MotoGP | Riders in unison: “Bagnaia is the favorite for the title”

Who will be this year's MotoGP World Champion? In the last two seasons, Pecco Bagnaia has had to wait until the last race to realize his world championship dream, but ahead of the first race of the 2024 championship, the reigning champion seems more favored than ever. The experience of recent years naturally works in his favor and the winter tests only confirmed his status, as he finished in the lead with record times in both Sepang and Lusail.

Therefore, it is not surprising to see that the vast majority of riders place Bagnaia at the top of the list. “Pecco is the favourite”, said Jorge Martin, the Piedmontese's main rival last season, to the official MotoGP website. He probably also tried to take the pressure off himself: “He has won in the last two seasons, so I think he will be the man to beat.”

Martín wasn't as explosive as Bagnaia in pre-season testing, but in the end he found the right feeling with the new Ducati. But according to Johann Zarco, Bagnaia is even more fearsome than in recent seasons. “I'm impressed by the way Pecco is showing even more speed than last year and I'm impressed by the way he's controlling the situation,” summed up the LCR driver.

Marc Marquez echoes him. “The favorite is the champion,” said the Spaniard. “He led the tests in Malaysia and Qatar. He's in good shape, attacks hard, rides well, so he's the favourite. He's the one who has to defend the title. Besides him, Martín and Bastianini are very fast. The positive thing is who race for the same brand as me, so I will be able to learn from them.”

Marco Bezzecchi, Brad Binder, Aleix Espargaro, Maverick Vinales, Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Miguel Oliveira, Raul Fernandez and Joan Mir they chose the same favorite, after being impressed by his form during testing. “I think Pecco is pushing to see more power in the negotiations for his contract with Ducati!” has Luca Marini stated in a joking tone. “It's normal. He's doing a great job!”

What does the interested party think? Naturally Pecco Bagnaia does not see himself as the main favorite and fears the other riders with the latest version of the Ducati, such as Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martín, as well as the other two European brands. “All the Ducati riders are favourites, I think,” he said at the end of the test. “During the pre-season we saw that Enea and Martin were very fast. Diggia too, plus Bez made good progress on Tuesday at Lusail, so all the Ducatis. I think Aprilia has improved compared to last year. Then you always have to take into account the KTMs, which sometimes make good laps and always have a good pace with used tyres. So more or less like last year at the beginning of the season.”

“The Aprilias were also fast in the tests in Qatar and Marc has clearly made a good step forward in terms of time attack”, Bagnaia added, “I don't know how the situation is in terms of pace, frankly I haven't seen anything, but we will discover everyone's potential during the first race weekend. There is no doubt that the Aprilias, the KTMs and all the Ducatis are fast at the moment , while Yamaha and Honda may need more time. The speed is there, but I think there's something missing in terms of traction,” continued the reigning champion.

The shadow of Pecco Bagnaia plans déjà for the 2024 season

Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

All brands have made progress over the winter and Aleix Espargaró recognizes that Ducati has maintained its lead for the time being. “The level is very high”, said the Aprilia rider. “The times we set in Malaysia and Qatar are crazy. They're crazy. These are incredible times, everyone is very, very fast. Ducati seems to have made further progress. As far as we're concerned, the RS-GP24 has improved a lot, but it's still not enough to beat the Ducatis. We know that KTM has also made progress and will be there at the front, especially on race day. The Japanese brands also seem to have made some steps forward, but not enough because the Italian manufacturers have improved much more.” Espargaró concludes, apparently speaking on behalf of the entire grid: “The man to beat is Pecco. I believe this is his strongest pre-season since he has been in MotoGP.”

With Léna Buffa