Martin-Bagnaia, endless duel
The Sepang Sprint also confirmed that the head-to-head between Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin will continue, barring any surprises, until the last weekend of the year. This morning the Spaniard nibbled another two points away from the world champion, arriving in second place and just ahead of his rival in the race for the World Championship.
There are reasons to think that Martin will win, others to believe that “Pecco” will successfully retain the title. The #89 certainly travels with the wind at his back, but too much confidence and an excessive search for the limit sent him to the ground in Mandalika. Bagnaia seems to be having more difficulty in the process of setting up the bike, but also thanks to his experience he is able to respond when points are up for grabs and limit the damage.
Dovizioso’s words
According to Andrea Dovizioso, the title race is perfectly balanced: “For me it’s a 50/50. They are two different riders, with an equally different approach. Even though they have the same bike, the speed is similar. I would like to give half a point more to Martin because perhaps he is more carefree, he has speed on his side and the weekend starts immediately in the best possible way. But Pecco has solved many weekends that started badly“, these are his words to Corriere dello Sport.
In recent days, rumors have emerged according to which Martin would have been close to promotion to the official team, and therefore as a teammate of Bagnaia himself, for an explosive super-couple destined to dominate the 2024 championship. Carlo Pernat, the manager of current partner of “Pecco” (Enea Bastianini), however revealed that the time for this move has already expired. Therefore, even in 2024 we will see Martin and Bagnaia as close rivals, but at the same time distant.
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