Tag: Marc Marquez

Posted on

MotoGP: Marc Marquez Wins Jerez Sprint In Front of Deafening Crowd

Today’s sprint race in Jerez may not have been the most dramatic or exciting race, thanks to a lack of on-track action, but the attending crowd didn’t care. They made it known that their home hero had won, making it another Marquez 1-2. 

Marc Marquez is used to accolades, awards and records. Today, he has added another one to the list as he becomes the first rider to win 5 consecutive sprint races. The adoring crowd were clearly thrilled with the result, and the noise of their support became deafening before the checkered flag had even fallen. 

He was joined on the podium, which took place at the stadium section of the track, by his younger brother Alex Marquez. Alex had looked incredibly fast during practice sessions but a big crash on Friday afternoon left him needing to reset before Saturday’s action. 

The two brothers were dancing together during the podium, and rousing the crowd as they soaked up their celebrations. 

The final podium finisher was Pecco Bagnaia who, despite being all smiles during the podium, told media he “needed to improve”. 

It has been a rollercoaster day for Fabio Quartararo. He took a stunning pole position earlier today and enjoyed the lead for the first lap. Sadly, when Marc Marquez put the pressure on him, he went out wide onto the dirty part of the track. The lack of grip sent the bike sliding out from underneath him and he ended his day early in the gravel. 

Final kudos of the day go to Franco Morbidelli, who came back from a huge crash in warm-up to take 5th in the sprint, and Maverick Vinales, who dragged his KTM machine to an impressive 6th. 

As It Happened

As the lights went out at the start, poleman Fabio Quartararo was instantly having to fight off home hero Marc Marquez, who overtook him to take 1st before they reached turn 1. Quartararo fought back at the first corner and reclaimed the lead. It was a beautiful battle between two class riders. 

Alex Marquez had a great start and quickly claimed 3rd place from Pecco Bagnaia, who was quickly under pressure from Franco Morbidelli. Further back, rookie Fermin Aldguer claimed 6th from Maverick Vinales. A few corners later, Aldguer lost the rear of his bike at turn 11 – he somehow kept the bike upright, showing skills beyond his rookie experience. He lost time and fell back to Vinales and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who put him under pressure. 

On the second lap, just as Quatartararo was looking comfortable, Marc Marquez came up alongside him showing the speed difference between the Ducati and Yamaha. As they entered turn 6, Fabio went wide as Marquez claimed the lead, putting him out on the dirty part of the track. This prematurely ended his race as he lost grip and the bike went down into the gravel. 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by MotoGP™ (@motogp)

With two laps completed, we now have Marc leading from his brother Alex with a 0.4s gap between them. Bagnaia was a further 0.8 seconds behind him, having fended off the challenge from Morbidelli. Di Giannantonio was now in 6th, ahead of Vinales, with Aldeguer still able to hold them off and keep 6th. 

Alex Marquez, who had been very fast in practice sessions, was unable to bring the fight to his brother, and the whole field settled into their rhythm. The rest of the sprint race went on without drama. 

The only action for the rest of the race came on lap 5, when Jack Miller went down at turn 6 and then Johann Zarco who went down at turn 2 on lap 6.

Everything was calm for the rest of the race and Marc Marquez was able to cruise on the final few laps, thanks to building a 1.3 second gap to 2nd place.

Result: Top 10

Image Credit: MotoGP

Feature Image Credit: Ducati

Posted on

MotoGP: Marc Marquez Wins in Argentina for his Second Clean Sweep 

The brothers, who are still best friends, put on a brilliant show for the passionate MotoGP fans in Argentina, who could be heard cheering on their heroes every single lap of the race. They came home for their second 1-2 in a row, on a historic day for MotoGP in Spain.

Marc Marquez has equalled the legendary Angel Neito with his 90th win today. It was a stunning victory as he took his second clean sweep in as many races – he took pole, the sprint win and the race win for a perfect weekend in Argentina. 

Despite the result, it wasn’t quite as easy as he would have liked. His brother, Alex Marquez, led most of the race as he fought hard for his first ever MotoGP win. Alex took the advantage when his brother made an uncharacteristic mistake on lap 4, turn 1, and looked set to take the victory. 

Behind him, Marc was evidently pushing the bike to the limit as he wobbled and bounced each time he tried to make a move. The biggest moment happened on lap 15, at turn 11, when the rear of the Ducati bike stepped out and Marc very nearly went down. He then made a failed attempt for the lead on lap 18. He came from so far back that he was forced to go wide at turn 5, letting off the break to avoid contact. 

Eventually, with 4 laps of the race remaining, Marc got past at turn 4, making it stick into turn 5 and quickly pulling out a 1+ second lead. That didn’t stop the brothers from celebrating in parc ferme, with both singing and dancing with their Ducati and Gresini crews. 

Completing the podium today was Franco Morbidelli on the VR46 machine. He was able to steal this position away from Pecco Bagnaia early in the race and used the soft tyre to his advantage. He reported feeling unwell on Saturday but there was no sign of illness today. 

Morbidelli celebrated so much during the cool down lap that he wasn’t able to get the bike started again and had to be pushed into parc ferme by the track marshalls. Once there, he treated us all to some dance moves as he celebrated his first podium since 2021. 

Whilst he didn’t end on the podium today, it was a brilliant day for rookie rider Ai Ogura. There was a huge battle from 5th to 10th today, with riders jostling for position throughout the race. Shining through all this was Ogura who made brilliant moves to end the day in a solid 8th place.

It was a difficult day for Pecco Bagnaia who wasn’t able to capitalise on some of the early moves he made through the field. He started in 4th but had a great start and was quickly fighting with Alex Marquez for 2nd place. Once down in 4th, he then came under pressure from Johan Zarco on the Honda, but was able to just about hold off the frenchman. 

Speaking after the race, Davide Tardozzi, Ducati team manager, told the media that Bagnaia was suffering with a “small problem on the bike which didn’t give him the right feeling on the left corner[s]”. The Italian rider was clearly disappointed and dejected when he returned to his garage after the race. 

It was an even worse day for the other VR46 rider. Whilst Morbidelli was enjoying a podium, his teammate Marco Bezzecchi went down at turn 1 on lap 1. He let off the throttle to avoid contact with Mordibelli but ended up clipping the back of Fabio Quartararo’s machine. Bezzecchi went down into the kitty litter and Quartararo dropped down to the back of the grid. It was a horrible start for the Yamaha rider after starting the race in a fantastic 7th. 

There was another crash, this time for Enea Bastianini, who’s 2025 season is going from bad to worse. He is already struggling to get comfortable on his new KTM machine but, after contact with Raul Fernandez, he crashed on lap 2. He was able to rejoin the field but could only get as high as 18th today.

RACE RESULT

Image Credit: MotoGP

CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT 

With back to back 1-2 results in the first two sprint and feature races of the 2025 season, the Marquez brothers are still leading the championship fight. Despite his tricky day, Pecco Bagnaia can take comfort that he is still well within this championship fight, sitting in 3rd and just 15 points behind Alex. 

Image Credit: MotoGP

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

Posted on

MotoGP: Marc Marquez Wins Thailand Sprint Race

The first race of the 2025 season may not have been the most exciting or dramatic race but it’s the day all us MotoGP fans have been waiting 4 months for. 

He’s the rider everyone has been talking about during the pre-season. He, without a doubt, has the most pressure on him for 2025 as he is many people’s favourite for the championship. Marc Marquez has used that pressure to his advantage to take a dominant Sprint race win in Thailand.

Image Credit: MotoGP

He started the race on pole, led every lap and faced no real competition from any riders behind him. A dream start to his season and first blood in his battle with new team mate Pecco Bagnaia!

Just behind him was his brother, Alex Marquez, as they enjoy their first ever 1-2 race result. After a brilliant pre-season showing and strong qualifying result, Alex was able to bring his Gresini machine home in 2nd place. 

The final podium spot was taken by Pecco Bagnaia, who was visibly quiet during the celebrations. He enjoyed a short battle with Alex Marquez in the opening corners of the race but was unable to improve on 3rd. 

Image Credit: MotoGP

Missing out on a podium spot by just less than 1 second was Ai Ogura. The rookie had a phenomenal race, staying with Bagnaia and, at some points, even close in on him and looking hungry for a podium. 

It was a difficult day for Jack Miller, who crashed out of 6th midway through the race, after a brilliant qualifying performance. The KTM Tech3 riders, Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini, who won this race 12 months ago, also struggled and ended the day in 14th and 18th respectively. 

As It Happened

As the lights went out and the race started, both factory Ducati bikes flew off the line. Bagnaia looked ready to take 2nd place but Alex Marquez gave him a good battle and was able to retain 2nd place. Both settled in behind Marc Marqeuz who quickly put clean air between himself and the rest of the grid. 

It was a good start for Ogura who took 4th place away from Jack Miller, who was shuffled down to 6th. 

It was a terrible start for Marco Bezzecchi, who’s bike bounced off the line and left him swallowed by the grid and stuck down in 18th. 

On lap 2, both KTM riders were catching up to Fabio Quartararo, in 7th. Pedro Acosta went wide and had to bail off the racing line. The following lap, Acosta got past his team mate Brad Binder at the inside of turn 4. 

He was then chasing down Quartararo for another few laps until, on lap 7, Acosta was finally able to get ahead. Acosta put the Yamaha rider under so much pressure that he forced him to make mistakes, which he then took full advantage of. 

One lap earlier, Jack Miller crashed out from 6th place, meaning Acosta was now up to 6th. 

By now, Marc Marquez has a comfortable 1.2 second lead ahead of Alex Marquez who, in turn, was 1.3 seconds ahead of Bagnaia. 

As things quietened down for the front half of the grid, there was a huge battle from 10th onwards. Johann Zarco, Raul Fernandez, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Fermin Aldeguer and Marco Bezzecchi were battling hard.

At turn 5, lap 11, Di Giannantonio went wide and was looking down at his bike. He bailed off the racing line and eventually retired the bike with a mechanical issue, taking him out of the battle. 

Top Ten

Image Credit: MotoGP

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

Posted on

MotoGP: Marc Marquez Claims First Pole of 2025 in Thailand

MotoGP is back and the grid are in Buriram, Thailand, for the first race of the season. The three riders who appeared to be the “ones to beat” during pre-season testing have claimed the front row after qualifying today. 

Marc Marquez has started his factory Ducati career in the best way possible, taking pole position today. He kept his coll despite the rising temperatures, topping the timing sheets at the start of the session and remaining there throughout.

It was an odd Q2 session with two crashes in the final few minutes – the result yellow flags ruined all three fo Marc Marquez’s final runs but that didn’t matter. With others unable to improve on their times, he stayed safely at the top of the timings.

He lines up alongside his brother, Alex, giving us a Marquez 1-2 on the starting grid for the first time! Alex Marquez is clearly enjoying riding his new Gresini, setting a time  just 0.146s behind Marc. 

Just 0.027s behind Alex is Pecco Bagnaia, who had to come through Qualifying 1 to take 3rd place today. Bagnaia is forced to run in Q1 after a series of bad luck in free practice. He was impeded by Franco Morbidelli who was cruising at half speed on the racing line and then hit with a yellow flag that was shown by the stewards by mistake. They apologised to Bagnaia but weren’t able to reinstate his flying lap time. 

Impressively, Jack Miller and Ai Ogura will line up 4th and 5th. Miller has told media in the lead up to this weekend that he is really enjoying his new Prima Pramac machine and is jelling well with the Yamaha engine. Ogura, the 2024 Moto2 champion, is already showing his speed for his first ever MotoGP race weekend. 

Image Credit: MotoGP

Qualifying 1:

As the first flying laps were completed, Baganaia went straight to the top, where he stayed for the rest of the session. DiGiannantonio was the first to take the second progression spot, but was bested by Jack Miller. 

As riders came out for their second run, Bagnaia made the bold decision to stay in the garage, presumably to save tires for the Sprint race later today. 

With two minutes of the session left, it started to look like Baganaia had made a mistake as everyone began setting flying first sector times. As Bagnaia took his helmet off, Miguel Oliveira popped up into 2nd place and the Ducati team began looking very nervous. 

The checkered flag fell and Jack Miller set a stonking lap, just 0.006s behind Bagnaia. He crossed the line and celebrated by slapping the tank of his bike and treating the fans to a a wheelie down the straight. 

Other riders were unable to improve and this left Bagnaia and Miller as the advancing pair. 

Qualifying 2:

In this second session, with track temperatures now up to a blistering 50°C, Pecco Bagnaia was the first to hit the top of the timing sheets, with a 1:29.259. However, given times we saw in free practice, he would need to improve if he wanted a front row spot. As if to prove this point, he was quickly bestest by both Marquez brothers. Alex was the first to take provisional pole, only to be shuffled down by his older brother, Marc, who set a 1:28.782.

With 10 minutes left on the clock, rookie Ai Ogura set a very impressive 1:29.134 to take provisional 3rd. His Trackhouse Aprilia is sporting a new, very classic, Gulf livery this weekend. 

As the riders start their second runs, Miller was following Bagnaia and using him as a marker. He set an identical sector 1 time to Marc Marquez and eventually ended up leaping from 12th to 4th – a phenomenal result for the improving Yamaha. 

Marc Marquez made a mistake on his next run, going wide at turn 8. This leaves him need to start over but, as he does so, Marco Bezzecchi goes down at turn 3 and the resulting yellow flag sees Marquez bail out of another fast run. The front of Bezzecchi’s Aprilia folds under him as he enters turn 3, forcing him to settle for 9th.

With just 1 and a half minutes left of the session, exactly the same thing happens again. This time, Joan Mir goes down on the exit of turn 3, while trying to force his HRC Honda back on to the racing line. Another yellow flag catches Marc Marquez and, this time, also his brother Alex. 

With tyres now losing performance, neither Marquez brother can improve their times on their last flying lap. In fact, the only riders to improve at Fabio Quartararo, going up to 10th, and Pedro Acosta, going up to 7th. 

Results: 

Image Credit: MotoGP

 

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

Posted on

MotoGP: What We Learnt During Pre-Season Testing

Pre-season testing is over and we are just 14 days away from our first race of 2025. Things have felt a little different already this year for MotoGP – we have enjoyed our first ever season launch event alongside a very condensed testing schedule, with 6 days of testing across just 8 days. Now we have seen all the bikes on track in both Sepang and Buriram, what have we learnt and what can we expect this season? 

Despite Testing Headaches, Ducati Are Still The Bike To Beat

Ducati are clearly still the fastest bikes on the grid again in 2025. We left Barcelona and Sepang with Gresini on top, thanks to Alex Marquez. Yes; topping two tests! Buriram was led by his brother, Marc Marquez, on the factory Ducati.

Looking at sector times and listening to the rider’s comments, the factory team are evidently the ones to beat and many have argued that they have the strongest rider line up of the year as well. What has been interesting to see is how collaboratively new teammates Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia appear to be working together. There have been some expecting their partnership to blow up and end in tears, but both riders have been sharing data and regularly seen in each other’s half of the garage to share feedback and thoughts. 

However, the test wasn’t plain sailing for them. After listening to feedback from Marquez and Bagnaia, the team have decided to go back to the GP24* machine. And yes, we purposefully used an asterisk there. That’s because it isn’t exactly the same as the machine that crossed the line in Valencia, back in November. It will ultimately be the 2024 spec machine with a number of the 2025 developments that worked well. As Baganai put it, it is seen as the “GP24.9” machine.

Don’t be mistaken – this is not a step back for Ducati and shouldn’t be seen as a weakness ahead of the new season. It’s a sign of how strong and near-perfect their 2024 machine was. Marquez commented that the GP25 had “very weak points” so, having won 16 of 20 races last year, you can understand why Marquez and Bagnaia want to revert back to the “old” machine. 

“Today basically we concentrated most of the day to 2024 engine, because looks like if tomorrow doesn’t change a lot, it looks like it is the way.

Why? Because Ducati is very realistic and they know, and they are very smart, that we cannot take the risk to homologate an engine that if we are not 100% sure is better than 2024.” 

– Marc Marquez during the Buriram test.

 

Jorge Martin Has The Toughest Job This Year

Our 2024 champion has a lot of pressure on his shoulders this year – after being snubbed by the factory Ducati team, he made the bold move to join Aprilia, taking his #1 plate there for 2025. Jumping manufacturers makes his pre-season testing even more crucial, but it could have been worse for the Spanish rider. 

Martin was part of a day one disaster in Sepang, with 6 broken bones across 3 riders who were all declared unfit for the rest of the Sepang test. The champion had a huge highside that left him with a fracture in his right hand and left foot. He returned to Spain for surgery and his recovery left him out of the rest of the test. 

This means that he now has, arguably, the hardest job of anyone on the grid when the first race weekend starts in Thailand. He has to get up to speed with a new manufacturer “on the job”, with no space to find his feet. 

“During the launch, we said that the first phase would be about learning, but clearly with what has happened today that phase has been significantly delayed. All we can do now is wish Jorge the best of luck.” 

– Massimo Rivola (Sports Director for Aprilia) after the Sepang test. 

 

KTM Are Still In Hot Water

Over the winter break, many were concerned about KTM’s future. The MotoGP team entered self administration, made mass redundancies and stopped production of their race bikes after facing financial difficulties at the end of the 2024 season. After securing the needed monetary boost in January, they launched their bike and focused all messaging on their determination to race and fight. 

During pre-season testing, both Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales, on the KTM Tech3 machines, were vocal about their struggles with their new machines. However, the factory riders were notably absent from all media scrums and instructed not to speak to any journalists. No reason has been given for this but it does raise questions over the team’s future, and the bike’s potential success, in 2025 and beyond. 

We all know Pedro Acosta is a future star of MotoGP (more about his testing performance below!) so he will be looking for clear signs of the team’s viability as he aims to showcase his championship winning potential to front-running teams. 

 

Alex Marquez, Pedro Acosta And Marco Bezzecchi Are Best Of The Rest

As we mentioned above Alex Marquez topped two of the three pre-season tests, and came 2nd for the last test in Buriram. He was fast from the moment he threw his leg over the GP24 machine for the first time in Barcelona and is clearly loving his new Gresini for 2025. 

Marco Bezzecchi, as he gets comfortable with his new Aprilia after making the move from the VR46 team, has also looked impressive throughout testing. He was 3rd fastest at the Buriram test and commented that he was “very happy” after making “a lot of progress”.  

Many are excited to see what last year’s rookie and fan-favourite Pedro Acosta can achieve on his new KTM factory bike. He was just behind Bezzecchi in 4th at the end of Buriram’s test and, importantly, head and shoulders above his team mate Brad Binder. 

Excitingly, we’re anticipating that the field will be much closer this year, with testing showing only marginal differences between a number of riders. 

“It was a positive test; we were fast and consistent with our lap times. Overall, the entire pre-season has been like this, and without a doubt, we can call it the best pre-season since I started racing in MotoGP.” 

– Alex Marqeuz after the Buriram test.

 

Yamaha Take The Crown For Most Improved

Many were surprised when Fabio Quartararo chose to stay with Yamaha for 2025 and beyond. However, they promised him team personnel changes and big steps forward in 2025. It seems that the Frenchman’s wishes have come true as his bike appears to have made a whopping 0.8 second gain. 

His biggest gains came in Sepang, with Buriram not fully going Yamaha’s way. However, they had predicted this and still ended testing feeling pleased with their progress. 

It wasn’t just the factory team making gains. Jack Miller on the Prima Pramac, who now run Yamaha engines, enjoyed a top 10 finish in Buriram and said that his new machine “is already my bike” after just the first test in Sepang. 

“It was a different test than Sepang. In these two days, we mainly worked on fine-tuning the bikes for the GP, and we spent a lot of time on electronics set-ups. During Day 1, we had some difficulties, because the track was very green, and for all riders it was difficult to find a good feeling with the front. This got better today as the track conditions improved. We did a decent sprint race simulation, and at the end of the day we did a couple of time attacks which showed that again we were able to narrow the gap to the fastest time also in Buriram.”

– Massion Meregalli (Yamaha Team Director), after the Buriram test.

 

As ever, pre-season testing is not a definitive insight into the season ahead and there is a lot still unknown. But what is certain is that the 2025 season is going to be an exciting one with a large number of riders who have a good chance to win races and enjoy success. But the most important question is who will add their name to the championship trophy after Valencia?

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

Posted on

MotoGP: Jorge Martin is the 2024 World Champion

It may have been the most boring race of the season, but #TheRematch has delivered an emotional, stressful and ultimately hugely enjoyable final weekend of the 2024 MotoGP season.

For the first time in MotoGP’s history, a satellite rider has won the championship. Jorge Martin only needed a 9th place finish today to seal the title but he took a comfortable podium to round out his season in style.

He started 4th on the grid, kept his nose clean at the start and spent the rest of the race in 3rd. Whilst there were battles further behind him, Martin had a lonely race and only needed to keep the bike upright to take the championship. He crossed the line in tears and quickly retreated to the celebration area where he appeared in his new Martinator leathers.

It was a difficult day for peerless Pecco Bagnaia. There was nothing more the Italian could have done this weekend – he took pole and a sprint win on Saturday before leading every single lap of the feature race today. Ultimately, it was mistakes earlier in the season that left him stuck with 2nd in the championship.

Despite the close title race, it was Marc Marquez who was Bagnaia’s closest rival today. He has had a very difficult weekend and has himself said that he was struggling with the track surface and challenges that the Barcelona circuit throws up. But he was able to stay close on the tail of his future team mate, and was typically within 1 second of Bagnaia for the entire race today.

Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Behind the podium finishers, there was a hot battle for “best of the race” in today’s race. Firstly, we had Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro battling hard for 4th place. It was Marquez who came out on top, rounding out a fantastic weekend of blistering form for him.

Just behind them was another battle between Brad Binder, Franco Morbidelli and Pedro Acosta. As Acosta dropped back towards the end of the race, Marco Bezzecchi was also drawn into the battle. After plenty of dicing and lots of on-track fun, this group finished the day with Binder in 6th, Enea Bastianini in 7th and Morbidelli in 8th. Bezzecchi and Acosta then rounded out the top 10, in 9th and 10th respectively.

It was a tricky day for Bastianini – he started the day in battle with Aleix Espargaro for 4th, but drifted back as the race progressed.
Espargaro is an incredibly close friend of Jorge Martin and he spent his last MotoGP race clearly acting as his ally out on track today. Firstly, he was fending off Bastianini and then Alex Marquez.

Our only non-finishing rider today was Joan Mir who ended the day in the same way he has most races this weekend – in the gravel. He will be eager to put 2024 behind him and start fresh when testing kicks off later this week.

TOP TEN
Image Credit: MotoGP on X
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Image Credit: MotoGP on X
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2025

Believe it or not, the paddock is already making plans for the 2025 season – we will give Jorge Martin some time to celebrate his title but testing begins bright and early on Tuesday morning.

This will be our first time to see riders on their new machines. Martin will take his #1 plate to Aprilia, Marc Marquez will be on the factory Ducati and our new rookies, Ai Ogura, Fermin Aldeguer and Somkiat Chantra, will also be on their new premier class machines.

Crew On Two will have all the updates for you so stay tuned.

See you in 2025!

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Posted on

MotoGP: Bagnaia Takes The Double In Japan

Pecco Bagnaia has added to Saturday’s sprint race victory with a second win on Sunday. He was joined on the podium by championship leader, Jorge Martin, and his future 2025 teammate, Marc Marquez. 

In the history of MotoGP, only 4 riders have won more than 8 races in a single season. Today, Pecco Bagnia became the 5th rider to join that list. He took a dominant win, heading into the lead on lap 1 and not looking back from there. 

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Italian though – he faced pressure in the late stages of the race from Jorge Martin who surged his way up through the grid and eventually ended the day in 2nd. 

Rounding out the podium places was Marc Marquez, who mostly enjoyed a quiet race once he had made his way up to 3rd.

Image Credit: MotoGP on X

As the race started, we had Pedro Acosta on pole for the first time in his MotoGP career. He was quickly bested by Bagnaia who had the better line in to the first corner and was able to take the lead away from the rookie. 

The first lap was full of drama, which included a scuffle between Maverick Vinales, Franco Morbidelli and Jorge Martin, in which Vinales was forced to sit up and let off the throttle to avoid an incident. Towards the end of lap 1, Enea Bastianini made a late move on Brad Binder to take 3rd – however, this move forced both riders off the ideal racing line. Martin saw the door open in front of him and makes a brilliant move up the inside of the turn 10 hairpin. This move sees him get pasta both Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini, jumping from 6th to 4th. Binder is the biggest winner in the battle, and is able to retain 3rd.

One corner later, the drama continues as Jack Miller makes a similar move with a similar outcome. He forces his KTM machine up the inside of turn 11 and overtakes Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini to take 5th place. Even more impressive is that Miller started the race in 14th and made up 9 places in just one lap. 

Again, one corner later, we have our first crash of the race as Joan Mir and Alex Marquez go down at turns 12 and 13. In a very odd crash, Maquez’s bike got caught in Mir’s rear wheel. Despite staying upright, dragging the extra Gresini machine behind him eventually sends Mir down and the pair retired from the race. After the race, Marquez was deemed to blame for the incident and was handed a long lap penalty ready for the next race in Australia. 

Lap 4 saw our second crash of the race as polesitter Acosta went down at turn 14. It appears that he took too much kerb on the inside of the corner before the bike just slid out from under her on the exit of the corner. 

At the same time as Acosta’s early exit from the race, Martin continued to fight his way up through the field. He had now made his way past Binder and was in to 2nd place, with only title rival Bagnaia ahead. 

One lap later, Binder lost another place. This time, it was Marquez who made his way through to take 3rd place.

It was a difficult race for Vinales – after starting on the front row, he was quickly swallowed by a first lap incident and kept heading backwards from there. Whilst battling with his teammate, Aleix Espargaro, for 10th place, he crashed out on lap 12.

Just as the race seemed to be calming down, the rain began to fall. On lap 10, the white flag was flown which indicated that the riders could now head to the pits and swap their bikes if they wished. None chose to do so and the rain appeared to be light enough for them to contend with on dry tires.

After a hot battle that lasted a number of laps, Bastianini was finally able to find a way past Binder. The pair had been dicing and overtaking each other before Bastianini made a move that stuck to claim 4th. 

Binder was then in the clutches of Morbidelli, in 6th, who is enjoying a recent up turn in form. The battle would continue for the rest of the race, with Morbidelli eventually coming out on top. 

The race then settled down again and gaps grew between the riders. By lap 16, Bagnaia had a 1.5 second lead over Martin, who himself was a comfortable 4.4 seconds ahead of Marquez. Bastanini was the fastest rider on the track and catching Marquez quickly – he had reduced the gap down to 0.8 seconds and was desperate to find a way past.

Whilst Martin did attempt a late-race surge for the lead, he wasn’t able to get the gap to smaller than 0.7 seconds and, eventually, crossed the link 1.1 seconds behind Bagnaia.

For his last home race, Takaaki Nakagami was thrilled to bring home points as he crossed the line in 13th. He was welcomed back into the garage with an enormous cheer from his team.

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

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

Posted on

MotoGP: Bagnaia Brings Home Ducati 1-2 in Indonesian Sprint as Martin Crashes

The 2024 MotoGP World Championship is turning into a story of mistakes, not successes. It’s a title that won’t be won, but rather won’t be thrown away. Today, it was Jorge Martin’s turn to make a devastating mistake which he will look back on with frustration as we draw ever closer to the final race in Valencia. 

Image Credit: Enea Bastianini on X

It was a race of contrasts today for our two championship leaders, Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin. With a pole position, a brilliant start and a comfortable early lead, it should have been plain sailing for Martin from there on out. However, he seemingly pushed his tyres too hard too early and ended up crashing at turn 16 of the first lap.

This gifted the lead to his closest rival, Bagnaia, who kept his nose clean and spent the rest of the race with a fairly comfortable lead. It was a near-perfect performance from Bagnaia, despite the dusty, slippery track conditions and chaos happening behind him.

Joining him on the podium were two other championship contenders who have been able to pull closer to the battle at the front.

Enea Bastianini was able to bring home a brilliant Ducati 1-2. It was a strong race from him after stating in 5th but showing his speed as he fought his way up to 2nd.

Marc Marquez took the final podium spot, ending the sprint race in 3rd. He started the race in 12th after a crash in Q2. A classic Marqeuz-style first lap saw him leap up from 12th to 5th before turn 1, and the rest of the race was his to enjoy from there.

Martin failed to score points today – he rejoined the back of the grid after his crash but, despite a valiant battle and a number of aggressive moves, he ended the day in 10th. He looked visibly dejected as he met the chequered flag, undoubtedly considering what could have been today.

It was a much more positive day for Marco Bezzecchi who is back to his former self this weekend, after struggling so far this season. He started the race on the front row and ended the day in 4th – he would have been hoping for a podium finish but, on lap 7, he missed his breaking and almost hit the back of Bagnaia. This forced him out wide, on to the dirt, dusty part of the track and he dropped back from 2nd to 4th, where he spent the rest of the race.

Just behind Bezzecchi were Franco Morbidelli, Pedro Acosta, Maverick Vinales and Johann Zarco in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th respectively. This group were in a huge battle for much of the race, jostling for position and enjoying overtakes on most laps of the race.

This group were also fighting with Fabio Quartararo who is enjoying a much more positive weekend for Yamaha this weekend. Whilst he qualified in 6th, he faded towards the end of the race after a lap 8 bump with Morbidelli which saw him drop down the field. The Frenchman ended the day in 12th.

TOP TEN
Image Credit: MotoGP on X
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Feature Image Credit: Marc Marquez on X

Posted on

MotoGP: Perfect Pecco wins the Austrian GP

Pecco Bagnaia was in a league of is own today, as he comfortably wins the Austrian GP – it’s his third consecutive win at the Red Bull Ring.

Image
Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Pecco Bagnaia has taken a stunning victory today at the Austrian GP today, in the weekend that has seen him re-take the lead in the championship standings. He started 2nd on the grid, took the lead on lap 2 after an exciting battle with his closest championship rival, Jorge Martin, and then never looked back.

Whilst it wasn’t the most thrilling race, or the action-packed weekend we have historically seen at the Red Bull Ring, you cannot deny the stunning performance from Bagnaia today. His ride was utterly flawless whilst, all weekend, others were making mistakes around him. He kept his cool and showed why he is such a brilliant champion after being perfect for every moment of the race.

Jorge Martin, despite starting on pole and leading the first lap, couldn’t bring home the win today. He simply wasn’t able to keep Bagnaia behind him, nor could he close the gap for the lead. It was an undoubtedly frustrating day who felt he could win this race. He leaves Austria having lost 8 points to Bagnaia in the title fight too.

Enea Bastianini brought home a double podium for Ducati today, ending the day in 3rd. It was a very quiet race for the Italian, who sat in 3rd from lights out all the way to the chequered flag without facing any real challenge. Today is his sixth podium of the year and good momentum after double win in Silverstone last time out.

Marc Marquez just missed out on the podium today, coming home in 4th. Most of the on-track action came from the Gresini rider today – he had a ride height device issue whilst sitting on the grid and, as they went to the first corner, he had contact with Franco Morbidelli which left him back down in 10th. He fought hard and gave the Austrian fans lots of entertainment as he came past two KTM riders, two Aprilia riders, a VR46 rider and his own brother on the second Gresini bike. Given his performance today, he may be left thinking about what might have been if his race start had been a clean one.

One of the victims of Marquez’s pressure was KTM rider Jack Miller, who crashed out when the Spaniard was hutning him down. The bike slipped out from under him at the chicane of turn 2, on lap 11.

It was an equally tough weekend for fan-favourite, rookie Pedro Acosta. He has faced a difficult weekend after crashing three times on Friday and then struggling to be on the pace. He simply wasn’t able to set the tarmac on fire today in his normal way, and ended the day in 13th.

Top Ten

Image
Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Championship Standings

Image
Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

Posted on

MotoGP: Pecco Takes the Win in Catalunya

Francesco Bagnaia wins the Catalan GP ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez. Yesterday’s birthday boy Pedro Acosta crashed out when fighting for the lead of the race.

All riders started the race on the medium tyres on the front and rear except for Acosta, M. Marquez and Jack Miller who made the decision to run a medium front tyre and a soft rear tyre. Rear tyre degradation was a large factor in races earlier in the day so the choice for a soft rear was an unexpected one.

Bagnaia had a great start from the front row, but Brad Binder also started well and was making moves around the outside of the track to gain some places. Alex Rins ran wide and accidentally took the long lap loop and fell to the rear of the field.

Acosta and Bagnaia started to break away from the rest of the field but further behind them, Martin made a huge lunge to get past Binder for third place to attempt to catch up with the leaders.

Miller ran deep at turn one on lap two and lost a spot to Raul Fernandez. Acosta kept close to the rear of Bagnaia and looked at making a move at turn ten but wasn’t able to make the move. Acosta continued to stay on the back of Bagnaia’s bike but struggled to find a way past on lap two.

On the third lap, Acosta made the move at turn ten but ran wide so that Bagnaia was able to cut back. At the same corner, Miller crashed.

Martin caught up the leading two riders and passed his countryman Acosta into turn 10 and on lap five, Binder also looked at making the same move on the rookie but was unable to do so. Martin made an impressive move to get past Bagnaia to lead the race.

On lap six, Augusto Fernandez crashed at turn ten.

Again, the front two started to break away from the rest of the field and Acosta set the fastest lap.

Aleix Espargaro, yesterday’s sprint winner, made his way past Binder on lap 11 across the start finish straight and R. Fernandez barged his way past the South African rider at turn one too.

After setting some fast laps, Acosta crashed out the race at turn 10. The champagne was on hold for the rookie rider as he looked to take his first win in MotoGP.

Marquez was able to pass Binder on lap twelve at turn seven as he continued his charge up the field after starting in fourteenth place.

Enea Bastianini received a long lap penalty for taking a short cut at turn two and then he received a double long lap penalty for not taking the initial penalty. He did not take the double long lap penalty and then received a 32 second penalty which was applied at the end of the race.

Martin continued to lead the race, but Bagnaia started to close the gap to the leader. The Italian rider made the move to take the lead on lap 19 at turn 5. Pecco slammed on the brakes to not allow Martin back through. The leading pair had over an eight second lead over the third-place rider Espargaro.

But Espargaro didn’t hold third position for much longer as M. Marquez made the move on him down the start finish straight on the following lap.

The final laps of the race were drama free which allowed Pecco to cross the line in first place ahead of fellow Ducati riders Martin and M. Marquez.  After yesterday’s heroics, Aleix Espargaro was only able to manage fourth place ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio. Raul Fernandez finished the race in sixth place ahead of Alex Marquez, Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo and Miguel Olivera.

Feature Image Credit : Motorsport Images/Gold and Goose

2024 MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona – Race Results
Pos Rider Nat Team Time/Diff
1 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP24) 40m 11.726s
2 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP24) +1.740s
3 Marc Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP23) +10.491s
4 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) +10.543s
5 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA VR46 Ducati (GP23) +15.441s
6 Raul Fernandez SPA Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP23) +15.916s
7 Alex Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP23) +16.882s
8 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +18.578s
9 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +20.477s
10 Miguel Oliveira POR Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) +20.889s
11 Marco Bezzecchi ITA VR46 Ducati (GP23) +21.023s
12 Maverick Viñales SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) +22.137s
13 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) +31.967s
14 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +32.987s
15 Joan Mir SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +33.132s
16 Johann Zarco FRA LCR Honda (RC213V) +34.554s
17 Luca Marini ITA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +36.689s
18 Enea Bastianini ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP24) +50.615s
19 Stefan Bradl GER HRC Test Team (RC213V) +55.295s
20 Alex Rins SPA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +63.428s
  Franco Morbidelli ITA Pramac Ducati (GP24) DNF
  Augusto Fernandez SPA Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) DNF
  Jack Miller AUS Red Bull KTM (RC16) DNF

 

©2014-2024 ThePitCrewOnline