Bagnaia and Bastianini Secure a 1-2 for Ducati Lenovo at Mugello

Ducati Lenovo wowed the masses in Italy when Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini pulled out a 1-2 finish at Mugello after Bagnaia had previously secured the win in the Mugello Sprint Race. It was a perfect weekend for Bagnaia on the first stop on home turf for the 2024 campaign. The Italian jump up at the start of the race after qualifying fifth place. By the end of the first lap he was in first and would hold the lead for the rest of the race. Behind, Jorge Martin was able to recover from a slow start but would eventually lose out in the end to Bastianini and Martin settle for third. Unfortunately for Martin, Bagnaia’s double win further cut into Martin’s grasp on the championship.

Martin Retains Lead But Needs Answers

Despite not winning this weekend Jorge Martin retains an 18 point lead in the championship. His performances when he finishes races have been stellar however a recent string of mistake has seen his championship lead dwindle week by week. Martin said, “I was able to achieve the best result possible in a very complicated Grand Prix. It has been a difficult event, and after the crash on Saturday, the team and I decided to make a significant modification to the set-up. This important change paid off. Thanks to my team for the support, tomorrow we have a test day and then a short break. My motivation and my strength are higher than ever”.

If Martin is to retain his lead in the championship he will needed to return to his winning ways at the next round. The close Bagnaia gets the harder the championship title fight will be.

Italian Grand Prix Results

Championship Standings

After crashing out of FP3 Francesco Bagnaia came back with a vengeance in qualifying and the sprint race. Bagnaia started the sprint from P2 but got a much better start easily passing polesitter Jorge Martin. With Martin moving backwards Bagnaia took full advantage extending his lead out front. Martin would later crash out of the race with 4 laps remaining.

In the latter stages of the race the battle was on between Marc Marquez and Bagnaia for the top spot. Bagnaia’s teammate Enea Bastianini also crashed out of the race paving the way for Marquez to make his charge to the front. The pair battled but Bagnaia continued to shut the door and by the checkered flag he had built up a 1.5 second lead ahead. The win means Bagnaia cut 12 points off of Jorge Martin’s point advantage in the championship.

Pedro Acosta Continues Run of Podiums

MotoGP rookie wowed the masses again as he stayed poised behind the fighting ahead and lunged into P3 finding himself yet another podium this weekend. The top 5 was rounded out by Franco Morbidelli who matched his highest MotoGP finish of the season in P4 and Maverick Viñales in P5.

Sprint Race Results and Championship Standings

Championship Standings.

MotoGP is back after a quick turn around after leaving the festivities surrounding the Catalan GP last weekend. Up next is the Italian Grand Prix on the legendary Mugello Circuit. Jorge Martin looks to continue to build his championship lead while Francesco Bagnaia is poised to cut further into Martin’s point lead after coming off of a win in the Catalan Grand Prix last weekend.

Mugello is the first stop in Italy for the MotoGP riders campaign. Bagnaia will look to capitalize on home turf as he finds himself in unfamiliar territory having to fight his way back into the top spot. This year’s MotoGP grid is much more competitive at this point in the season than last year. Bagnaia seemingly had run away with the championship until a late stroke of form from Jorge Martin saw him come in contention for the title in the closing rounds of the season. With two races this weekend the battles on track between Martin and Bagnaia will be a treat for the fans in attendance.

Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello

Located 30km north-east of Florence in the beautiful countryside of Tuscany, Mugello is a modern circuit with excellent facilities. Bought by Ferrari back in 1988, the 5.245km track has been renovated to a high standard and has a growing reputation as one of the world’s most up-to-date, scenic and safest race circuits.

A blend of slow and fast turns with sweeping curves, long straights and off-camber corners make Mugello one of the most challenging circuits for the riders and engineers. Having hosted its first MotoGP event back in 1976 the venue became a permanent fixture in 1991 after extensive refurbishment. Set within a beautiful tree lined Tuscan valley, Mugello also offers ample viewing areas for a particularly boisterous and partisan Italian crowd.

The Italian Grand Prix Weekend Schedule

Francesco Bagnaia bounced back in the Catalan Grand Prix after missing out on in the sprint due to a crash from the lead in the sprint. Despite the crash Bagnaia avoided serious injury. That would be the story line for Sunday because Bagnaia looked poised to pounce on the championship leader Jorge Martin. Martin led the majority of the race but his tires started to fall off towards the mid point and after a crash Pedro Acosta gave up second place to Bagnaia who after a few laps came within striking distance of Martin. Bagnaia was lapping one tenth per lap faster than Martin by lap 16 of the race. However, Bagnaia was not able to pass Martin until lap 19.

Bagnaia Seizes Opportunity to Secure Win

Bagnaia wasted no time after finding a clean slipstream down the front straight at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to make a pass on Martin. He succeeded on his first attempt and pulled away to take the win. Bagnaia said, “Today’s win was a very important one, both for how things panned out yesterday and also for last year’s results at this track. I tried to set the pace at the beginning and I thought it was the right one. As soon as Jorge (Martín) and Acosta got past me, I tried to stay with them, but I thought their pace was a bit too quick especially with regards to the tire wear on the full-race distance.

Then I saw that their pace got back to a rhythm that was similar to mine. Once I overtook Jorge, I noticed I had already pulled a 0.4secs margin on him in one lap, so the only thing I had to do was to make it to the finish line. I rode the final lap almost with the feet on the ground, to avoid surprises. Now the Mugello awaits, and I hope fans will turn up at the circuit as many as they did here.”

Marc Marquez Sneaks on to Podium

Aleix Espargaro held onto third place in the closing stages of the grand prix. That was until veteran and 8 time world champion Marc Marquez snuck his way onto the podium on the last lap of the race. Marquez said, “We keep improving each day, but it’s clear that it’s not always possible to save the weekend as we did here and in Le Mans. On the other hand, at this track, which is the worst on the calendar for my riding style, two podiums are surely a great achievement and bode well for the rest of the season. Now let’s focus on Mugello and especially on solving the issues on the single-lap performance.”

Martin Retains Championship Lead

Despite missing out on the win on Sunday Jorge Martin still leaves the weekend as the leader in the championship. Martin maintains a 39 point lead over Bagnaia in the championship at the conclusion of the Catalan GP weekend.

After topping FP2 Aleix Espargaro headed into qualifying on a mission to hold the top spot. He did just that fighting off a charging Francesco Bagnaia behind by only 0.013s. The normal front runner and championship leader Jorge Martin was no where to be found in today’s sprint race. Martin finishes a mere P7 in an uncharacteristic start to the race weekend for the Prima Pramac Racing rider.

Prior to the Sprint Martin commented on his feelings after practice on day 1, “It has been a great day today. I felt good and I am confident for tomorrow. The grip is quite low so, because of that, we tried different kinds of setups on the bikes trying to find the best one and to be able to analyze which one might be the best for the rest of the weekend. I am glad about the rhythm I had during the two sessions of the day so I am confident to have a good Saturday.”

Unfortunately that hope turned into demise. Martin never really was able to fire up his tires and by the time he seemingly had the confidence to make a charge everyone else on the grid started to pick up pace as well. Espargaro set the tone early and from then on our everyone else was playing catch up.

Bagnaia Crashes from the Lead

After leading in the closing stages of the sprint Bagnaia crashed from the lead which gifted Espargaro and Marquez a position. Pedro Acosta benefited and snuck in to the podium positions due to the crash. View the crash below.

Full Sprint Race Results Below

Aleix Espargaro just one week after announcing his retirement from MotoGP at the end of the 2024 season has topped the tables in FP2 with an advantage of 0.012s over Francesco Bagnaia. The top five included 3 different manufacturers with Aleix Espargaro riding his Aprilia to lead the pack. Marc Marquez who seemingly had the pace to break into the top 5 crashed in the session but was able to recover the bike and get back to the pits seemingly unharmed. Qualifying is up next.

FP2 Results

MotoGP returns this weekend for the Catalan Grand Prix. With the title race wide open currently valuable points are up for grabs as Jorge Martin continues his charge for the championship. Martin leads two time MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia by 38 points heading into the weekend. Bagnaia will desperately want to outscore Martin to cut the lead down. Actions gets started this Friday.

The Full Race Weekend Schedule is Below

Jorge Martin took his earl weekend success in practice, qualifying and the sprint race and finished off a perfect race weekend with a win in the French Grand Prix at Le Mans today. Martin solidified his place at the top of the riders championship table extending his lead over Francesco Bagnaia to 38 points. After losing out on points in the sprint Bganaia came back with a vengeance in the the grand prix after claiming a hard fought P3. Marc Marquez impressed again with his second podium of the weekend finishing P2 again for Gresini Racing. Martin was not available for comment however Marquez offered his post race thoughts.

Marquez Comments on French GP

In Gresini Racing’s 1000th race Marc Marquez was able to double down on his success in the sprint to again claim P2 behind Jorge Martin. Marquez said, “It was an excellent start, even though it wasn’t as good as yesterday’s. There was more time today to put together a comeback and our pace was strong. I lost a bit of time with Diggia and even before that with Viñales, who is definitely not an easy one to pass. Then, when I bridged the gap to Martin and Bagnaia I was expecting the latter to attack but in the end he didn’t, so I gave it a try. I had something more in the last lap so I took a gamble, and it worked.” With the back to back P2 finishes Marques moves to P3 just 2 points shy of Francesco Bagnaia in the the championship race.

Misfortune For Pedro Acosta

Rookie Gas Gas rider Pedro Acosta had a good race building up until a slight mistake cost him a chance at a podium in the grand prix. Acosta was fighting in P5 and attempted a move on Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) at turn eight. Unfortunately he lost the front of the bike and went sliding off of the track. The bike suffered some damage and Acosta was eventually retired from the race.

Afterward he said, “Not a bad weekend overall. After the Sprint we made a big step with the setting of the bike and my feeling at this track. I made a good start and there were many guys making mistakes. Anyway, it’s another year of no results here: it is becoming a tradition! So, let’s take this ‘back’ at the next one.” In his rookie season Acosta had found a rhythm that currently sees him in P6 in the championship. A feat no one expected from a MotoGP rookie.

Bastianini Finding Himself Again

Although Enea Bastianini didn’t find himself on the podium this weekend. The Italian did score two P4 finishes to finishes with a good chunk of points for Ducati Lenovo. After an unfortunate early season injury in 2023 Bastiainini has gotten off on a better foot in 2024 with hopes of championship contention. Right now the man to beat is Jorge Martin but Bastianini will have some work to do if he is going to challenge for the top spot.

Full French Grand Prix Results

Championship Standings

Jorge Martin bounces back from his last outing at Jerez to secure the Tissot Sprint Race win at Le Mans. The win revived his “King of the Sprint” status having claimed the majority of Sprint race wins since its inception into the MotoGP race weekend format. The win didn’t come easy thought with Maverick Viñales and Marc Marquez giving Martin a run for his money. After breaking the lap record in qualifying and bouncing back from a late crash Martin charged with a full head of steam to finish almost 2.5 seconds ahead of Marc Marquez.

Marquez Continues to Improve

Marquez appears to be coming alive this season as he gets more and more acclimated with his Ducati with Gresini Racing. What seemingly felt like an outlandish idea. Marquez actually has the pace to be a title contender come the end of the 2024 season. He said, “That was literally the perfect start; I did well and was also lucky as I found the right space to dive in and kept the right speed. I got almost sandwiched between Bagnaia and Bastianini, but I got out of it with good speed. The thing I’m happy the most for was the pace we found in the 10-11 laps since I moved out to fourth. Tomorrow it’s going to be very challenging, and you never know how it’s going to end should it rain. Still, I’ll sleep soundly tonight.”

Last years champion Francesco Bagnaia lost out on valuable points after retiring from the sprint. The was an issue with Bagnaia’s bike that saw him drop form a comfortable P2 to P15 after a few corners. Bagnaia said, “Unfortunately these things can happen, but it surely wasn’t easy. Already from the warmup lap I felt something was different and I felt like it was difficult to do anything. The team is at work to understand what happened, but we’ll surely be good tomorrow and ready to do well. We’ve already shown we can be competitive this weekend and our pace is top-three worthy. We’re aware of our potential and we know that with a good start and the right feeling, we can battle for the win.” 

Maverick Vinales finished third to keep himself in the points battle at the top of the drivers championship. Acosta was unable to keep his early season success streak alive having to settle for P6. The Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) had uneventful races finishing P10 and P13 respectively.

Full MotoGP Sprint Race Results

Jorge Martin leads the pack on day one of the French GP weekend at Le Mans. The battle for the top spot did not come easy. The top three riders were separated by 0.187s in practice today in France. Francesco Bagnaia finished 2nd as he will attempt to take back the hold on the world championship’s top spot. Jorge Martin is currently 17 points clear of Bagnaia heading into the weekend. To be at the front now is a good sign Martin has what it takes this weekend to keep Bagnaia at bay. The pair have been the topic of social media in the last week regarding what fans perceives as a growing rivalry.

Pedro Acosta continues his stroke of brilliance with a P3 in practice. Acosta has turned the MotoGP scene upside down with his early season success. Another top 3 finish puts Acosta ahead for the weekend. Just behind by 3 tenths Maverick Viñales finished 4th with Fabio Di Giannantonio taking 5th place.

MotoGP Practice Results from Le Mans