The Catalunya round of the MotoGP series in Barcelona last weekend saw impressive performances from hometown boy Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia). Espargaro won the Sprint race on Saturday and finished fourth in Sunday’s full GP after a close-fought battle with Marc Marquez (Ducati) for the final spot on the podium. Espargaro, currently the oldest rider on the grid, announced earlier on the weekend that this would be his final season before retirement.
Saturday’s Sprint saw Marquez finish second and Pedro Acosta (GASGAS) third behind Espargaro. On Sunday, Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Jorge Martin (Ducati) rode away from the field to finish first and second, respectively, with the pair having a nearly 10 second gap back to third place Marquez.
Martin continues to lead the championship with a 39 point advantage over Bagnaia. For full results and points for Saturday’s Sprint race, visit the MotoGP site here. For full results and points for Sunday’s MotoGP race, visit the MotoGP site here.
Another pretty good race. MM is proving he’s the Lewis Hamilton of MotoGP. Can only win on the very best bike.
Can’t wait for the 2027 season where everyone is starting from scratch and many of the riding nannies will be gone.
“MM is proving he’s the Lewis Hamilton of MotoGP. Can only win on the very best bike.”
very interesting perspective.
question?
what bikes are Pecco and Martin riding?
iirc…Pecco’s and Martin’s bikes are both higher specced than MM’s no??????
Pecco and Jorge are on better bikes. Maybe.
maybe?
two factory Ducs and two Pramac Ducs better specced than MMs Duc.
4 Ducs better specced than MMs ride.
I mean that sometimes newer is not better. On complicated things. Can be a disaster.
The Honda wasn’t the best bike though, only he could get the results on it.
Also, man, that’s a low blow. LH is farging -insufferable-.
+1 TimC
wouldn’t MM’s bike be the third best specced Ducati on the grid with Pecco’s and Martin’s bikes better specced?
No – it’s a 2023 bike, not a factory spec bike. They run 2024 spec bikes with all the latest parts. Marc doesn’t get access to that.
Bastianini also has a 2024 bike and maybe some others.
MMs bike is good but very much second tier.
Totally with you on the 2027 comment Gene. Think we’ll get some pretty good racing until then though 😶
Different take is MM is validating the quality of the current class of MotoGP by not trouncing them, which I thought he’d do on a bike that was even within 10% of the best stuff (I was wrong..). Remember, track records are falling left & right this year. That he’s competitive at all at his age + injury setback tells a great deal about his quality.
Had he qualified better this past race a win was almost certain. He’ll get there but we may never see runs of several wins consecutively again.
As for LH, that’s true of all drivers in F1. Swap the Red Bull and Merc and LH wins, Verstappen struggles. I’d bet my bike on it.
MM’s qualifying issues seem to suggest he is not real comfortable with the bike yet and once the lights go out his natural talent simply takes over and he does what he was hired to do.
i’d bet MM wins several races (in a row) once he has better gelled with the new bike.
all tracks are different and the bikes are all set up for each track and rider…yes…but…
of Pecco, Martin, and MM…who do you suppose is the least comfortable and un-familiar with his own limits and his bike’s limits right now?
of those same 3 pilots…who do you suppose will get more comfortable with his bike as time goes on?
what do you suppose will happen to that person’s lap times and race results as that pilot becomes more familiar with his bike’s limits?
I ain’t got a dog in the fight. But the 800s were universally hated by riders and fans alike. Maybe the video below will help illustrate.
It’s sad to watch road racing flounder so. Honestly I think that it would be better for everyone, particularly the manufactures and the sport, if MotoGP were just eliminated and WSB and AMA were brought back to pre-2002 levels of factory support. More racing, more riders, more press, more venues, more sales. Ain’t no down side.
https://youtu.be/AKo6tP-xPhM?si=XXiGNpvA5HO5BC0P
acosta beat all the hondas w/ a fairing full of stones. mm93 was never that happy even when he won. i wonder what bagnia’s vo2max is?
Sprint was cool. Not the race
Another great race to watch, one did not know how it would finish until the last lap, last corner. Bagnaia proved he has the confidence, Martin proved he has the smarts to finish and not crash trying to go faster than he can safely, and MM93 coming from 14th, to finish on the podium both days, as others crashed should show that he can be competitive, if on the right machine. This is no doubt something many of us already know, its difficult to always read the negative comments from those who just dont like him. After the Sprint, MM93 was second in the championship race, fell back to third after Bagnaia’s win in the race on Sunday, after falling while leading in the lead, almost in the last corner, last lap, way out in the lead, was what so many would jump on if it was done by MM93, but you wont read that about Bagnaia. It does look like the championship, is between these 3. So far this year, all the races have been very very exciting, with close finishes. Cant wait for the rest of the years races.
Agreed, and a more compelling mix of riders/teams up front. Great to see the satellite Aprilias starting to show promise, in particular.