After a disappointing performance last weekend in Aragon, reigning MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia will be looking to regain the upper hand over championship leader Jorge Martin starting Friday at the San Marino Grand Prix, but watch out for the phoenix Marc Marquez, who is back in the spotlight.
Will King Bagnaia find his glory at home in Italy? The Turin-based Ducati rider let Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac) slip away last weekend, due to a modest 9th place in the sprint on Saturday, followed by a crash that forced him to retire the next day in the GP, which cost him the championship lead.
On the eve of the 13th round of the season in Misano, on the shores of the Adriatic, 23 points separate the Italian from the leader Martin (299 points against 276).
With 37 points to be distributed this weekend, Bagnaia can mathematically overtake Martin on his factory Ducati. However, the task will certainly prove complicated, with the Spaniard having never finished worse than second since the championship resumed in early August.
But “Pecco” Bagnaia is ready to bounce back: “we know we have good potential on this circuit, and it will be crucial to do a good job from the start to be competitive,” he said – even if he admits he is “not yet 100% fit” because of his crash in Aragon.
– Mark, the next race –
With Martin in his sights, Bagnaia will also have to be wary of the competition, which, behind him, has not said its last word – starting with the star Marc Marquez (Ducati-Gresini), third in the championship, 47 points behind the Italian champion (the gap rises to 70 points with Martin).
Deprived of victory since 2021, the six-time Spanish MotoGP world champion ended more than 1,000 days of drought on Sunday by winning his first GP since October 2021, at Misano. The first of a new (and long) series?
Marquez is in any case the rider with the most victories at Misano since 2007 – and he would like to add a 5th to his list of achievements in the elite.
“The objectives for this season have been achieved, now we have to continue working (…), we can use this extra boost (the victory, editor’s note), this extra confidence to continue moving forward,” the Catalan said on Thursday.
Another candidate for victory is the Italian Enea Bastianini, who will be replaced next year by Marquez at Ducati and has never finished lower than third in the San Marino GP.
Absent last year due to injury, the “Bestia” (Bastianini’s nickname), born a few kilometres from the circuit, hopes to capitalise on “his public” to win his second GP of the year after that of Great Britain last month.
Also watch out for Pedro Acosta, who, at 20, is considered one of the future stars of MotoGP but is still chasing his first victory on his debut in the elite.
The Spanish prodigy, who seemed to have marked time after a cannonball start to the season with GasGas-Tech3, returned to the forefront in Aragon, finishing 3rd in the GP.
On the French side, no miracle is expected. Riding a Yamaha far from the performance of European bikes, Fabio Quartararo fears above all that the count will not be there for the qualifications, which determine the positions on the starting grid.
“During the private tests (in August at Misano, editor’s note), the pace was correct, but what didn’t work very well was the speed over a lap, so that could be a crucial point,” explained the man who was crowned world champion in 2021 on this circuit.
His compatriot Johann Zarco will be back on his modest Honda-LCR, riding which he will try, as he does every weekend, to gather as much information as possible to reduce the gap with the top of the field, outrageously dominated by Ducati.
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