With five races remaining in the 2024 MotoGP season, Pecco Bagnaia finds himself 21 points behind Jorge Martin in the general classification. During the Indonesian Grand Prix in Mandalika, Bagnaia, who started in fourth position, had a bad start, his Ducati GP24 rearing up as soon as the lights went out. Despite this setback, he managed to come back to finish third, but his botched start and the caution he showed in the first laps prevented him from competing with Jorge Martin for victory.
Difficult starts have become a recurring problem for
Bagnaia these last few races, and he asked
Ducati to resolve this situation as quickly as possible. After the race, the reigning champion said: “
the clutch had a different reaction, then I did a little wheelie and the rear started to
skate. » Although the victory in the
Sprint Race has limited the damage in terms of points, the situation must be resolved before the next crucial stages, starting with the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi scheduled for this weekend.
Davide Tardozziteam manager de
Ducatigave some explanations on this difficulty. On Sky Sport MotoGP, he explained that the problem could come from tire management during the first laps: “ starting from the rear, it is more difficult to force the brakes
to warm up the rear tireas Enea Bastianini and Pecco often do. This affects their ability to be fast from the start.
»
Davide Tardozzi: « Pecco Bagnaia has had bad starts for four races, and that is not normal »
The bad start of Bagnaia during the
Indonesian Grand Prixwhere his motorcycle reared up, cost precious tenths. Tardozzi also notes that
Martinwho himself had starting problems at the start of the season, resolved them and is now starting very well. “ Pecco has had bad starts for four races, and that is not normal. There is no consistency in clutch managementwe will try to resolve this problem from the next race », added
Tardozzi.
While it’s hard to believe it was a purely technical issue given Martin’s solid performance,
Tardozzi indicates that Ducati will examine the problem in depth for Pecco, particularly during the
Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi. ” Pecco’s bike always started well. We must understand why this situation persists, especially for a driver who was used to making his starts perfectly.. »
With five Grands Prix remaining, the MotoGP title fight appears to come down to Bagnaia et
Martin. The next races will be decisive, and both drivers will have to avoid mistakes while remaining efficient.
