead.

KTMs Jack Miller had a disastrous start to the race running way down in 20th place in the early stages.

Martin was desperate to get by Pecco cleanly and get after Bezzecchi as Bezzecchi was 1.237 seconds clear as they come to the end of lap 4.

Martin with the slip steam along the back straight got ahead of Pecco into turn 4. Martin now with 2.159 seconds to make up to catch Bezzecchi. Bezzecchi continued his blistering run of form this weekend and looked to pull even further away at the front.

Yellow flags waved in sector 1 as Marc Marquez crashed out at turn 1. Out from 4th place, but able to re-join and recover into the top 10. A superb performance all around this weekend from both Marquez and Joan Mir.

A third of the way through now and Bezzecchi leads 3 seconds clear of the fight for 2nd place behind. Martin was just ahead of Pecco in 3rd. Fabio in 4th place matched the pace of those in front but a second behind the fighting pair in front.  Pecco swarming all over the back of Martin on lap number 8 of 21.

Lap 9 and Bezzecchi is 3.492 seconds clear of Martin in 2nd and Pecco on Martin’s back wheel in 3rd. Fabio and Joan Mir both looked comfortable in 4th and 5th place. Both Fabio and Mir having the best races for some time so far this afternoon in Delhi.

With 11 laps to go and as Marc Marquez went by his old teammate GASGAS rider Pol Espargaro, Bezzecchi is running away with it here in India. Technical problems for Aleix Espargaro saw the Aprilia rider out of the race and with Viñales down in 10th, it was a torrid weekend for the factory Aprilia team.

Coming into the final third of the race and Pecco with so much more inside grip went by Martin into turns 8 and 9 and made it look easy.  Pecco looked to pull away now from Martin with 8 laps to go.

Sector 2 and yellow flags a plenty as Pecco Bagnaia crashed out of the grand prix! Jorge Martin was now just 13 points behind in the championship if Martin manages to hold onto 2nd place. Fabio moved up to 3rd place and was set for a podium for Yamaha.

4 laps to go and as Martin zipped his leathers back up, Bezzecchi was miles ahead in the lead, 6.814 seconds clear of Martin in 2nd. Fabio 3rd and with Mir running wide opened the door for Binder to move up into 4th place.

With a few laps left the top 3 places looked sown up. Yamaha and Honda must be delighted with all of their riders sat in the top 10.

THE LAST LAP 

Onto the last lap and VR46 superstar Marco Bezzecchi was miles ahead of the rest. Bezzecchi started the lap 6.576 seconds clear of Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin in 2nd and in 3rd place to start the lap was 2021 world champion, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

Martin went into turn 4 and ran wide letting Fabio go by. Martin only to come back round the outside of Fabio at turns 5 into 6. A crazy overtake from The Martinator to get back up into 2nd. Fabio not giving up on 2nd tried to get up the inside of Martin in the following corners.

As Bezzecchi was celebrating cruising along the start straight, Jorge Martin clung on to take 2nd place and crossed the line with Fabio finishing in 3rd.

With 7 races left in the championship and with Pecco dropping the ball into the gravel. Martin is just 13 points now behind Pecco in the championship as we head to Motegi in Japan next weekend.

Race Classification

Image Credit: MotoGP

Championship Standings

Image Credit: MotoGP

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MotoGP: Alex Marquez takes Magnificent Maiden Win at Silverstone Sprint Race

In typical British fashion, all we could talk about for most of today’s sprint race was the weather. It was unpredictable and difficult to master. But one man came out on top – and for the first time in his premier class career!

It was Alex Marquez who came out on top for today’s sprint race at the British GP. He started the race in 3rd, took the lead on lap 2, and never looked back. He faced a late charge from Marco Bezzecchi, who came home in 2nd, but he lead easily and took the checkered flag in dominant fashion.

The final podium spot was taken by Maverick Vinales, who was thrilled to squeeze a podium out of his Aprilia machine which, typically, doesn’t like these damp conditions.

Early race leaders, Jorge Martin and Jack Miller eventually came home in 6th and 7th respectively.

Further down the pack, it was a difficult day for reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia – he came home in 14th and scored no points, meaning his championship lead over Bezzecchi has been cut to 27 points.

It was an even tougher day for Marc Marquez, coming home in 18th and seemingly facing yet more issues on his Honda, and Fabio Quartararo who made no waves in the race at all – the Frenchman started the race last, in 22nd, and was only able to make up one place across the entire sprint race. A day to forget for both former champions.

The sprint races format, which is new for 2023 in this new era of MotoGP, has now given us 5 different winners across 9 different race weekends. The forecast for tomorrow’s main race is looking dry – can Alex Marquez replicate his win under those normal conditions?

As it happened

After a saturated free practice and qualifying session earlier in the day, the track was beginning to dry as the riders took to the grid for today’s sprint race. That left a lot of questions around tire selection and mid-race bike changes. As it turned out, every rider opted for medium wet tires and this seemed to be the ideal option as the rain would start falling before the race ended.

As the lights went out, Jack Miller and his KTM machine took an unsurprising early lead. He flew off the line and quickly got past polesitter Marco Bezzecchi. Bezzecchi put up an early fight but it was the Aussie who was clearly out in the lead by the end of the first few corners.

Further back down the pack, Pecco Bagnaia had a wobble and fell back from his starting position of 4th and in to a pack of squabbling riders. He was now back down in 12th after losing 8 places. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini clashed in the opening few corners, causing a large gap to form right in the middle of the pack.

Miller wasn’t able to keep hold of the lead for long – after getting past Augusto Fernandez to take 3rd, Jorge Martin flew up the inside of both Bezzecchi in 2nd and Miller in 1st to steal the lead of the race at Stowe corner. It didn’t last for long though and the Prima Pramac rider soon lost out to Bezzecchi and Miller again.

It was on lap 2 that Alex Marquez took the lead. He first shoved his way up the inside of Bezzecchi and then, a few corners later, flew past Miller and into the lead. By the end of lap 3, Marquez had a 0.5 second lead over the rest of the pack.

On lap 4, Maverick iInales and Aleix Espargaro make their way past Martin, who has now been shuffled back to 6th. On the following lap, Vinales was now battling with Miller for the final podium position.

At the halfway point, with his brother leading the pack by 0.8 seconds, Marc Marquez was still struggling down in 14th and he could be seen looking over his shoulder, suggesting there might have been an issue with his bike.

The grid then began to settle in to the race and everything seemed to calm down. Aleix Espargaro took 4th away from Miller, and shortly after we had Martin closing in on the Aussie too. Further back down the grid and Fabio Giannantonio took 12th away from Bagnaia, before Bastianini followed suit.

On lap 8, we had spots of rain appearing at various points on the circuit and, on lap 9, Bezzecchi was squeezing everything out of his Mooney VR46 machine as he went on the hunt for Marquez and the race win. By the start of the final lap, the gap has dropped from just over a second down to 0.8 seconds. Then, in the first sector of the final lap, Bezzecchi took another 0.3 seconds off this gap. Sadly, in the end, Bezzecchi just ran out of road and came home 0.366s behind maiden premier class winner Alex Marquez.

Full Results
1st Alex Marquez Gresini
2nd Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
3rd Maverick Vinales Aprilia
4th Johan Zarco Prima Pramac
5th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
6th Jorge Martin Prima Parmac
7th Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
8th Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
9th Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
10th Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF
11th Luca Marini Mooney VR46
12th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini
13th Enea Bastianini Ducati
14th Pecco Bagnaia Ducati
15th Franco Morbidelli Yamaha
16th Pol Espargaro GASGAS Tech3
17th Joan Mir Repsol Honda
18th Marc Marquez Repsol Honda
19th Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF
20th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
21st Fabio Quartararo Yamaha
22nd Icer Lecuona LCR Honda
Championship Standings
1st Pecco Bagnaia 194 points
2nd Marco Bezzecchi 167 points
3rd Jorge Martin 163 points
4th Johann Zarco 115 points
5th Brad Binder 115 points

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP on Twitter

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MotoGP: Bezzecchi On Pole Despite British Downpour

During a typical summer’s day at the British Grand Prix, the rain poured at Silverstone for our first qualifying after the summer break. The conditions were difficult to master, with many riders falling, but one man was able to secure pole.

Marco Bezzecchi mastered the awful conditions on track today to bring his bike home in pole – his second consecutive pole position. However, his bike wasn’t unscathed. Bezzecchi went down in the dying minutes of Q2 whilst trying to improve on his time. His bike looked very much like it was ready for the scrap heap as the Italian rider walked to parc ferme. He will be joined on the front row by Jack Miller and Alex Marquez who also mastered the conditions.

As It Happens

Qualifying 1

The first rider to fall victim to the conditions was Fabio DiGiantonio. He faced a highside going into Abbey corner with 9 minutes remaining on the clock. It was a disappointing early end to the session for the rider was was fastest in practice and was sitting at the top of the timing sheets so far in qualifying.

A few minutes later, Fabio Quartararo aquaplanes at turn 16 – he is able to keep the bike upright and gets it going again to rejoin the session.

Franco Morbidelli is next to top the timing sheets and continues to beat his own time on his way to a Q2 spot.

Enea Bastianini was looking set to join Morbidelli in Q2, sitting comfortably in 2nd for much of the session. However, he was bested by Augusto Fernandez in the dying moments, as the Spanish rider set a 2:16.885.

It was a hugely difficult day for Quartararo who wasn’t able to find his rhythm again after the mid-session incident. He will start both of this weekend’s races from the back of the grid.

Qualifying 2

The first rider to top the timing sheets was Jack Miller who set a blistering lap time of 2:15.629 – it seemed to come out of nowhere as the Aussie left everything on the track whilst others were tip-toeing around.

With 6 and a half minutes left on the clock, Pecco Bagnaia had a fast crash after locking the breaks. He went down at turn 6 and despite hitching a lift on a moped, he wasn’t able to get back to the garage with enough time to get back on track for a hot lap. Luckily for the reigning champion, he had already laid down a fast lap and will still the race from 4th.

With the rain continuing to pour, more and more riders were falling, with turn 1 looking especially tricky. That included Alex Marquez and Luca Marini. The multiple yellow flags that were out for the final 3 minutes meant that no riders were able to improve on their lap times.

The final rider to fall in qualifying was provisional pole sitter, Marco Bezzecchi. His bike ended up looking like scrap but, again due to the resulting yellow flags, no one was able to beat his pole lap time of 2:15.359.

Feature Image Credit: Mooney VR46 on Twitter

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MotoGP: Bagnaia Takes Dominant Win as Podium Changes After Flag for DutchGP

In the last race before the 5-week summer break, the iconic Assen TT circuit has given us another brilliant race with difficult conditions and a close field to overcome.

Pecco Bagnaia has mastered the tricky, hot track conditions at the DutchGP to take a truly dominant victory. He led almost every lap of the race on his way to extending his championship lead.

After his brilliant pole positions and sprint race win, Marco Bezzecchi was thrilled with another podium today as he came home in 2nd place. He dropped back to 3rd at the race start, giving himself the challenge of fighting with Brad Binder for 2nd.

It was Binder who crossed the line in 3rd but, after a dramatic post-flag penalty for exceeding track limits, he was demoted to 4th. Replays showed that the South African touched the green part of the kerb with a fraction of his front tire – however, this was enough to set off the sensors and land him a penalty. He will feel very hard done by after facing the same fate in yesterday’s sprint race – It was the same kerb at the same part of the race that saw him miss out on a podium.

This meant that Aleix Espargraro was promoted to the 3rd place after a really positive race for the Aprilia rider. This is his first podium of the year – a surprise to many after his very strong showing at pre-season testing. He will be hoping to carry this momentum through the summer break and on to Silverstone in 5 weeks time. It was an impressive run for Espgararo who was nursing an injured bike after contact with Luca Marini’s rear tire at the start of the race.

Image Credit: MotoGP

It was a much more difficult day for Jack Miller, celebrating his 200th race, and Johann Zarco, celebrating his 250th race. Miller was the first rider to go down on lap 2, followed by Zarco, who was taken out by Fabio Quartararo on lap 3.

In the end, we only had 14 riders complete the full 26 lap race thanks to a number of riders falling victim to the 50-degree track temperatures and the numerous issues this caused.

As It Happened

As the riders made their way on to the grid, we were able to see their tire choices and how the riders were aiming to tackle the undoubtedly hot and greasy track conditions – tires were always going to prove crucial today. All riders, except two, were on the hard front tires. Half the grid then opted for a soft rear tire, the other half opting for a medium rear. Most notably were Brad Binder and Jack Miller who had opted for that soft rear – it looked as though they were aimed for a strong start to the race with that choice.

The lights went out and, as anticipated, there was quickly a lot of action up and down the grid. Polesitter, Marco Bezzecchi was swallowed by the chasing pack and quickly dropped down to 3rd. Binder, in typical Binder fashion, had a flying start. He saw a small gap on the inside of turn 1 and made a very late move, throwing his bike up and into the lead.

Further back, Jack Miller was sitting in 8th and hunting down Maverick Vinales in 7th. He then made a move on the start-finish straight at the start of lap 2. However, as Vinales tried to retake the position, Miller lost the bike under him slid out into the gravel at turn 1. Thanks to this clear air, Vinales was able to then take fastest lap.

It wasn’t long before the next incident and on lap 3, Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco went down at turn 7- the fastest part of the track. The replays showed that the front of Quartararo’s bike folded underneath him and he collected Zarco as he went down. It was clearly a huge impact for both riders, who looked battered and bruised. Quartararo was then helped out of the gravel as he limped away.

It was on the same lap that Pecco Bagnaia stole the lead away from Binder.

One more lap later, it was Vinales’ turn to go down. He was making moves up the field but sadly went down at turn 8. That’s four riders going down across 3 laps!

All these incidents helped to promote Jorge Martin, Miguel Oliveira and Alex Marquez who were running in 6th, 7th and 8th respectively. There was now a huge battle for 5th place, with 6 riders all in the fight. On lap 6, Luca Marini, who had been leading this pack, fell back from 5th to 10th in the space on one corner. This meant that Aleix Espargaro, running in a comfortable 4th, was gifted a 2.5s gap over this fighting group.

On lap 7, Enea Bastianini crashed out at turn 5 whilst running in 8th – he tried to get the bike back up and running again but it was a lost cause as the flames started to appear at the back of the Ducati machine.

At the midpoint of the race, we still had Bagnaia leading the field, with Binder hot on his tail in 2nd. Binder was able to gain a huge amount on the leader in every breaking zone, but wasn’t able to convert this into a move for the lead.

Everything across the field seemed to calm down as we drew ever closer to the chequered flag. The biggest drama came when Oliveira, running in 10th, made a mistake at turn 15. He then retired a lap later, suggesting it was a mechanical issue. A few laps later, we then had Iker Lecuona drop to the back of the field before also retiring with a mechanical issue. Lecuona is here this weekend to stand in for the injured Joan Mir.

With the laps ticking down now, Bezzecchi decided now was the time to make a move and lay down his intentions to win. On lap 17 of 26, he made a move on Binder, who tried hard to counter this. This battle then gave a 1.2s lead for Bagnaia.

Bezzecchi, now in 2nd and with some clean air in front of him, was gaining between 0.3s and 0.4s per lap on Bagnaia and looked like he might be making a late move for the victory.

After losing 2nd place, Binder was now in 3rd and falling back in to the clutches of Espargaro who was desperately seeking his first podium of the year.

There were gaps forming between most riders on the grid now and it appeared that the hot track conditions were hampering everyone from making late moves.

This meant that nothing changed on the track and Bagnaia took the chequered flag, ahead of Bezzcchi and Binder. Espargaro came home in 4th, but would soon be promoted to 3rd after Binder’s last lap penalty for track limits.

Jorge Martin, despite a difficult weekend where he seemed to be quite off the pace, came home in 5th. He was just ahead of Alex Marquez in 6th, Luca Marini in 7th and Takaaki Nakagami in 8th. Rounding out the top 10 were Franco Morbidelli in 9th and Augusto Fernandez in 10th.

Full Results
1 Pecco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo
2 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
3 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
4 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
5 Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
6 Alex Marquez Gresini Racing
7 Luca Marini Mooney VR46
8 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
9 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha
10 Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
11 Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia
12 Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF
13 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda
14 Jonas Folger GASGAS Tech3
Championship Standings
1 Pecco Bagnaia 194 points
2 Jorge Martin 159 points
3 Marco Bezzecchi 158 points
4 Brad Binder 114 points
5 Johann Zarco 109 points

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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MotoGP: Bagnaia Takes Home Win at Mugello Sprint Race

As we are becoming accustomed to in MotoGP this season, the sprint race was full of drama from start to finish, with multiple overtakes and lots of drama happening on every lap.

After taking a stunning pole position earlier in the day, and smashing the qualifying lap record, Pecco Bagnaia has taken a dominant win in the Mugello sprint race.

He was joined on the podium by fellow Italian Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, who fought hard to keep his teammate at bay.

It was a difficult race for Alex Marquez who, after putting in a brilliant qualifying lap and starting the race in 3rd, sadly crash at the first corner, bringing his day to a sudden and unexpected halt.

Similarly, Jack Miller and Marc Marquez will have been disappointed to finish in 6th and 7th respectively after enjoying some dramatic battles in the podium places at the early stages of the race.

We have two returning riders this weekend – Aleix Espargaro is back from a bicycle accident and finished in 8th, whilst Enea Bastianini, who has returned from injuries sustained earlier in the season, ended the day in 9th.

As It Happened

As the lights went out, the rain began to fall – however, it was only light rain which didn’t affect the grip on the tarmac.

Off the line, Bagnaia managed to hold on to the lead despite Marc Marquez appearing alongside him into turn 1. Bagnaia was able to strategically place his Ducati to block this attack and keep the lead. In doing this, he also hampered Jack Miller’s approach as he left the Aussie nowhere to go.

Further back, we had Johann Zarco flying off the line but he sadly goes wide in turn 1, which hampers his amazing start slightly.

In the middle of turn 1 of the first lap, Alex Marquez sadly found himself in the kitty litter after Brad Binder bumped into him on the inside. After reviewing the incident, Binder was deemed to be at fault and was later handed a long lap penalty. That did nothing to soothe Alex Marquez though, who was forced to watch the rest of the sprint race from the garage.

As the grid crosses the line to start lap 2, Jorge Martin stole 2nd from Marquez. He was clearly the real winner at the start, working his way up from 6th. Miller was also on the climb and, with the drama hotting up, Marquez found himself squeezed in to the middle of a Miller-Marini sandwich, which pushed him down the order and promoted Miller to 3rd.

There were aggressive moves happening up and down the field, including the front where Martin stole the lead from Bagnaia on lap 2.

It was at this point that Miguel Oliveira, the wet weather specialist who was running down in 13th, laid down the fast lap of the race so far proving his mastery of these tricky and changeable conditions.

With 4 of 11 laps completed, Bagnaia made his way back into the lead with Martin settling for 2nd. Just behind them were the two Mooney VR46 riders, Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini, who were putting in a brilliant performance for a race where their boss, Valentino Rossi, was watching from the garage.

By lap 6, the action started to settle down and there were a few gaps forming throughout the grid. Bezzecchi was now the rider setting fastest laps, with a lap so fast that is smashed the previous race lap record by 0.3 seconds! Shortly after that, Binder clocked the fastest ever speed recorded at Mugello, as he topped out at 366km/h.

As the lap counter ticked down, and we reached the final stages of the race, we had Bagnaia leading, but being chased down by Bezzecchi in 2nd, and Martin in 3rd with his teammate, Johann Zarco in 4th and hot on his tail. It continued this way until the checkered flag fell, with neither Bezzecchi nor Zarco able to manufacture a move on their competitors.

Full Results
1st Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo
2nd Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
3rd Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
4th Johann Zarco Prima Pramac
5th Luca Marini Mooney VR46
6th Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
7th Marc Marquez Repsol Honda
8th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
9th Enea Bastianini Ducati Lenovo
10th Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha
11th Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
12th Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF
13th Maverick Vinales Aprilia
14th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini
15th Michele Pirro Aruba. it
16th Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha
17th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
18th Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia
19th Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF
20th Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
21st Jonas Folder GASGAS Tech3

DNFs: Alex Rins (LCR Honda), Alex Marquez (Gresini)

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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MotoGP: Bezzecchi Wins 1000th MotoGP Race at Le Mans

A crash-filled French GP saw only 13 riders meet the chequered flag. There were hard-fought battles up and down the field and plenty of podium celebrations for our top three riders.

Marco Bezzecchi has taken his second race win of the season, celebrating MotoGP’s 1,000th race from the top step of the podium. He was in a class of his own today, starting from 7th before hitting the front at the mid-point of the race and eventually coming home over 4 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

He was joined on the podium by both Prima Pramac riders, with Jorge Martin 2nd and Johann Zarco in 3rd, much to the delight of his home crowd.

Martin had to fight hard to earn that 2nd place today, fighting with Marc Marquez for much of the race. The pair were jostling and fighting at every corner with Marquez often coming out on top. It was a magnificent defence considering he has been out of action for the last three races due to an injury. However, on lap 26, with just two and a half laps remaining, Marquez could no longer keep the bike upright and he slid out as Museum Corner whilst trying to make the cut back on Martin.

Zarco was able to capitalise on the drama and the crashes around him, keeping his nose clean and quietly making his way up the field to 3rd. The moment he stepped on to the podium, the French crowd erupted as they showed support for their home hero.

It was a harder race for the other home hero, Fabio Quatararo, who started 13th and eventually finished the day in 7th. He was able to keep his nose clean but didn’t make significant enough strides to truly battle with those ahead of him.

The race was full of drama, from start to finish, with nail-biting battles taking place for most of the race. None more so than lap 5 which gave us two enormous crashes between four riders running in the top 10.

Firstly, it was pole-sitter Pecco Bagnaia and Maverick Vinales who found themselves in the gravel. The pair were fighting for the same piece of tarmac and, as Vinales returned to the racing line, the pair bumped into each other. This caused Vinales to lose control of the bike and as his machine was wobbling, he clattered into the side of Bagnaia again and the pair went down. Both were able to walk away from the crash but, in the heat of the moment, they began scrapping and fighting in the gravel.

Then, moments later, Luca Marini lost the front of the bike when he hit a kerb. Alex Marquez then ran into the back of the VR46 machine and they both went down dramatically. This incident left Marquez in the middle of the track but he was thankfully able to move and avoid the on-coming traffic.

It was an equally difficult day for Jack Miller. He started the race in 4th and, in typical Miller style, he flew off the line past pole-sitter Bagnaia and was quickly fighting with Marquez for the lead. He made a brave, aggressive move around the outside of Museum Corner – the same corner where he crashed out of Saturday’s sprint race – and was able to claim the lead on the second lap of the race.

Miller enjoyed the clean air for much of the race, until lap 11 when he began to slide backwards down the field. He eventually ended up back in 9th before sliding out of the race at turn 4 of lap 25. It appeared that he was struggling with a bike issue but this is yet to be confirmed.

It was a dream day for rookie Augusto Fernandez who enjoyed his best result of his MotoGP career so far. He was battling hard with the likes of Aleix Espargaro and Brad Binder before crossing the line in 4th. He received a hero’s welcome in the pit lane, his team clearly delighted with his mature and impressive performance today.

Espgararo ended the day in 5th, just ahead of Binder in 6th. The South African would have been hoping for more today after his exceptional 2nd place finish in yesterday’s sprint race. However, he was forced out wide by Alex Marquez at the start of the race. This shuffled him down to 16th and ultimately ruined his chance of a podium or win.

The top 10 was rounded out by Quatararo in 7th, Fabio Di Giannantonio in 8th followed by Takaaki Nakagami and Franco Morbidelli in 9th and 10th respectively.

We now have a 3-week break before the grid is back in action in Mugello. That’s 3 weeks for today’s winners to revel in their success and our losers to dwell on their difficult weekend.

Full Results
1st Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 –
2nd Jorge Martin Prima Pramac +4.256s
3rd Johann Zarco Prima Pramac +4.795s
4th Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3 +6.281s
5th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia +6.726s
6th Brad Binder Red bull KTM +13.638s
7th Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha +15.023s
8th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini +15.826s
9th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda +16.370s
10th Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha +17.828s
11th Danilo Petrucci Ducati Lenovo +29.735s
12th Lorenzo Savadori CrytoDATA RNF +36.135s
13th Jonas Folger GASGAS Tech3 +49.808s

DNFs = Marc Marquez, Jack Miller, Alex Rins, Joan Mir, Alex Marquez, Luca Marini, Maverick Vinales, Pecco Bagnaia

Championship Standings
1st Pecco Bagnaia 94 points
2nd Marco Bezzecchi 93 points
3rd Brad Binder 81 points
4th Jorge Martin 80 points
5th Johann Zarco 66 points

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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MotoGP: Alex Marquez Claims Maiden Pole in Argentina

Alex Marquez battled his way through a rainy Q1 session, a crash and a burning bike to claim his maiden MotoGP pole at the Argentinian GP. He will be joined on the front row by Marco Bezzecchi and Pecco Bagnaia – it was the riders who made the brave move to use slicks tires on a drying track that came out on top.

Alex Marquez has made his way through all the barriers that Saturday could throw at him to secure himself pole position for the Sprint and Feature race at this weekend’s Argentinian GP. He came through a wet qualifying session, in which he crashed in the final minutes and then pulled off the track with a bike in flames, to lay down a stunning time of 1:43.881.

Just 0.172s behind him was last weekend’s podium sitter, Marco Bezzecchi on the Mooney VR46 machine. He has clearly capitalised on the momentum he found in the first race of the season.

Just behind them was reigning champion and championship leader, Pecco Bagnaia. He took his time warming up in the session but seemed to come alive during his final flying lap. He was also the first of a series of brave riders to try slick tires on the drying track.

It was a good day for Franco Morbidelli and Maverick Vinales who will line up on the grid in 4th and 5th respectively. Just behind them with be Johann Zarco in 6th, who many tipped for a pole position today, and Luca Marini in 7th. Rounding out the top 10 are Jorge Martin, Aleix Espargaro and Fabio Quartararo.

Image Credit: MotoGP
QUALIFYING 1

There were some big names in Qualifying 1 today – a session that saw rain falling for most of the 15 minutes. Those names included Fabio Quatararo, Jack Miller, Brad Binder and Alex Marquez. The first sessions started with a mistake from Quartararo as he went too deep in to turn 5 and ploughed into the kitty litter at quite some speed. Despite the mistake, Quartararo spent most of the session at the top of the timing sheets, having laid down a time of 1:47.397 with 9 minutes remaining on the clock.

Marquez then took over at the top with 3 and a half minutes remaining. With lots of other riders improving in the dying minutes of the session, including Fabio Di Giannantonio and Joan Mir, Quartararo’s progression to Q2 was looking uncertain. Miller took a riskier approach, only giving him one opportunity for a flying lap. That approach didn’t seem to work for the Aussie who was stuck in 5th, only to be demoted to 6th after Binder took 5th from him.

As the session ended, it was Alex Marquez and Quartararo in 1st and 2nd respectively and both were promoted to the Q2 session.

QUALIFYING 2

As Q2 started, the conditions were improving and the track was drying quickly. Despite that, the pack started on wet tires and all were quickly on the track to try and test out the conditions. As everyone completed their first flying laps, Johann Zarco was the first to take provisional pole, just ahead of the two Yamaha riders with Franco Morbidelli in 2nd and Quartararo in 3rd. Championship leader, Bagnaia, had a slow start to the session with his first flying lap leaving him in 8th.

With 6 minutes left on the clock, all the riders headed back to the pits with a few brave riders then opting that the track was ready slick tires. Of these riders was Bagnaia who was the first to explore the track conditions on slick tires – the bike kept twitching and wobbling underneath him and it looked like he had made the leap just a little too soon.

But the lap times started to tumble as the conditions improved and, as the chequered flag fell, it was those on slick tires who topped the timing sheets. Bravery paid off!

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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MotoGP: Bagnaia Cruises to Victory in Portugal

Our reigning MotoGP Champion, Pecco Bagnaia, has enjoyed a dream start to his 2023 season after taking a clean sweep in the first weekend of action. The Ducati rider has won Saturday’s Sprint Race before going on to dominate in Sunday’s Feature Race. He was joined on the podium by Maverick Vinales and Marco Bezzecchi.

After making history by winning MotoGP’s first ever Sprint Race on Saturday, Pecco Bagnaia has carried on his winning streak on Sunday, with victory at the Portuguese GP Feature Race. He took the lead on Lap 2 and, despite a good challenge from Maverick Vinales, he never looked back and took the chequered flag with a comfortable 0.68 second lead.

Our pole sitter, Marc Marquez, crashed out of the race on Lap 3. He made a huge mistake in the braking zone into Turn 3 and clipped the back of Jorge Martin, who was running in 3rd. As he went down, he clattered into the back of home hero Miguel Oliveira, running in 2nd, and brought him into the gravel with him. His injuries saw Oliveira stretched off track and taken to the medical centre – we are still waiting for an update on his condition. Martin was lucky to stay upright and rejoined the track in 16th, before crashing out of the race at Turn 2, on Lap 20 of 25.

Taking advantage of this drama was Maverick Vinales who carefully made his way through the incident and found himself up to 2nd, after starting 7th. He was quickly on the back of Bagnaia but didn’t quite have the pace to steal the lead from him. He ended the day in 2nd.

Marco Bezzecchi rounded out the podium spots with a well-earned 3rd place. He took 3rd from Jack Miller on Lap 6 but failed to close the gap on the leading pair. For much of the race, the battle for fourth was where the majority of the action was taking place, and Miller was a key part of this. He battled with Alex Marquez, Brad Binder, Aleix Espargaro and Johann Zarco for much of the race. However, on the final lap, Zarco bested all of them as he leap-frogged from 7th up to 4th with a late move. Alex Marquez, Binder and Miller were forced to settle with 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.

Image Credit: MotoGP

Fabio Quartararo had a difficult day starting in 10th, losing 5 places at the start and then fighting his way back up to end the race in 8th. He took that spot on the penultimate lap as Espargaro made a mistake that opened the door for the Frenchman.

With 6 riders failing to finish the race, all 14 finishers crossed the line to secure some points. Those non-finishers included Luca Marini who suffered his fourth crash of the weekend – a disappointing start to his season after such a consistent year in 2022 – as well as Fabio Di Giannantonio, who retired with mechanical issues on Lap 11, and Raul Fernandez, who crashed on the penultimate lap of the race.

After a perfect weekend, Bagnaia is sitting pretty at the top of the championship standings. Just behind him is Vinales, lagging behind by 12 points, and Bezzecchi, a further 9 points behind.

We only have to wait 7 days for the drama to continue, as the grid will be in action on the 1st and 2nd of April in Argentina.

Full Results:
1st Pecco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo
2nd Maverick Viñales Aprilia
3rd Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
4th Johann Zarco Prima Pramac
5th Alex Marquez Gresini
6th Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
7th Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
8th Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha
9th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
10th Alex Rins LCR Honda
11th Joan Mir Repsol Honda
12th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
13th Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
14th Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha
Championship Standings:
1st Pecco Bagnaia 37 points
2nd Maverick Vinales 25 points
3rd Marco Bezzecchi 16 point
4th Johann Zarco 15 points
5th Jack Miller 15 points

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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