Метка: Francesco Bagnaia

Ducati still chasing answers to «dangerous» French MotoGP sprint issue

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Bagnaia had qualified second behind championship leader Jorge Martin, but was down to 14th by the end of lap 1 following a dreadful start on his GP24.

Lacking the speed to mount any sort of recovery, the Italian then ran wide over the gravel at the exit of Turn 7 on the third lap, rejoining the track at the rear of the field.

With it clear by then that the problem he was suffering was significant, the reigning champion returned to the Ducati garage to retire from a race for the third time in 2024.

Bagnaia’s troubles followed a late crash in qualifying on Saturday morning, which forced him to switch to his second motorcycle for the 13-lap sprint.

But the Borgo Panigale marque still doesn’t understand what exactly went wrong with his spare bike, with work expected to continue overnight ahead of Sunday’s full-distance race at Le Mans.

“As soon as I started on the sighting lap I felt something strange and then in the warm-up lap I went wide in corner seven already in a strange way,” Bagnaia said.

“And [when I] started [the race], the bike had a really huge wheelie. Then it was very difficult to do more or less everything. I lost the front in corner six before going wide in corner seven, almost in acceleration, so something [was] wrong.

“I feel it was not working in the way I expect it to and it’s something that can happen.

“For tomorrow we will try to solve everything, but here we had to change the bike from the crash of this morning and the other way maybe was to re-adapt a bit.

“But my team is already checking everything. It’s not easy to understand when these kinds of things happen, but my team is so good and we will solve everything.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia said he was left with no option but to return to the pitlane, as it was no longer safe to continue the race.

“I retired because something was not… it was dangerous,” he admitted. “I’m not the guy that wants to retire. Also to have any new information for tomorrow it was better to continue, but it was better to stop.”

With Bagnaia dropping out of contention early, Pramac rider Martin faced no real threat as he romped to his third sprint win of 2024 and cement his status as the early championship favourite.

Bagnaia, in turn, now faces a 29-point deficit to Martin in the riders’ standings, having also retired from a crash-filled sprint at Jerez a fortnight ago.

The 27-year-old says the troubles he faced on Saturday afternoon at Le Mans can be traced down to his incident in qualifying, as he urged the need to score points on a regular basis to boost his chances of winning a third title.

“It’s true that we have to find consistency, but it’s two weekends in a row that on Saturday that we had to face some bad luck,” he added.

“It’s bad luck that it comes from my mistakes of the morning because without this crash I was having the same bike and everything was good.

“We were not expecting a reaction like this for the sprint.”

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Claims I don’t want Marquez as 2025 MotoGP team-mate are «bull***t»

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Ducati is currently deciding which rider to place alongside Bagnaia in 2025, as Enea Bastianini’s two-year contract is due to expire at the end of the season.

It has the option of extending its deal with Bastianini, promoting last year’s runner-up Jorge Martin from Pramac, or signing Marquez and forming an all-star factory team.

Some insiders have questioned if Bagnaia would want a rider with the prestige and success of Marquez at Ducati’s works outfit, as it could be detrimental to the harmony of the team and jeopardise his own number 1 status at the Italian marque.

But speaking ahead of the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, Bagnaia made it clear that he had no preference between any of the trio, quashing suggestions about him being averse to Ducati hiring Marquez.

“In these [last few] days, I saw a video saying I don’t want Marc on the factory team, but it’s bullshit,” he said.

“I don’t care. I just want to beat them all, try to be always the best and keep going like this. I don’t have a preference, honestly.

“I am working well with Enea. I know perfectly the type of work we are approaching, and if the team changes the team-mate we have to start again. But in any case, my ambition is always to be stronger than them.”

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Martin finished runner-up to Bagnaia in 2023 and leads the standings this year ahead of Le Mans after winnng the Portuguese Grand Prix and scoring sprint wins in Qatar and Spain.

Having previously stated publicly that there is nothing more he could do to convince Ducati he is deserving of a factory ride, Martin reiterated that a promotion from Pramac would be the natural next step for him.

“From my side, I’m really happy where I am but the natural position of the Ducati family, where I started and grew up during all my career in MotoGP, the natural move will be to go to the factory Ducati team,” he said.

“I was really close in ’22, last season was again till the last race. It’s my goal to arrive there, I hope I can achieve it very shortly, but if not let’s see what happens.”

Marquez’s speedy adaptation to the Ducati GP23 with the satellite Gresini team has made him a contender to partner Bagnaia next year, with the Spaniard’s speed and PR value an asset for any manufacturer.

While Marquez was coy about his chances of landing a Ducati ride next year, he made it clear that he would need a factory seat in order to aim for a seventh title in the premier class.

“I arrived here in a very special situation and now, step by step, I feel better on the race track, I feel stronger and much more confident, and this was my target of this year.

“Obviously 2025, ’26, if I continue in that way it would be a different target, and the target would be to fight for the championship.

“For that reason, if you want to fight for the championship you need to have the newest material in your bike to have more chances.

“But going faster on the race track I would have more options for my future. And if I have the chance I will decide the best.”

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Learning from Ducati MotoGP ace Bagnaia “a pleasure”

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The reigning double world champion and the Gresini rider locked horns in last Sunday’s 25-lap Spanish Grand Prix for the victory in a thrilling battle.

Bagnaia ultimately came out on top, though only by 0.372 seconds to Marquez, who celebrated his first grand prix podium as a Gresini Ducati rider.

The pair have clashed on track several times before, with Bagnaia’s first MotoGP win at Aragon in 2021 coming after intense pressure from the eight-time world champion.

In Portugal this year, the pair were battling for the top five when the collided controversially.

As both enthused about their victory battle, Marquez said: “For me, as I said in Portimao to him, it’s a pleasure to fight against the world champion and the reference in the Ducati group.

“[In the Spanish GP], one more time, I was on his level and I was fighting against him.

“I had the speed enough to try to overtake. So, for me already, it’s a pleasure to learn from him.

“Still, he has some stronger points than me, but let’s see if in the future I can be a little bit better and closer to him.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing, Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team podium race

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing, Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team podium race

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

With championship leader Jorge Martin crashing out of the grand prix, Marquez currently sits 32 points behind in sixth in the standings.

This comes after Marquez, who qualified on pole at Jerez, felt like his adaptation to the GP23 had “finished”.

But after four rounds of the season, the Gresini rider – who last won the title in 2019 – says “it’s too early” to be thinking about the standings.

“For me it’s too early,” he said of the championship. “It’s not like ‘no, I don’t want the championship’. But it’s too early to think about the championship because I know, and I already understand, that there will be race tracks where I will struggle a lot.

“But let’s see. Still at the moment we need to keep going, with this bike I feel some of my strong points of my riding style are a little bit weaker, but one of the weak points is a little bit stronger.”

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Bagnaia thinks “Marquez would adapt well” to factory Ducati MotoGP team

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Last weekend Bagnaia produced one of his best MotoGP race wins to date as he held off Marquez late on in a spectacular battle to take Spanish Grand Prix victory.

While Bagnaia has charged to back-to-back MotoGP world titles in 2022 and 2023, having stepped up to the factory Ducati squad in 2021, Marquez had suffered from a series of career-threatening injuries, the decline of Honda’s competitiveness and having to make the jump to satellite squad Gresini Ducati in 2024.

But having been in podium contention at the opening three rounds, and fighting for victory in the fourth event at Jerez, Marquez feels his adaptation to Ducati is complete, while he is already in the picture for a factory Ducati promotion for 2025.

Speaking at the post-Spanish GP test at Jerez on Monday about the possibility of having Marquez as his future team-mate, Bagnaia said: “I don’t know. Marc comes from 12 years in the Honda team and I’m sure he can contribute something to an official team like Ducati, but at the moment we are extremely competitive.

“We are attentive to every detail, we are at a very high level, so Marquez would adapt well to the situation.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Marquez said earlier this week that a factory Ducati ride was not his only option for 2025, revealing other manufacturers had already started talks with him.

“The important thing is that I have it clear and I don’t just have one option,” he said.

Heading into the 2024 season, Bagnaia signed a new two-year contract at Ducati, keeping him at the factory squad until at least the end of the 2026 campaign, while team-mate Enea Bastianini’s current deal runs out at the end of this season.

Current MotoGP world championship leader Jorge Martin, who rides for Pramac on a factory-specification Ducati GP24, is in the running for the factory Ducati slot along with Marquez and Bastianini.

All three riders are out of contract at their respective teams at the end of this season.

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Bagnaia says his contact with Marquez in Jerez MotoGP battle «was smart»

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Bagnaia and Marquez locked horns with each other in the latter stages of Sunday’s 25-lap grand prix at Jerez after early leader Jorge Martin crashed out.

Marquez chopped down a 1.2-second advantage Bagnaia held on lap 14 to get within striking range on the 21st tour.

As Marquez threw his Gresini Ducati up the inside of Bagnaia, he ran slightly wide and on the cutback into Turn 10 the pair rubbed against each other.

Bagnaia came out on top and defended another overtake attempt on lap 22 to hold on for the victory.

Despite the pair colliding at the Portuguese GP last month, Bagnaia says he enjoyed his battle with Marquez and felt the contact they made was done «in a smart way».

«I enjoyed the fight a lot,» he told motogp.com’s After the Flag. «For sure, you know when you fight Marc you have to put your elbows up because the fight is intense.

«Honestly, it was the only place I was able to defend because I was knowing perfectly that he was very strong in corner seven and eight and I was hearing every lap that he was closing the gap.

«But I was really strong in the entrance of corner nine. So, I was saying to myself ‘OK, I won’t take a risk in corner eight but I will break so hard in corner nine to have a little advantage’.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«And I knew that if I was braking this hard, he was for sure going to go a bit wide. And I just used this thing to close the line and be in front again.

«When you fight like this, you put it on the list that you can have this contact. I thought it was quite smooth and smart, because I was on the inside.

«He just tried to go around me, but as soon as we arrived to the apex we touched.

«He picked up [the bike] a bit; I just leant more because if I picked up too, I was going on the other side. So, it was contact but in a smart way.»

Prior to Martin’s crash, Bagnaia was set to fall 47 points behind his Pramac rival but is now just 17 adrift.

And during his battle with Marquez, he admits he had no thoughts of settling for second in order to minimise a points loss.

«It’s too soon to start thinking about it [the title], and as soon as Jorge crashed I felt better with the bike and I started to push and I dropped the lap times a bit,» he added.

«So, no, I never thought about giving up and taking second position. I’m not a guy who in this kind of moment likes to give up.»

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Bagnaia critical of “no plan” MotoGP sprint races

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The reigning world champion was taken out of the 12-lap sprint at Jerez on Saturday when he got sandwiched between Marco Bezzecchi on the outside and Brad Binder on his inside.

It has put Bagnaia 42 points back on Pramac’s Jorge Martin, who won the chaotic sprint.

The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM stewards but no further action was deemed to have been warranted, which Bagnaia hinted that he didn’t agree with.

«Racing incident,» he said when asked about the collision. «This is the decision by the race direction and it’s their job. It’s like this.

«For me, to overtake two riders on the kerb is not the correct line. But I’m not here to penalise someone.»

While not directly taking aim at Binder, Bagnaia said the fault lay at the feet of «the guy on the inside», but was also critical of how little thought he reckons is put into overtakes in sprint races sometimes.

«For sure it was caused by the guy on the inside, but we have to say that it was quite crazy,» he added.

«I just did two laps and a half corner and I saw four, five contacts in this first two laps.

«I have to say that the sprint race sometimes is like no plan overtakes – just let the bike go in and if you touch the rider on the other side it doesn’t matter.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«Just try to overtake. This is why we saw many contacts during the race.»

Binder – who crashed out late on while battling for the podium — says the incident started when he lost the rear of his KTM exiting the final corner at the end of lap two, which allowed the factory Ducati of Bagnaia and the VR46 Ducati of Binder to flank him on the run into Turn 1.

As Bezzecchi tried to outbrake Binder, the Italian ran deep himself and Bagnaia was taken slightly wide too – opening the door for the KTM to make a move.

«I was on the normal line,» Binder said. «Well, on the entry. I saw the video and at the centre it was tighter than normal for sure.

«But I had a little highside coming out of the last corner and they [Bagnaia and Bezzecchi] split me.

«One went left, one went right and I thought there was chaos coming before there when the bike on the inside [Bezzecchi] looked like it was going straight to me… well, to be honest I thought both were going straight, so I turned in on my normal line and it looked like to me he just got sandwiched between the two bikes.»

Bezzecchi – who also crashed out later — says he felt he could still complete the overtake despite running wide because «if you go wide [at Turn 1] you have the big kerb and there is not much space to make an overtake back».

He says Bagnaia «could do nothing to avoid me» but refused to lay blame on Binder, stating: «I don’t want to express myself because every time [I do] people break my balls».

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Bagnaia used Jerez MotoGP practice as a test for «big» change

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The reigning double world champion has won the last two Spanish Grands Prix at Jerez but comes into this weekend off the back of a non-score in Portugal and a struggle to sixth in America.

A key issue for Bagnaia has been a vibration on the rear which has intermittently cropped up over the first three rounds and is something other Ducati riders have battled.

After a low-key start to practice on Friday at Jerez, Bagnaia smashed his own lap record from last year to top the afternoon session by 0.100 seconds.

«We used a different strategy compared to a normal Friday,» said Bagnaia.

«We used this Friday as a test and it was very useful. We tested more things than normal and I’m very happy.

«We didn’t have vibrations, but normally the vibration arrives on Saturday in the sprint race.

«And for that reason, the feet are on the ground. But my feeling has increased on braking, entry, [it was] much better, less movement. So, very happy.»

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Asked what the changes were, he added: «I can’t [say]. But it was something quite big on the bike. I needed a big thing.

«Was work just to have a better feeling. When you have a better feeling you can do something that helps you to be more in a good position in the exit of the corners.»

Ducati has been working hard to diagnose the vibration issues its riders have been facing, and Bagnaia thinks it is down to the different construction of Michelin’s rear tyres in 2024.

«For me, it’s because the tyre construction is different,» he theorised. «It gives you more grip but if you force the tyre it can start to vibrate.

«We have to say the lap times we are doing this year are incredible, so maybe they were not expecting this kind of performance because the grip is much higher.

«So, maybe they were thinking to have the same lap times but with more support [from the tyre].

«But, right now it looks like the lap times are incredible, but in our situation my feeling on the bike, with my setting – also [Jorge] Martin, who is the same – has this kind of vibration.»

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Bagnaia still MotoGP title favourite in 2024 but fight is wide open

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Martin’s 100% podium-finish record in 2024 came to an end last Sunday at the Americas Grand Prix when he was overtaken for third by Ducati’s Enea Bastianini on the penultimate lap.

While the Pramac rider’s lead was cut, he still holds a 21-point lead over Bastianini heading to next week’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Reigning double world champion Bagnaia won the Qatar GP but missed the sprint podium in Portugal due to a mistake while leading before a collision took him out of that GP.

And in Austin, Bagnaia struggled for grip on his way to sixth in the sprint and battled chatter issues in the GP to only come away with fifth and trail Martin by 30 points.

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Despite this, Martin reckons Bagnaia is still the favourite for this year’s championship but believes the fight is much more open than it was in 2023.

“I don’t know, I think there are a lot of riders who can be fighting for the championship,” he said. “I think still Pecco is the favourite because he won last season, he is the number one.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“So, now we just need to be… I mean, the rivals are strong. We have Marc [Marquez], we have even Pedro [Acosta], who is really, really good and constant.

“So, we never know. Enea was super strong all weekend. The important thing is we are fast everywhere, and we need to be focused on that.”

In a threatening position to take command early in the championship after the opening rounds, Martin stresses that this is of little concern to him right now.

“For sure, I don’t look at the moment to that,” he said of his position in the standings. “I don’t like to think about that.

“But the points we are doing are for this reason. I am happy about that. I am happy that we have 80 points already, it’s quite a lot.

“I think we have to be happy and keep this line, or this way, because we are working quite well and focusing on ourselves and improving the results from last season.

“This is a track where I struggled on in the past and this weekend we got quite a lot of points, and for sure it’s better to be in the lead than 10th.”

Watch: MotoGP: Vinales recovers from 11th to win | 2024 #AmericasGP



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Bagnaia in ‘race of defence’ as Ducati chatter strikes again in MotoGP

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After battling with Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta and Jorge Martin early on for the race lead, factory Ducati rider Bagnaia slipped to fifth place at the chequered flag, finishing over seven seconds behind race winner Maverick Vinales.

Not only did Bagnaia lack the pace to stay with Aprilia’s Vinales and second-placed Acosta on the KTM in the second half of the 20-lap contest, he also could not put up a fight to the Ducati GP24s of team-mate Enea Bastianini and Pramac rider Martin, as he lost touch with the lead pack.

The Italian ran with a soft rear tyre at the Circuit of Americas, a choice that helped Bastianini to grab third position on lap 18, having successfully tested the longevity of the compound in the warm-up earlier on Sunday.

But a return of the tyre vibration problem that plagued him in the Qatar sprint and impacted his Portugal weekend meant he had no option but to conserve his position and salvage as many points as possible in Austin.

«My race started well, I was feeling good. I was thinking after lap six that I was able to fight for a win or a podium,» he said.

«But I started to have a lot of chattering, a lot of vibrations on the left side and it was very difficult to manage everything.

«I completely destroyed the tyre on the right side. So, it was also difficult to do corners on the right side.

«So, I raced in defence after seven laps, six laps, and it was very difficult. I tried to manage everything but like this, for sure we have to understand the situation and solve the problems because right now it’s very difficult.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«The situation is very similar to 2022, that in the start of the season I had to race in defence. All my trust is in my team that we will solve the problem. We will be battling for the top again.»

The US round was arguably Ducati’s least competitive weekend of 2024, as Vinales recovered from 11th on the grid to take a stunning victory and Tech3’s Acosta finished second to leave Ducati as the third-best marque.

Saturday’s sprint was also rough for the Italian manufacturer, with Bastianini and Bagnaia only managing sixth and eighth — although Martin did grab third place on the Pramac.

Asked if he was worried about the chattering issue, given how difficult it is to solve for engineers, Bagnaia said: «It’s strange because Enea didn’t have any chattering this weekend, but he was really in trouble all weekend.

«I was feeling good, Martin was fast, but today we struggled. So, it’s difficult to understand with three bikes, because Franky [Morbidelli] is still learning so it’s difficult to put him on the same package.

«Enea was struggling with the brakes, struggling to let the bike turn. But today was super fast and without problems [I] was able to fight for the win. I was able to fight for the win for just six laps, and after that I started to struggle.»

Reigning champion Bagnaia sits fifth in the standings after the opening three rounds of the season, already 30 points off championship leader Martin. However, the picture in the riders’ table is skewed by the 27-year-old’s DNF in Portugal, caused following a collision with Marquez.

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