Метка: Francesco Bagnaia

Bagnaia slams «ridiculous» towing problem in Silverstone MotoGP qualifying

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Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia has hit out at other MotoGP riders for deliberately slowing down in British GP qualifying in order to get a tow from him, describing the situation as “ridiculous”.

Bagnaia was followed by Gresini’s Marc Marquez on their first runs in Saturday’s pole-deciding session at Silverstone, with the added aerodynamic benefit allowing the Spaniard to take a provisional fifth on the grid.

After the double champion returned to the track in the final part of qualifying on fresh rubber, a whole group of riders positioned himself behind him — some even waiting for him to pass them on the Wellington Straight in order to get into his slipstream.

A loose sponsorship sticker on his visor thwarted his flying lap attempt and demoted him to second on the grid, as Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro took a surprise pole position by running alone on track.

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Bagnaia, who had looked set to start the race from the front after smashing the lap record on his first run, didn’t hide his frustration over the tactics employed by some of his rivals on Saturday.

Asked if he was frustrated to miss out on pole, the 27-year-old said: “A bit because the potential was there to do pole position.

“We have to say Aleix did an amazing sector 4 and all the weekend has been really fast. We know that the Aprilia on this track is fantastic.

“I also have to say that the situation in qualifying right now is quite ridiculous considering that 10 MotoGP riders can go slow like this to follow other riders. We are at the top of our sport.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team, Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team, Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“If we are here because we can do things alone. It’s quite ridiculous, the situation.

“’Till anyone says anything, it will continue like.”

Bagnaia was just starting the first flying lap of his second in qualifying when he was forced to pull over to the side of the track and remove a sticker that had come partially undone just above the visor.

 

A late yellow flag for a crash involving the second factory Aprilia of Maverick Vinales put paid to any chances of the Italian reclaiming pole position from Espargaro.

Bagnaia was “very angry” that a poorly-glued sticker had potentially denied him pole.

“I lost the sponsor banner on the helmet and it goes in front of the eyes,” he explained.

“I’m very angry for that because it’s something that who had to manage these kind of things has to be more precise.

“Losing the possibility of a better result in qualifying for things like this is not good.”

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Marquez joining Ducati to «learn from Bagnaia» after Race of Champions defeat

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Marc Marquez says he is moving to the factory Ducati team in 2025 to learn from two-time MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia, who he believes is the “reference” in the Italian marque’s line-up.

Gresini star Marquez made those comments last weekend after finishing third behind winner Bangaia and second-placed Andrea Iannone in Ducati’s Race of Championship event at Misano, where the entire field was running on the same street-legal Panigale V4 R.

The Spaniard ran fourth for the majority of the contest but closed up on Ducati’s World Superbike rookie Nicola Bulega in the last two laps, before attempting a last-gasp move on him on the final corner.

Bulega ended up in the gravel as a result of their fierce battle, while Marquez went through to snatch the final spot on the podium in his first participation in the World Ducati Week.

Marquez was clear that he hadn’t done anything unreasonable in his battle and visited his Italian rival after completing his media commitments to check on him. 

Bulega later received a helmet from the six-time MotoGP champion as a souvenir.

“I don’t know if I touched Nico, I just heard the noise he made when he slid,’ said the 31-year-old.

misanoducati

misanoducati

“Racing is like that when you race at the limit, we saw it in the first corner, where there was a lot of contact. 

“The overtaking was natural, I don’t know if he braked a little earlier than normal.”

Marquez will move up to the factory Ducati team in 2025 in place of Enea Bastianini as part of a two-year contract with Borgo Panigale.

This will put him directly against Bagnaia, who is going through a purple patch in his life having just taken over the lead of the MotoGP standings from Pramac’s Jorge Martin and gotten married during the summer break.

The 27-year-old also dominated the all-Ducati race at Misano after passing polesitter Iannone at Turn 1, taking the chequered flag with a winning margin of almost 1.5s from the GoEleven WSBK rider.

Marquez, who was never in contention to fight for victory, crossed the finish line 2.5s down off the leader.

Speaking afterwards, the Gresini rider admitted that Bagnaia is the benchmark at Ducati and he will be learning several skills from him when he becomes his team-mate.

“I have no problem in recognising that Pecco is the current reference for the team and the brand,” he said.

“He is an incredible rider and I come to that box to learn from him and try to get closer.”



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Bagnaia was expecting last-lap German GP showdown before Martin crash

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Pramac rider Martin was circulating comfortably in the front as the Sachsenring race neared its conclusion, having started from pole position and retaken the lead from title rival Bagnaia on lap 7 of 30.

But the Italian appeared to have a small advantage in his pocket after spending the early part of the race saving his rear tyre, which could have potentially brought him back into play in the final laps.

Ultimately, a direct fight between the two championship protagonists wasn’t to be, with Martin making a big mistake under braking for Turn 1 and ending up on the ground on lap 29. He was leading the field by around 0.6s at the start of that tour.

Speaking after his sixth triumph of the year, Bagnaia admitted that his strategy of dropping down to third place to eke out more life from the tyres did cost him some time, but he feels he could have closed right back on him by the final lap.

“I was just trying to be very, very precise with the rear tyre because I knew that the more tyre I had in the last part of the race, the better it was. So I tried everything,” the factory Ducati rider summed up.

“When I saw both Pramac [Martin and Franco Morbidelli] overtook me, they were pushing a bit too much. So I just decided to slow down a bit, wait a bit and then I pushed back.
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing crash

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing crash

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“Maybe I lost a bit too much behind Franky because then Jorge was having more than one second and then I tried to push back again to try to recover to Jorge. 

“I was very close but then he crashed. So unluckily. I think it could have been one of the greatest battles between us in the last lap but nothing. 

“So happy, fourth win in a row on Sunday. So happy for it. And fortunately, the best way to go with a big smile on the summer break.”

Bagnaia was facing a 39-point deficit to Martin just under two months ago when he crashed out of the Catalan GP sprint, as he faced a much stiffer challenge from the 2023 title runner-up at the start of the year.

But four consecutive grand prix victories following that mistake have allowed him to convert that deficit into a 10-point lead in the standings heading into the summer break, a swing of 49 points — almost two Sunday wins — in such a short span of time.

However, despite his title rival Martin showing that he continues to crack under pressure, Bagnaia doesn’t think his inherited victory at the Sachsenring marks a turning point for the championship.

“I’m in this mood already from six or seven grands prix,” he said. “I’m feeling well and fantastic with my team. We are doing a perfect job every weekend. We won six races, five in the last six grands prix. So I’m very happy and we are in a good mood for sure. 

“But I don’t think that also for Jorge it will change. It will be like starting from zero again because we have 10 points in terms of gap and the championship is still very very long. So it’s not the time to think about the turning point or the championship. It’s too long.”

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The inverse Marquez trait that helped Bagnaia’s Assen MotoGP domination

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Francesco Bagnaia’s double victory at the Italian Grand Prix topped the MotoGP news cycle for all of about 12 hours before Ducati enacted rider market madness. From the moment Motorsport.com first reported Marc Marquez had been given the nod for the factory team, all discussion has been around the dynamics within the Italian manufacturer surrounding a decision that was always going to rankle the Bagnaia camp.

Bagnaia put up a good front across the Assen round as he brushed away questions asking for his thoughts on this and how his domination of both races must have been a nice ego boost given the preceding discourse over his incoming team-mate. Clearly, though, the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix was a statement from the reigning double world champion.

For the first time in his MotoGP career, Bagnaia topped the opening practice of a weekend. Usually under the radar on Fridays, he set his stall out early, before in the second session setting a new lap record.

He topped final practice on Saturday morning, before taking pole with another new lap record of 1m30.540s – a lap he was so confident in that he bailed into his pits with several minutes left in the Q2 session. He led every lap of the 13-tour sprint to beat Jorge Martin by 2.355s and did the same in the 26-lap grand prix to beat the championship leader by 3.676s.

At no point was Bagnaia anything but impressive at Assen. He took fastest lap in the sprint and set the best lap of the grand prix six times – the latter, a 1m31.866s, coming 12 laps in. It was with the setting of this lap that Bagnaia brought his lead over Martin to over a second for the first time and it would never again shrink below this.

The only ‘blot’ on his copybook came in the 10-minute warm-up session, topped by Fabio Di Giannantonio. But that mattered little as he romped to a third-successive Dutch GP victory – becoming the first rider to do so since Mick Doohan in the late 1990s.

Bagnaia utterly dominated the Dutch GP weekend and was only headed in the inconsequential warm-up

Bagnaia utterly dominated the Dutch GP weekend and was only headed in the inconsequential warm-up

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“It’s a really great moment,” Bagnaia said when asked if he feared mistakes on a weekend in which he was being pegged as the rider to beat. “But also in 2021, last part of the season, 2022 in the middle of the season, last year at the start.

“Many times it happened to me that I was feeling fantastic with the bike. Any moment I think I know perfectly our potential, I know if we work well, we can fight every time for a win and we can have some race weekends like this.

“This is giving me a lot of motivation. When you start a race that everyone says you have to win, for the pace, for what you did all the weekend, a second position is already a loss. In terms of pressure, it’s more, but I didn’t care and I just enjoyed everything. I love this track; I love going fast and with this kind of feeling in this track, it wasn’t a problem. I just enjoyed everything.”

Being fast through right corners is an inverse trait of Marquez’s, whose anti-clockwise strength is famed and will likely put him in the picture for victory at the German GP this weekend on the quirky left-leaning Sachsenring

Clearly, Assen is a circuit that suits Bagnaia and the Ducati. But the question as to why Baganaia was so strong was posed to a number of riders across the weekend. Marquez – who crashed out of the sprint and was demoted to 10th in the GP due to a tyre pressure penalty – noted that the world champion was particularly strong through the fast right-handers.

“He’s flying all the track,” the eight-time world champion said. “I mean, he’s super-fast here. I already see last year and two years ago that he was super-fast, but especially on those fast right corners he is incredibly fast.”

Being fast through right corners is an inverse trait of Marquez’s, whose anti-clockwise strength is famed and will likely put him in the picture for victory at the German GP this weekend on the quirky left-leaning Sachsenring. Looking at the best sector times in Q2, you can see the strength Marquez is talking about.

Sector 1 (Start/finish – exit T5)

1. Martin – 29.828s
2. Bagnaia – 29.871s
3. Vinales – 29.909s

Bagnaia's prowess through fast right-handers was identified by Marquez as one of his biggest strengths, which the sector times support

Bagnaia’s prowess through fast right-handers was identified by Marquez as one of his biggest strengths, which the sector times support

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Sector 2 (Approach to T6 – entry T8)

1. Bagnaia – 13.335s
2. Martin – 13.436s
3. Binder – 13.444s

Sector 3 (T8 – entry T12)

1. Martin – 26.492s
2. Bagnaia – 26.540s
3. A Marquez – 26.540s

Sector 4 (T12 – finish)

1. Bagnaia – 20.794s
2. Martin – 20.885s
3. Vinales – 20.886s

Most of sector one is slow and medium-speed rights, before flicking left through the Turn 5 hairpin. The short sector two is characterised by the ultra-fast fast approach to the Turn 6 right, which sees riders creep over 300km/h (186mph) in sixth gear before rolling off and knocking back a gear, taking the apex at around 250km/h (155.3mph) then flicking it left into Turn 7.

Sector four features two flicks right at full pelt, before heading left and then into a right/left/right chicane to end the lap. Notably, in sectors two and four, Bagnaia led the way.

A factor that kept Pramac’s Martin, he noted, from fighting Bagnaia for victory in both races was his lack of speed through the fast rights of Turn 6 and Turn 12. How the Ducati works Michelin’s 2024 tyres also appears to be something that gave Bagnaia an edge at Assen.

Bagnaia’s domination at Assen has put him just 10 points behind Martin heading to this week’s ninth round of the campaign in Germany. And now seems like the time where the momentum has shifted in the Italian’s favour.

Martin has been the leading man for much of the year so far, but now has Bagnaia closing in

Martin has been the leading man for much of the year so far, but now has Bagnaia closing in

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Winning five of the eight grands prix run so far, Bagnaia wasn’t knocked off the top perch of the podium throughout June’s four races at Mugello and Assen. Of the 284 race laps held in 2024, Bagnaia has led 154 of them; Martin has headed 95, while the next highest is Vinales on 22.

Martin’s points-per-round average sits at 25 after eight rounds, but Bagnaia is now on 24. Since Barcelona, Bagnaia’s average has been 12 PPR with Martin sitting on nine. Since crashing out of the lead of the Barcelona sprint, Bagnaia has bounced back emphatically and has now matched Casey Stoner’s career tally of 23 Ducati grand prix wins.

With all the talk pre-Assen surrounding Bagnaia’s future team-mate, the 2024 Dutch GP was a timely reminder why Ducati locked him down through to the end of 2026 before the season began and why he won’t be so easily pushed over when Marquez arrives in the box.

Recent form suggests it cannot be guaranteed that Marquez will blow Baganaia away when he joins the factory Ducati team in 2025

Recent form suggests it cannot be guaranteed that Marquez will blow Baganaia away when he joins the factory Ducati team in 2025

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

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Bagnaia dominates for Assen double ahead of Martin

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World champion Francesco Bagnaia swept to his second win of the 2024 MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix weekend after dominating Sunday’s main race ahead of Jorge Martin.

Having eased to victory in the sprint on Saturday, Bagnaia stormed to a third-successive Dutch GP win of his career on Sunday on his factory Ducati having controlled the race from the off.

Starting from pole, Bagnaia grabbed the holeshot off the line and was never headed in the 26-lap race.

Martin recovered early from a three-place grid penalty for irresponsible riding in qualifying, but could go no further than second to see his championship lead shrink to 10 points going to next weekend’s German GP.

Enea Bastianini completed the podium on the second factory team Ducati having come from 10th on the grid, showing great late-race pace to overhaul Marc Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Maverick Vinales in the closing stages. 

At the start, just as he did in the sprint, Bagnaia got the best launch to hold the lead as Vinales on the Aprilia slotted into second ahead of a fast-starting Martin from fifth.

Martin took second from Vinales into Turn 8 on the opening lap, with Marquez following suit on his Gresini Ducati at Turn 5 on the second tour.

Bagnaia had established a lead of 0.8s over Martin as he started lap three, though the Pramac rider would close this to 0.6s two tours later.

The lead would never shrink below this mark, however, as Bagnaia had the pace to keep Martin’s advances in check.

At the start of lap six, Bagnaia was a second clear and would grow this to 3.676s through to the chequered flag to become the first rider since Mick Doohan in 1998 to win three successive grands prix at Assen.

The battle for the final podium spot raged through to the final laps, with Marquez relinquishing third to VR46 Ducati rider Di Giannantonio at Turn 8 on lap eight.

Marquez appeared to point to the gap he wanted Di Giannantonio to come through on him, leading to speculation that a low front tyre pressure was causing concern.

On lap 19, Di Giannantonio checked up slightly at Turn 8 as Marquez was coming up his inside, allowing Aprilia’s Vinales to jump into third ahead of the pair of satellite Ducatis.

But the danger rider in the battle for third was Bastianini, who picked his way up from 10th on the grid to overhaul Vinales at Turn 16 on lap 22.

The factory Ducati rider moved 0.795s clear of the group behind, headed by Marquez – who recovered from an off at Turn 1 on lap 21 after being nudged wide by Bastianini to claim fourth – and Vinales initially.

But Vinales – who ran wide at Turn 15 on the last lap, ceding fourth – was demoted a spot to sixth after exceeding track limits at the last corner defending fifth from Di Giannantonio.

Brad Binder was top KTM in seventh after Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta crashed out of that position on the last lap.

Alex Marquez faded from the front row to eighth on the second Gresini Ducati, while Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez was ninth on his 2023-spec Aprilia ahead of Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli.

Fabio Quartararo was the sole Yamaha at the chequered flag in 12th after team-mate Alex Rins crashed out at Turn 1 on the opening lap.

Johann Zarco was the top Honda in 13th on his LCR-run bike, with Joan Mir crashing out.

VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi also fell out of contention, while Aprilia duo Aleix Espargaro and wildcard Lorenzo Savadori did not take the start due to injury sustained in a crash in Saturday’s sprint.

MotoGP Dutch GP Race Results:



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Bagnaia takes dominant sprint win, Marquez crashes

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MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia dominated the Dutch Grand Prix sprint to narrow Jorge Martin’s points lead in the standings, as Marc Marquez crashed out.

Having topped both practice sessions on a Friday for the first time in his MotoGP career and taken pole with a lap record, Bagnaia led from start to finish in the 13-lap Assen sprint.

The factory Ducati rider seized the holeshot off the line and resisted the early attentions of Pramac counterpart Martin before streaking clear by over two seconds to the chequered flag.

This has allowed him to close down Martin’s championship lead to 15 points ahead of Sunday’s grand prix at Assen.

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales completed the podium, while championship contender Marquez crashed out of the podium battle on lap two and is now 44 points adrift in the standings.

Bagnaia led Martin, Alex Marquez, Vinales and Marc Marquez off the line on the opening lap of 13 in the sprint.

A mistake for Martin at Turn 8 on the first lap gave Bagnaia crucial metres to preserve his lead through to the end of the tour.

Martin held onto second to start lap two, while Marc Marquez’s race ended at Turn 3 when he appeared to clip the inside kerb with his right knee and crashed out.

Into the final chicane at the end of lap two, Vinales launched his factory Aprilia up the inside of the remaining Gresini Ducati of Alex Marquez to snatch third and quickly pulled away.

By the start of lap five, Bagnaia was half a second clear of Martin and brought that gap up to over a second three tours later.

The Ducati rider continued to extend this advantage, though had some jeopardy to contend with when he was handed a warning for exceeding track limits too many times.

However, he would keep things clean through to the chequered flag to register back-to-back sprint wins in 2024.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Martin ended up 2.355s behind Bagnaia on his Pramac-run Ducati, while Vinales was 1.7s adrift in third.

Enea Bastianini rallied from 11th on the grid to take fourth on the second factory team Ducati, while Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top five for VR46 ahead of KTM’s Brad Binder.

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo was promoted to seventh at the chequered flag after Alex Marquez was hit with a three-second time penalty for failing to serve a long lap for repeatedly exceeding track limits.

This dropped the Gresini rider one spot to eighth, while the final sprint race point went to Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli.

Pedro Acosta struggled to 10th on his Tech3 GasGas, while last year’s Assen sprint winner Marco Bezzecchi (VR46) could do no more than 11th.

Top Honda honours went to Joan Mir in 14th, 21.791s off the leader, while team-mate Luca Marini retired on lap five after his RC213V expired coming out of the last corner.

Aleix Espargaro crashed out on the last lap in a fast accident at Turn 15 while fighting for fifth, marking his second fall of the weekend after a nasty spill on Friday.

Aprilia wildcard Lorenzo Savadori also crashed out of the race.

MotoGP Dutch GP — Sprint results:



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Bagnaia smashes lap record to take pole, Marquez crashes

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World champion Francesco Bagnaia headed Jorge Martin in a tight pole battle at the MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix, as a late crash for Marc Marquez left him seventh.

Bagnaia and standings leader Martin traded all-time Assen lap records at the start of the Q2 session, before the former smashed it with a 1m30.540s with just under six minutes to go.

So good was Bagnaia’s lap that he felt he could bail out of the session early, though Martin put it under threat on his final tour – coming up 0.081 seconds short.

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales completed the top three, 0.330s further back, while Alex Marquez heads row two on the first of the Gresini Ducatis as team-mate Marc Marquez crashed late on to end up seventh.

Bagnaia set the tone for the record-breaking Dutch GP qualifying on his first flying lap, setting a 1m31.048s.

But Martin obliterated it with a 1m30.877s seconds later on his first flying lap, and was on course to better it next time around before making a small error at the last corner.

On the first lap of his second run, Bagnaia lit up the timing screens and produced a 1m30.540s to go 0.337s clear of the field at the time.

With the rest of the pack tripping over each other looking for tows, Bagnaia’s lap came under no threat as the clock ticked down to the chequered flag.

Once Martin got a clear run, though, on his last flying lap he started to put Bagnaia’s lap record under threat.

But he narrowly missed out with a 1m30.621s to secure second, while Vinales leapt up to third on his final effort with a 1m30.951s.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Alex Marquez was fourth on his Gresini Ducati ahead of the second factory Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro and Q1 graduate Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46).

Espargaro was involved in a scuffle with Marc Marquez in the closing stages of Q2.

The Aprilia rider put on a hard move on Marquez for track position at the final chicane, before the latter returned the favour at Turn 7 while pushing on his last lap.

Marquez got through but crashed on the exit, leaving him down in seventh on the grid ahead of Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli.

Brad Binder was the top KTM in ninth ahead of Q1 pacesetter Pedro Acosta – who crashed at the end of the opening qualifying segment — while Ducati’s Enea Bastianini and Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez rounded out the top 12.

Fabio Quartararo was denied a place in Q2 by just over two tenths on his upgraded Yamaha and will start 13th ahead of KTM’s Jack Miller and VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi, who took a tumble late on in Q1 at Turn 5.

Johann Zarco was top Honda in 19th for LCR Racing.

MotoGP Dutch GP — Q2 results:

MotoGP Dutch GP — Q1 results:



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Bagnaia breaks lap record to top second practice

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Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia topped second practice for the 2024 MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix from Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales after setting a new Assen lap record.

The hour-long qualifying group-deciding session proved to be a tense affair, with just 0.673 seconds covering the top 10.

Bagnaia set the pace with a 1m31.340s, posted with just over 10 minutes to go, and proved strong enough for the world champion to box early at the end of the session.

Aprilia’s Vinales challenged him for top spot at the end, but came up just 0.065s short as team-mate Aleix Espargaro suffered a nasty highside at the final chicane.

This incident brought out yellow flags and scuppered the final laps of a number of riders, with the most notable Q1 entries proving to be Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Tech3 GasGas rookie Pedro Acosta.

Alex Marquez leaped up to third late on for Gresini Ducati, while Espargaro was fourth despite his crash ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin, who was involved in an odd incident with Jack Miller in the closing stages.

Martin was riding slowly on the racing line through the Turn 9 left-hander, while KTM’s Miller was looking behind when he went through the corner.

Looking round at the last moment, Miller’s head made contact with Martin’s back and his KTM suffered some aerodynamic damage – but both stayed on their motorcycles.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Marc Marquez was sixth on the second Gresini Ducati, with KTM’s Brad Binder seventh ahead of Ducati’s Enea Bastianini – who crashed at the end of the session.

Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez continued his strong Friday at Assen in ninth on his 2023-spec Aprilia, while Franco Morbidelli took the final direct Q2 qualifying spot in 10th on the second Pramac Ducati.

Despite running Yamaha’s new engine, which was met with rave reviews from Quartararo and Alex Rins in a recent private test, 2021 world champion Quartararo could do no more than 11th in second practice.

Both VR46 Ducatis have also missed the Q2 cut in 12th and 13th, Marco Bezzecchi heading Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Rins was 14th from Acosta in 15th.

Top Honda honours went to Johann Zarco of LCR Racing in 17th, while Miller was left in 18th after his scare with Martin.

MotoGP Dutch GP — FP2 results:



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The Ducati MotoGP power dynamics Bagnaia must now manage

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Reigning double MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia believes Marc Marquez «is smart and he’ll understand» how to maintain Ducati’s success in 2025.

Following the Italian Grand Prix, Ducati announced it has signed Marquez to a two-year contract to join its factory team from 2025 alongside Bagnaia.

Marquez’s refusal to take a factory bike at Pramac next year scared Ducati management into a U-turn on its original decision to give the works team seat to Jorge Martin, who will now ride for Aprilia.

That moment proved a major powerplay for the eight-time world champion, showing the influence he holds within MotoGP despite a difficult four years prior at Honda.

It is understood that the Valentino Rossi camp was angry at Ducati’s decision to promote Marquez into the factory team, wary of the destabilisation he could cause as he seeks a ninth world title.

Asked for his perspective about it in the pre-event press conference at Assen on Thursday, Bagnaia said: «From my perspective I wasn’t included in the decision because it’s something that I asked, I just wanted to be focused on the race track.

«In both cases was more or less the same situation because Jorge and Marc are super-fast. In this moment Jorge has more of a feeling with the bike, more experience with the bike, so he is faster.

«But in any case, was more or less very similar in terms of speed of team-mates.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«So, for me it’s a new challenge, a new team-mate to beat. And it will be fun. Marc is very smart guy and we will understand very perfectly the way to adapt to the team and to work to improve our situation again.»

This was a toned-down version of a comment of veiled caution Bagnaia projected to DAZN at Assen, in which he said: «I found out about Marc’s signing on Monday at Mugello. I already knew it was a possibility. I think Marc is a smart rider, and he knows how to adapt to the situation.

«We are the strongest team of all at the moment, and if we want to continue like this, improving the bike and growing, we have to continue like this. But Marc is smart and he’ll understand that.»

Reading between the lines, this is Bagnaia laying down a clear message to Marquez: do not upset the balance of this team.

Marquez’s domination years on the Honda came with very little in the way of intra-team rivalry, as he was easily the best rider of HRC’s stable. As others struggled, Marquez took the bike to results it had no business achieving, and so Honda’s bike development was done cautiously so as not to upset that balance.

When he badly broke his arm at the 2020 Spanish GP, that prompted a rethink and ultimately led to the pair’s split last year as the bike developed so far in the wrong direction not even Marquez could coax much out of it.

In just his second round on the Gresini-run 2023-spec Ducati, Marquez got onto the podium in the Portugal sprint but collided with Bagnaia in the latter stages of the grand prix in what was their first flashpoint of the year.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

At the Spanish GP, the duo battled hard for victory, colliding at Turn 10 in the final laps. They stayed onboard their bikes and Bagnaia came out on top. But that was the moment it became clear that Marquez had fully adapted to the Ducati and his name was a firm contender for the factory team seat.

From this weekend’s Dutch GP, Bagnaia isn’t just battling for a third world title now. Any defeat of Marquez is a mental advantage in drawing the battlelines for when they become team-mates. For Marquez, winning over Bagnaia will be proof that Ducati was right to pick him.

The «balance» to MotoGP Ducati’s Marquez decision will bring

The after-effects of Ducati’s decision are already showing. Instantly, it sent Martin to Aprilia – something Marquez has noted was «a risky decision because they have said no to a great rider like Martin to choose me».

Five-time grand prix winner Enea Bastianini has taken his speed and bike knowledge to KTM, while Marco Bezzecchi jumps off of a VR46-run Ducati to join Martin at the factory Aprilia squad.

Though 2024 has not been a good season for the three-time grand prix winner, Bezzecchi is walking away from likely having a factory Ducati next year with VR46 now poised to get the marque’s exclusive works support with Pramac now set to join Yamaha.

«I think Ducati, by the strategy that they have taken – which I respect – they’ve helped the other manufacturers a lot, that’s for sure,» Aleix Espargaro said at Assen on Thursday.

«KTM is going to be super strong, Aprilia is going to be really strong with really motivated riders in KTM and Aprilia. Looks like they are going to lose two bikes, so we’re going to balance the championship.»

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Ducati’s original plan was to promote Martin to the factory team and give Marquez a factory bike at Pramac, and in doing so having its cake and eating it.

Marquez’s refusal to join Pramac kicked that dream to death. Signing him has cost it the current championship leader, knocked its stable down from eight bikes to six and caused concern from within the camp of its double world champion.

All of this will undoubtedly have a huge impact on how the remainder of the 2024 title battle unfolds.

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