Метка: San Marino GP

Bagnaia slashes Martin deficit of Aragon crash with Misano runner-up finish

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Francesco Bagnaia feels a “maximum” second place in the San Marino Grand Prix has provided the ideal result to slash into Jorge Martin’s MotoGP points lead.

For the second year in a row Bagnaia performed a ‘phoenix’ effect at his home grand prix, following 2023 when he kept his pursuit of a second title on course with a podium finish at Misano just one week after a massive smash in Barcelona.

This time Bagnaia steadily pursued Marc Marquez to complete a brace of second positions in San Marino seven days after his painful crash at Aragon that had handed main rival Martin a 23-point advantage.

Pramac’s Martin made the wrong call to enter the pitlane during the flag-to-flag grand prix as rain briefly feel at Misano, while running second to Bagnaia, and could only finish a lapped 15th. As a result, Bagnaia recouped a considerable margin to stand seven points from his title rival at the top of the championship.

“It doesn’t taste like a victory because it isn’t a victory but it is still very good,” he said after the race in Misano. “I’m a believer! I want to win but today second place was a huge result in terms of the championship.

“Yesterday I was angry because I had the chance…but I didn’t take it,” he said of his runner-up result behind Martin in the Saturday sprint; a result that had pushed the gap up to 26 points. “But today was the maximum I could do.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia also felt the recovery from his heavy Aragon crash added shine to his results in Misano.

“After Aragon it was a really tough Monday,” the Italian explained. “I wasn’t able to do much, and the pain was starting, a lot. We worked a lot with my crew and my physio and they did a fantastic job in the end. I’m very proud of what we did.”

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Marc Marquez’s second successive win means that four Ducati riders — Martin, Bagnaia, Marquez and Enea Bastianini – are now separated by just 62 points respectively.

“I never think they are out,” Bagnaia warned of his rivals. “I know their potential and the potential of their bike. As long as you are mathematically there then you need to believe.”



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Martin takes blame for costly Misano bike swap call

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Jorge Martin has taken the blame for opting to pit to swap bikes during the brief rain shower in the MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix which wrecked his race.

Pramac’s Martin conceded 19 points to world champion and chief title rival Francesco Bagnaia at Misano as one of the few riders that peeled into the pitlane during a brief rain shower.

The San Marino asphalt dried within minutes and the Spaniard had to re-enter the pitbox for his original GP24 with the dry setting and tyres; dropping him a lap behind the leaders and down to 15th for the final championship point.

“I was thinking more about the race than the championship, so I thought it was better to stop,” Martin explained to the media after the race, having been running second at the time and had already banked 12 points after winning the sprint on Saturday.

“Next time I will wait behind Pecco and do the same.”

He added: “For sure it was wet. I think [Franco] Morbidelli crashed. If it kept [raining] the same then I would have won! But from one lap to another it stopped. As soon as I exited from the box I waited but then understood that the best option was to go back.”

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Martin also admitted he had not decided on a firm strategy with the Pramac crew, even though the race was deemed flag-to-flag and every squad had a second bike warmed up in pitlane.

“We didn’t speak about it, and I didn’t know what was coming,” he said. “Maybe that’s why I stopped. Maybe this time we missed a bit of understanding between us.”

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Winner Marc Marquez said that no team could make a judgment for the rider; the call had to be based on feeling on track.

“Corner three to 11 was raining a lot, that is why I took my decision,” Martin offered. “Next time, I will follow my rival.”

Martin still heads the MotoGP riders’ championship by seven points from Bagnaia, 53 from Marquez and 62 from Bagnaia’s Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini.



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Repsol to end 30-year partnership with Honda in MotoGP

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Repsol has announced that it will be ending a 30-year relationship with Honda at the end of the current MotoGP season.

The Spanish oil giant has been a sponsor of Honda since 1995, a partnership that had spawned one of the most famous liveries in the history of motorcycle racing.

Repsol had already reduced its commitment to the factory Honda team this year, prompting the Japanese manufacturer to ditch its all-orange paint scheme in favour of a hybrid livery incorporating its own corporate colours.

But following the conclusion of the 2024 campaign, Repsol’s logo and orange shade will completely disappear from the RC213V, with the company having taken the decision not to renew its existing agreement with the factory.

“Repsol has decided not to renew its current sponsorship contract with Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) in the MotoGP World Championship, which ends on December 31 of this year,” a statement from Repsol read.

“The Repsol Honda Team is the most successful team in terms of championship victories, with 10 team titles, 15 rider titles and 183 victories in the top category of motorcycling.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“Repsol appreciates HRC’s commitment and dedication over all these years of working together.

“The multi-energy company will remain linked to motor racing, with the aim of continuing to develop products and services of the highest quality.”

The news, which was reported by Motorsport.com in May, was made official hours after the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano from which both Repsol Honda riders Luca Marini and Joan Mir were forced to withdraw due to stomach infections.

Mir didn’t take part in any session of the entire grand prix weekend, while Marini’s exit was announced only on Sunday morning after he had qualified 21st of 23 riders.

In absence of Mir and Marini, Honda was represented by LCR duo Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami, plus wildcard rider Stefan Bradl.

Repsol and Honda have enjoyed a fruitful partnership over the last three decades, with the likes of Mick Doohan, Alex Criville, Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez all winning championship sporting the famous orange of the oil brand on their Honda bikes.

Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda

Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

However, Honda’s decline in fortunes in the last few years had already put the future of their relationship into question, with Marquez’s early exit from the team at the end of last year dealing a further blow.

Honda had also been keen on promoting its own corporate red, white and blue schemes on its two-wheel programmes.



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The other Ducati rider on a MotoGP resurgence

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Franco Morbidelli continued his MotoGP resurgence with a first podium finish in three-and-a-half years with third place in the San Marino Grand Prix sprint race and explained how “the race is very different” at the sharp end.

Morbidelli was given the golden ticket at the end of 2023. The Italian ended a turgid three-season spell in the factory Yamaha team where he felt the sharp decline of the Japanese company’s competitiveness for a seat on a Ducati GP24 next to MotoGP runner-up Jorge Martin at Pramac.

Morbidelli was the first world champion to emerge from Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Academy when he clinched the 2017 Moto2 crown. He then shocked the MotoGP establishment by winning three Grands Prix and finishing second in the standings in 2020 with a two-year-old M1.

Before the 29-year-old could open his Ducati chapter in earnest this year, a crash while training in Portimao resulted in a concussion and he missed the entire pre-season period in recuperation.

He needed time to adapt to the Desmosedici and did not score points until round five in France, but has since posted top-10 finishes in the last six rounds, the highlight being a fifth place in Germany, until he arrived at Misano this weekend for the San Marino GP and the site of his maiden triumph in the premier class four years previously.

Quiet confidence on Thursday translated into sharp qualification form Saturday morning and second on the grid. Morbidelli then unveiled the best performance of the season to trail Martin and get to within 0.3s of Francesco Bagnaia’s rear wheel in the sprint for his first top three since the 2021 Spanish GP.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“I could stay with the top two guys since the beginning [of the sprint], and I could check them out very well,” the placid Ducati man said Saturday afternoon. “There are some areas where I’m missing, but we will try to improve for tomorrow.

“A sprint race is where the riders give all their potential: take out all the potential from the tyres, all the potential from the bike. So, for me it has a great value. To see that, especially this kind of sprint race where the top two guys are in their prime and giving their maximum, it was great to stay there.”

Morbidelli only registered three top-five race results in three years with the factory Yamaha team, although his first term in 2021 was wrecked by a knee injury. Up until his showing in Misano this weekend he has been consistently battling in the depths of the pack.

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“Being in the top positions, the race is very different, and the riding is very different,” he insists.

“When you’re in the group, it’s full of fighting and it’s full of rhythm-breaking moves. It feels much better up there!”

Although he is optimistic for the full grand prix distance at Misano, he is also realistic when it comes to showing some of that glittering 2020 form. “To be back there, I should get back winning,” he concluded. “So, we still have some margin here and there, we need to clear it up.”



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Bagnaia «angry» after losing ground to Martin in MotoGP title fight

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Francesco Bagnaia was left «angry» after a poor start cost him victory in the San Marino Grand Prix sprint race.

The MotoGP world champion had dominated Friday’s practice and took pole for the sprint with a new Misano lap record.

But a poor start allowed championship rival Jorge Martin to jump into the lead from fourth on the gird.

Bagnaia managed to hold on for second place after battling with an overheating front tyre but was left frustrated with his second-place finish which means that Pramac’s Martin now has a 26-point advantage in the championship.

«I’m angry with my performance because I did a bad start, I didn’t find a good start with the clutch and I lost the first place.

«We know perfectly how difficult it is in this track to overtake when you have the same pace as the guys in front of you.

«I was trying the first laps but then the front tyre became too hot and I started losing it.

Race start

Race start

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«So, I didn’t have any chance of overtaking Jorge. This afternoon he was just faster… not faster, but he did a better job for sure.

«We have to improve for tomorrow because we can’t do another start like this.»

Bagnaia said he also had trouble running the turbulent air behind Martin, adding: «I was losing a bit on the exits of Turns six, eight and 10, I was sliding quite a bit on the bike, I was behind and everything changed.

«When you’re riding alone everything is perfect, but when you have dirty air the bike behaves differently.»

Bagnaia, who crashed out of the last race in Aragon, now sits 26 points behind Martin in the championship standings and is hoping his tyre choice will pay off in Sunday’s race.

«After what happened in Aragon, it was important to finish the race — doing the maximum, but finishing the race.

«But for tomorrow it will be a different race with the medium. You can’t push like you want with the medium and you have to be more careful in the first laps.

«I think that some riders will try to go with the soft because today it was quite good apart from in the last two, three laps. But I think it will also be a good choice.»



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MotoGP actively seeking second US race but no plans for 2025

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MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports is actively seeking to add a second grand prix in the United States but has no plans to make an addition to the 2025 calendar.

The provisional schedule for next season should be released just after the forthcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with the championship to start at Thailand’s Chang International Circuit in Buriram on the first weekend of March.

The Circuit of the Americas will host the only round slated for North America, despite the eagerness from Dorna to complement the Texas venue with another Americas event.

“There is definitely dialogue,” said Dorna CCO Dan Rossomondo when speaking to Motorsport.com in Misano.

«There is an interest from people to host the sport but we have pretty strict safety standards and we cannot just race anywhere. In the US, we also have to look to make an impact in the right market.

«Austin is in the centre of the country, it’s a popular city, a cool city and checks a lot of boxes for us.”

Past GP venue Laguna Seca is “probably not feasible right now” due to the homologation of the circuit (which must reach the highest FIM standards for grand prix racing) and the current legal action hanging around the track by local residents.

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Flatrock Motorsports Park, a new facility in Tennessee, was also mooted but the site is not yet prepared for MotoGP.

“They [Flatrock] are focusing on their club track, we haven’t spoken to them in a while because they are interested in getting their house built,” Rossomondo said. “There is interest from a group in the northwest but that’s in the process.»

Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a host of MotoGP from 2008-2015, has been ruled out, with Dorna’s ideal location also off the table: “The dream is that we can make an area like Miami work for us and that market…but it’s completely not possible right now.»

Further expansion in the United States will be a priority for the company as Dorna intends to convert the series into a global entertainment product.

The Liberty Media acquisition should be rubber-stamped by the end of November after it has passed all approvals by competition and investment authorities and the joint effort with the American firm for MotoGP will ramp up during 2025.

“The US is an important focus because it dictates a lot of economic decisions for commercial partners. All my partners ask: ‘when will we have another race in the US?’ but we also need to work out the balance of the calendar,” the American added.

For 2025 MotoGP will have a heavy Thai flavour. Not only will the second and last pre-season test take place in Buriram prior to the opening grand prix but Dorna is considering a huge launch event in Bangkok where the teams will stage a glitzy presentation to build up interest for the new campaign.

“It’s a huge two-wheel market,” Rossomondo said of the Thai timing. “We love the city of Bangkok, and we love the idea of a pre-event presentation there.”

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Martin denies Bagnaia in sprint to extend title lead

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Jorge Martin produced a masterclass of pace and consistency after a stunning start to win his fifth sprint of the MotoGP season at Misano. 

The Spaniard, who was fourth on the grid, increased his margin at the top of the standings by three points thanks to his defeat of Francesco Bagnaia, extending his winning run at the track where he completed the double in 2023.

Having gone three weekends without a sprint or grand prix victory, Martin said: «Finally back winning, so I am super happy.

«I think we did a good job from practice where I was struggling because we we’re trying to find perfection so it was quite difficult.

“I expected to be fighting with Pecco [Bagnaia] but I did not expect to do it from the start and at that point I thought, OK, 13 laps and I was trying not to make any mistakes and be focused and finally, I had a gap to keep for the last two laps so I was super happy.

“For tomorrow it is another sprint but I feel confident. We are in a good way.”

Bagnaia led home the second Pramac of Franco Morbidelli, who picked up his first sprint podium since the Saturday races were introduced last term. “We were hoping and waiting for this kind of performance,” he said. “Misano was the right place to do it.”

But an unhappy Bagnaia conceded: “I tried, but Jorge was braking hard. The start was a disaster, but second position after what happened last week [his crash at the Aragon GP] is OK. We’ll work to improve the start.”
 
Ducati’s Enea Bastianini was fourth and only two seconds away from the winner, completing a 1-2-3-4 for the Desmosedici GP24s. A spectacular late move from Gresini’s Marc Marquez clinched fifth from Tech3 GasGas’s Pedro Acosta — the 20-year-old the first non-Ducati to finish.

KTM’s Brad Binder and Jack Miller were seventh and eighth respectively, with Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo scoring a point in ninth — Gresini’s Alex Marquez almost overtook the Frenchman but had to settle for 10th.

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales was the first among the Noale collective in 11th ahead of team-mate Aleix Espargaro. Johann Zarco was again the highest Honda racer thanks to his 13th position on the LCR machine.
 
Track limits warnings were issued for more than half the field across the 13-lap distance and Augusto Fernandez was the first repeat offender. The Spaniard then incorrectly filtered through the long lap section and was hit with a three-second time penalty to finish 16th.
 
The sprint was a torrid affair for the VR46 team with Fabio Di Giannantonio crashing at Turn 14 on the second lap and then pulling out at mid-race distance, while Marco Bezzecchi fluffed his start to drop from third on the grid to eighth and then fell through Turn 2 with nine laps to go, leaving the GP23 in fiery state.

MotoGP San Marino GP — Sprint results



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Bagnaia surges to pole with record lap as Marquez crashes

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Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia stormed to pole with a lap record at Misano in qualifying for MotoGP’s San Marino Grand Prix as Marc Marquez crashed out.

Italian Bagnaia, who has two wins in the last three years at the venue, controlled the session from the first circulation, heading an all-Ducati top three and a clean sweep of the front row for Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Academy as Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli took second, just 0.2s from his countryman, and VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi clinched third.

Gresini rider Marquez, who secured a first win on Ducati machinery last weekend, crashed at Turn 15 during Q2 and ended up ninth.

“The pace is super-good and my feeling on the bike is fantastic,” said Bagnaia. “I’m not 100% physically but luckily when I am riding I feel OK, so this is good,”

World championship leader Jorge Martin was fourth ahead of the first non-Ducati rider,  Tech 3 GasGas’s Pedro Acosta and KTM’s Brad Binder, who entered the session through Q1.

In seventh and topping the third row was Gresini’s Alex Marquez, who also came through Q1. He was quicker than factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini, who suffered an engine problem in FP2. Just behind Marc Marquez was Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo in 10th, only 0.7s from the pace-setting Ducati.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales appeared to have a technical issue deep into Q2 but was still the best qualifier for the Italian brand in 11th. KTM’s Jack Miller ranked 12th as the last runner in the period.

Red Bull KTM’s Pol Espargaro crashed on the entry to the long left-hander at Turn 8 during Q1 and did not make the cut, while Honda’s Joan Mir was still not fit enough to compete having been struck down with a stomach virus on Wednesday and was forced to withdraw from the weekend.

MotoGP San Marino GP — Qualifying results



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“It’s a long time since I enjoyed the bike like today”

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Fabio Quartararo has said “it has been a long time since I enjoyed the bike like today” as he broke into Q2 directly for Yamaha for just the third time this MotoGP season.

A result of recent testing mileage at Misano or are Yamaha finally making gains? This was the question after the 2021 MotoGP world champion roamed the top 10 of a MotoGP practice session in which the top 14 riders were split by one second, and the Frenchman classified ninth fastest to make Q2 directly.

Quartararo and the factory Yamaha team have completed plenty of testing laps at the San Marino circuit as the factory fully exploits its concessions benefits to improve away from the 20-round calendar.

The 25-year-old has struggled to find grip this season even though Yamaha has changed the character of the M1 and the inline four engine, while it has delivered a new engine, new chassis and revitalised aero packages to get closer to their European rivals.

The factory has brought more staff, conscripted technicians from rival firms and increased the turnaround speed of its development parts for both Quartararo and Alex Rins.

Quartararo was 0.6s from leader Francesco Bagnaia after Friday afternoon practice to generate encouraging signs, considering that improvements to the bike are providing higher potential for race pace.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

In Aragon Quartararo had been dismissive of the ‘flying lap’ form at the Misano test and even though he and the team completed the job on Friday at the San Marino GP he was wary of Q2 on Saturday.

“In the test it was terrible and now it is better but it’s [still] not normal that with 11 laps on [used tyres] we are only three tenths better for the time attack [on new tyres],” he explained. “If you check the other brands then they are improving close to one second: this is something we are still missing.

“Today there was no margin [for improvement] and I was on the limit everywhere. At least I think it was great to qualify in Q2 and it has been a long time since I enjoyed the bike like today. We made good laps on the pace. Just one or two tenths can change the weekend.”

Much depends on where the #20 can qualify on Saturday for the 13-lap sprint and the 27-lap grand prix for what is already a very grippy asphalt at Misano.

Initial feelings at Misano were brighter for Quartararo, who hasn’t reached the podium since the 2023 Indonesian GP and hasn’t won since the German GP in early summer of 2022.

“We know Japanese engineers like to make small-by-small [changes] but even though it was small it was a step I could feel,” he explained.

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“I like it because we are doing the steps faster and it’s what we need. The first month with Max [Bartolini, Yamaha technical director] and the team it was the mentality and the way of work we changed, but no improvement [on track].

“We tested a lot of things but now we are starting to find a way with the engine, the chassis, so I expect, for me, to end the season in a better way. I don’t say to fight for much better positions…but at least I think to have the gap to the top five a bit closer than now.”



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