Martin uncatchable over short distances
The protagonists – at least for now – are always them. Of course, there is Marc Marquez in his first season as a Ducati rider who wants to try to break the eggs in the basket, Pedro Acosta in the role of terrible rookie and Brad Binder who turned out to be the third wheel in Qatar; in the end however when we talk about victories in MotoGP the discussion always seems to boil down to Pecco Bagnaia And Jorge Martin. Also last week in Lusail the two great rivals shared the successes: the Spaniard won the Sprint race, the Italian responded by winning in the 'classic' Sunday event.
What makes this dualism entirely within the Ducati family fascinating, with Bagnaia the standard-bearer of the official team and Martin the perfect representative of the 'killjoys' of the Prima-Pramac team, is precisely the contrast between styles of the two rivals. Martin is the king of Sprint racing: he has won 10 out of the 20 contested in the entire history of the top class. Since Misano 2023 he has always won the short race except at Phillip Island – where the Sprint was canceled – and Sepang, where he was beaten by Alex Marquez and came second. In the last nine Sprints contested he has always done better than Bagnaia, who has not finished ahead of him since Saturday in Barcelona, when he was second with Martinator only fifth.
Pecco doesn't change: the focus is on Sunday
On Sunday, however, as Valentino Rossi also mockingly recalled in a post published after Bagnaia's success in Qatar, everything is reversed. Pecco is perfect in always arriving in the best possible conditions at the most important event of the weekend, while Martin is often the victim of some imperfection – between mistakes dictated by his enthusiasm and less than perfect tire management – which ends up costing him dearly.
Since the beginning of 2023, Bagnaia has won eight races against Martin's four. Not only that: out of 21 GPs contested, Bagnaia did better than Martin on 12 occasions against 8. Only once, in Austin 2023, did they both crash. Even more merciless is the tally of podiums: since last year we are 16-9 for Bagnaia. Because even with Sprints, the old adage doesn't change: titles are won on Sunday.
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