The start of Pecco Bagnaia’s 2024 MotoGP continues to be like a roller coaster: after a nosedive, a bold comeback immediately arrived 24 hours later, with success in the Catalan Grand Prix, his third of the season and the 21st in his career in the premier class, who makes up for the huge mistake he made yesterday, when he threw away the Sprint victory on the last lap.
The Sprint already almost seemed like a closing of the circle, because he was going to impose himself in a short race exactly where a year ago he had been the victim of an accident that had taken away the explosiveness necessary to succeed. The mistake on the last lap at turn 5, however, almost caused the Ducati rider to suffer a macumba on the Catalan circuit, where he had never even reached the podium.
Even if that were the case, he finally managed to exorcise it today, taking the victory in character and strategy. But above all by making the decisive overtaking precisely in that turn 5 which yesterday had taken him to hell and today showed him the stairs that lead to heaven. And he did it by bringing back to Ducati a success that Barcelona had been missing for too long.
Starting well from the front row, the world champion took the lead of the race, but had to deal with a Pedro Acosta who was strong in his choice of the soft tire on the rear (almost all the others had the medium), who immediately showed himself particularly aggressive. As the laps went by, Jorge Martin also came back under the leading tandem and perhaps the key moment of the race arrived here.
Pecco let the two Spaniards pass and slightly slowed down his pace, keeping a safe distance. In front of him, however, Martin had to push hard to keep Acosta at bay who didn’t want to keep up. At the distance, however, the GasGas Tech3 rider exaggerated and paid for it by ending up with wheels in the air at turn 10.
At this point, “Martinator” found himself in the lead with a margin of about a second over Bagnaia, but he had probably asked too much of his tires to keep Acosta behind him and he paid for it in the long run, because Pecco started to reduce his margin , catching him with six laps to go and finding the opportunity to regain the leadership right at turn 5.
Once in the lead, the Piedmontese immediately managed to build a small safety margin, which he managed well until a checkered flag which earned him a return to -39 in the World Championship from Martin, which partly mitigates the disappointment for the 12 points thrown to the wind yesterday, which risk being significant in the continuation of the season.
It was an amazing Sunday for Ducati, because the Borgo Panigale manufacturer monopolized the podium thanks to yet another great comeback by Marc Marquez. The Gresini Racing rider risked using the soft tire on the rear to move up from 14th place on the grid, but he managed it brilliantly and in the final stages he found himself battling with Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia, resisting him brilliantly in the last two turns. Now in the World Championship the #93 is third in the World Championship, at -41.
As mentioned, after the victory of the Sprint, the host Espargaro once again tried to manage the pace to come out on top, but this time the Ducatis had more and therefore he had to settle for the “wooden medal”. . For him, however, the last weekend on his home track was one to remember. Adding to Ducati’s great day is the nice comeback fifth place of Fabio Di Giannantonio, who managed to get the better of Raul Fernandez right at the end who, however, raced for the first time as a protagonist with the Aprilia this weekend by Trackhouse.
With the seventh place of Alex Marquez, there are even seven Italian bikes in as many positions, with the prize for first of the “others” going to Brad Binder, who collapsed with his KTM after being among the best in the first part of the race . Behind him is Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha, therefore first among the riders on Japanese bikes, with Miguel Oliveira’s Aprilia completing the top 10.
It was a particularly complicated weekend however for Marco Bezzecchi and Maverick Vinales, who never had the speed of the best and finished in 11th and 12th position, right ahead of Acosta, who after the fall managed to restart and take home a few points.
It’s a shame for Franco Morbidelli, who was having his best race since moving to the Prima Pramac Racing Ducati, but crashed when he was in sixth position. Enea Bastianini was 18th after a 32-second penalty: the Ducati rider was given a long lap penalty for a cut at turn 2 (even though he was pushed out by Alex Marquez), which then became a double long lap because it was not taken for granted and finally a drive through commuted into this time penalty. A misstep that distances him from the saddle of the official Ducati, as well as from the top of the World Championship, now more than 60 points away.
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