An emotional retirement announcement, a chaotic dash race and defiant comebacks have been the primary speaking factors from the 2024 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix.
Forward of the sixth spherical of the season, veteran rider Aleix Espargaro introduced to the world that he can be calling time on his MotoGP profession on the finish of the 2024 season. A profession of 20 years that has been characterised by hardship, doubts and relentless arduous work left a sense of satisfaction within the three-time grand prix winner as he addressed the media on Thursday.
Then he went on to qualify on pole with a brand new lap document and rating a dramatic win within the dash race. So far as retirement bulletins go, Espargaro’s was not dangerous in any respect.
5 riders led that 12-lap dash, three of them crashing out. Essentially the most noteworthy was Francesco Bagnaia, whose half-distance race type this yr is costing him dearly. However his capacity to bounce again on Sundays is limiting the injury and he put in a press release trip to win the grand prix, as Jorge Martin prolonged his championship lead.
Marc Marquez charged from lowly grid positions to complete on the rostrum once more in each races, highlighting that whereas qualifying wants work, his race tempo is proving killer.
Elsewhere, rider market rumblings continued within the wake of Espargaro’s retirement announcement, whereas Enea Bastianini carried out a futile in-race protest towards the stewards. Listed here are 10 issues we realized from the 2024 MotoGP Catalan GP.
1. Bagnaia wants speedy dash turnaround as Sunday type very good
Bagnaia has failed to attain some extent in half the dash races in 2024 up to now
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
Bagnaia’s capacity to bounce again from troublesome outcomes is without doubt one of the issues that has made him so formidable within the championship over the past two years. That was on show once more on the Catalan GP, after the Ducati rider crashed out of the lead of the dash race at Flip 5 on the ultimate lap. It was set to be a outcome that pulled him near championship chief Martin, who struggled for tempo within the dash. As an alternative, it pushed him to 44 factors away.
Within the grand prix, nonetheless, Bagnaia performed the strategic recreation, holding his tempo underneath management after being shuffled out of an early lead by Martin and Pedro Acosta. When the time got here halfway by means of the 24-lap contest to begin reeling in Martin, he made it look straightforward.
As Martin had chewed up his rear tyre attempting to fend off Acosta earlier, he was powerless to cease Bagnaia coming by means of on lap 19 at – satirically – Flip 5. He would later gesture to the nook on the cooldown lap. Bagnaia pulled 1.7s clear to tally a 3rd grand prix win of 2024, although his deficit within the championship remains to be a hefty 39 factors. Dash outcomes have contributed to this.
Going with no dash podium since profitable in Austria final yr, Bagnaia has not completed the final three. He threw 12 factors away at Barcelona and misplaced no less than 5 at Jerez when he was working fifth earlier than a Flip 1 tangle instigated by Brad Binder on lap three. Mechanical dramas put him out at Le Mans and don’t neglect that he was main in Portugal earlier than a late mistake left him fourth. That’s no less than 23 factors misplaced, which might make a major distinction to his present championship state of affairs.
“It’s a matter of ending them and taking factors as a result of final yr, it’s true, I used to be struggling a bit [in the sprints], however I used to be ending each dash race I did,” Bagnaia stated. “It’s much less factors however for the championship, it helps rather a lot as a result of to attain six, eight, 9, 12 factors each weekend is rather a lot. So, it’s good that each Sunday we’re aggressive, however I’m uninterested in shedding factors in a free manner on Saturdays.”
2. Martin’s title credentials getting more durable to knock
Even of a tricky weekend, Martin nonetheless elevated his factors lead
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
Martin has actually been the rider of the second in 2024 and it’s actually not troublesome to agree with Espargaro’s assertions that the championship chief being handed over once more for a manufacturing unit crew Ducati seat can be “tremendous unfair”.
Coming into the Barcelona spherical 38 factors clear within the standings, Martin emerged 39 forward. A one-point acquire could not sound chunky, however when you think about he certified a lowly seventh (the primary time he’s began outdoors of the primary two rows since Silverstone 2023), had his dash podium run resulted in a tough Saturday race to fourth and couldn’t fend off Bagnaia within the GP to complete second, that’s environment friendly injury limitation.
His points-per-round tempo stays at 26 (25.8 with out rounding up) after six rounds. Maybe he may have managed his earlier push from Pedro Acosta a bit higher and saved his medium rear tyre extra, however electing towards a fruitless late retaliation towards Bagnaia when he got here by means of on lap 19 of 24 confirmed actual maturity. If Barcelona is what constitutes a nasty weekend for Martin, his nearest title rivals want to begin digging deeper.
3. Marquez’s comeback prowess one thing to concern
Marquez is aware of he must up his qualifying recreation on the Ducati to take the struggle to Martin and Bagnaia
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
Marquez hates the Barcelona circuit. So, one other comeback akin to the one he staged at Le Mans appeared unlikely after qualifying on Saturday morning on the Catalan GP, when he struggled to 14th.
The Gresini rider is discovering that recent smooth rubber pushes the entrance of the GP23 on time assault laps, and it’s stopping him from exploiting the ingredient of his driving model that made him deadly on the Honda. His crew chief Frankie Carchedi has additionally repeatedly identified that the shortage of Marquez knowledge on the Ducati from observe to trace makes getting within the ballpark on Fridays a bit trickier.
His surge from 14th to second within the dash was expertly finished, however his gamble to go for the smooth rear – one among solely 4 to do the identical – and make it final 24 laps to complete third within the Grand Prix was a measure of Marquez’s true genius. Nevertheless, he stated he’s “not proud” of his current comebacks as a result of it means there’s been an issue someplace.
Whereas he does really want to get on high of his qualifying woes, he’s being harsh on himself. As soon as the supreme race tempo is married to stronger qualifying type, stopping him from profitable goes to be a tall order for his rivals.
4. MotoGP veteran begins profession wind down with “fairytale” house race
There wasn’t a dry eye in the home when Espargaro introduced his retirement
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
On the Americas GP, Espargaro informed the media he wasn’t positive what his plans for 2025 have been but and hadn’t dominated out racing on with Aprilia. The truth is, previous to leaping on the airplane Stateside, he’d already determined 2024 was going to be his final as a MotoGP rider.
He introduced this to the world on Thursday forward of his house GP in an emotional press convention that noticed various shed a tear.
Doing the double at Barcelona in 2023, Espargaro snatched pole with a brand new all-time lap document after which sensationally received a chaotic dash after Bagnaia’s remaining lap crash out of the lead. Espargaro described the earlier 48 hours as “a fairytale”.
He may solely muster fourth on Sunday, shedding the rostrum late on to Marc Marquez as he felt uncomfortable on the medium rear tyre. Even so, it’s evident that Espargaro isn’t a fading star whose time on the head of the pack has lengthy gone.
He’s nonetheless on the high of his recreation and is getting out whereas the going’s good. As he informed the media on Thursday, it’s a “privilege” to have the ability to do this.
5. Well timed type bounce for under-pressure teen
Fernandez reminded everybody of his skills in Barcelona
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
Raul Fernandez was a surprising in his sole Moto2 marketing campaign in 2021, wherein he beat Marc Marquez’s class rookie win document with eight victories on his technique to second within the championship. However MotoGP hasn’t been form to him. The much less stated about Fernandez’s single yr on the Tech3 KTM the higher, whereas his type on the RNF Aprilia final yr was nonetheless properly beneath the place it wanted to be.
But to crack the highest 10 in a grand prix in 2024 (albeit on a 2023-spec Aprilia), the Trackhouse Racing rider made a breakthrough at Barcelona. He certified a career-best third – the primary time he’s seen what the primary two rows appear like – then he led the dash and was pulling away earlier than crashing on lap 5 of 12. “Crying like a child” afterwards at what he referred to as a “very silly mistake”, his type remained within the GP and led him to a primary high six in 2024.
The 23-year-old says Aprilia has helped him make his trip the RS-GP extra naturally by twiddling with the electronics and sees this as proving what he at all times thought he may do.
It comes as his place at Trackhouse Racing is underneath risk, with US racer Joe Roberts having been linked to a step from Moto2 to MotoGP with the American crew. That Fernandez’s type bounce got here on a weekend wherein Roberts struggled to ninth within the Moto2 race doesn’t hurt the Spaniard’s trigger both.
6. Mild on the finish of the tunnel for Yamaha
Quartararo feels Yamaha is making strides in its MotoGP restoration plan
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
Whereas Yamaha hasn’t taken the march in the direction of the entrance of the sector it was most likely hoping for over the winter, the Catalan GP seems to have marked a genuinely optimistic second for the recovering producer.
Yamaha homologated a brand new aerodynamic bundle for the Catalan GP it had first examined at Jerez, having reconfirmed the information at a non-public take a look at at Mugello. Whereas it supplied a little bit bit extra turning – a key weak point of the 2024 M1 – and carried out as anticipated, it didn’t supply a significant enhance in efficiency (although Alex Rins thinks it’s value 0.2s per lap at Mugello).
Fabio Quartararo was ninth within the grand prix however was solely 5 seconds from the highest 5. He was additionally the one rider of a Japanese bike inside half a minute of the race winner, although team-mate Rins did must battle gasoline injection points after a lap one run-off at Flip 1 on his technique to twentieth.
“I believe, sure,” stated Quartararo, when requested if it felt like Yamaha was making actual progress now. “In fact, when you’re doing the small steps you wish to have an even bigger one as quickly as doable.
“However that is one and a half yr that we’ve got been with out making any progress, and to really feel that we’re seeing the sunshine popping out of the tunnel, it is nice, so hopefully we will make some good steps fairly quickly.”
7. Honda taking steps again to go ahead once more
Life stays robust within the Honda camp
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
It’s arduous to be something however unfavourable proper now about Honda, which has up to now did not ship on the promise its 2023 Valencia take a look at supplied with its 2024 RC213V.
Prime Honda honours within the grand prix at Barcelona went to Takaaki Nakagami on the LCR-run bike in 14th, with Joan Mir on the manufacturing unit crew RC213V behind him in fifteenth, forward of Johann Zarco (LCR) and Luca Marini. However to rub salt within the wounds, all Hondas have been overtaken by Pedro Acosta on a broken Tech3 GasGas following his crash from second earlier within the race. No Honda was inside 30s of the winner both.
The low-grip Barcelona observe delivered “the worst situation” for the Honda, in response to Mir, because the bike’s issues with traction have been solely accentuated. They have been made even worse by a brand new engine configuration being raced on the Spanish venue.
Whereas not one of the riders obtained the upgrades they’d been hoping for after a non-public Mugello take a look at on the run-up to the Barcelona spherical, Mir famous that the up to date engine configuration might be the fitting course for the long run.
“Truthfully a nightmare,” Mir stated of his grand prix. “I had very dangerous emotions all weekend. I anticipated a wrestle on this observe. We’re utilizing a special engine configuration and I don’t really feel good with it. The spin degree might be worse than the opposite one, after which the highest velocity is way much less.
“Within the different races I used to be in a position to be rather a lot nearer to the primary rider, to the group, and doubtless with the ability to struggle with the group of the highest 10. Right here I didn’t have any choice to do it. So, we most likely took a step again to make two ahead sooner or later. However in the meanwhile it’s robust and the state of affairs is like this – it’s even worse.”
Marini ended the weekend positively, noting that he felt like he “can take pleasure in” driving the bike now – although couldn’t actually clarify why.
8. Bastianini’s penalty defiance a double-edged sword
Bastianini ignored all his penalties through the grand prix which earned him the ire of the stewards
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
Enea Bastianini upset within the Catalan GP, because the excessive tyre put on situations ought to have performed into the Ducati rider’s arms.
He was handed an extended lap penalty for taking the shortcut at Turns 1 and a couple of when he was pressured large by an aggressive (however clear) overtake from Alex Marquez. When a rider runs by means of that advanced, they have to drop a second to keep away from a penalty. Bastianini didn’t do that.
However he didn’t agree with the penalty as he felt he had no alternative however to run large. And so, he elected to disregard it. A second lengthy lap was served to him for this, which he additionally ignored. A ride-through for ignoring the second lengthy lap didn’t change his thoughts both, with the culminating 32-second time penalty dropping him from ninth to 18th.
He pleaded his case with the stewards afterwards and claimed they accepted that they have been incorrect to penalise him for the Marquez incident. However there was additionally nothing they may do to withdraw the penalties.
In a manner, Bastianini was proper to do what he did – and says Ducati agreed with him – as you can’t enchantment a penalty that has been served. That doesn’t recommend there is a sturdy appeals course of accessible to riders – one thing the FIM’s stewards may make clear, in the event that they ever really held their actions accountable in a public method.
Whereas Bastianini was preventing what he believed to be the great struggle, the irony is that serving that single lengthy lap probably would have value him roughly three seconds and solely dropped him a number of spots right down to twelfth.
9. KTM can’t fulfil early weekend promise
KTM’s runners stay frustratingly inconsistent on the subject of Sunday’s principal occasion
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
KTM got here out of the blocks swinging at Barcelona, with three of its riders easing into Q2 on Friday – together with Brad Binder, regardless of two crashes within the second follow session.
However the conclusion of the weekend will go away a bitter style. Miller crashed out of the grand prix and was lacklustre within the dash in seventh, whereas Binder fell out of the dash lead and suffered a difficulty together with his entrance tyre early within the GP that left him eighth.
Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta scored a podium within the dash and felt like he had a motorcycle for the rostrum within the grand prix however for a crash whereas working second on lap 11. He says this was right down to an issue on the entrance finish that hasn’t been recognized but. He recovered to thirteenth with a smashed bike after remounting, however back-to-back podium probabilities on Sundays have gone lacking.
Binder famous that the RC16 struggles when grip disappears, however isn’t positive if that’s a consequence of racing on high of Pirelli Moto2 rubber on Sundays. Regardless, the RC16, whereas strong – and powerful significantly in Acosta’s arms – remains to be missing consistency at this stage of the season.
10. Aprilia hints at most well-liked Espargaro substitute
Rivola already has an Espargaro substitute in thoughts
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
Espargaro’s retirement dominated the information cycle at Barcelona, and a big a part of that is right down to the query it now poses: who replaces him? Espargaro’s efforts to make that Aprilia a high bike on the present grid means the Italian marque is available in the market for some strong choices relative to its modest-by-MotoGP-standards finances.
Evidently, Aprilia is biding its time for Ducati to make its remaining resolution on who companions Bagnaia in 2025 earlier than making its transfer. However Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola did supply a touch as to the place his thoughts is at by way of a most well-liked choose.
“Now we will begin talking with many managers of riders and I believe the market might be fairly attention-grabbing and supply good alternatives,” he informed motogp.com’s stay feed throughout remaining follow. “Let’s see if we are going to lastly get an Italian on an Italian bike, or not. However I believe there might be good alternatives. Clearly taking Aleix’s place won’t be straightforward for anyone, so whoever is coming should come very hungry.”
Bastianini has been closely linked with a trip at Aprilia for 2025, and stated of the prospect: “I’ve stated this many occasions. It may be possibility for me, the Aprilia crew, but additionally, we’ve got different presents and we’ve got to judge the opposite presents. Additionally, in my thoughts, there may be solely to go to Mugello and attempt to win. However we’ll see.”
A five-time grand prix winner, Bastianini may deliver rather a lot to the desk for Aprilia. Additionally out of the manufacturing unit Ducati image is Marco Bezzecchi, who may match the invoice for Aprilia too.
Intriguingly, Maverick Vinales has countered claims Rivola revamped the weekend that he’s dedicated to a 2025 contract and says he has presents he wish to discover.
“No, no, I am not confirmed. I haven’t got a contract for subsequent yr,” the rider clarified to questions from Motorsport.com. “Clearly there may be lots of curiosity in persevering with [with Aprilia] as a result of we’re doing an excellent job, however I have a look at immediately, Le Mans or Jerez and it’s a must to wait. You need to wait.
“There are open doorways and it’s a must to wait a little bit bit and resolve what’s greatest for me by way of efficiency. I wish to win, truthfully, and I believe I’ve the power to have the ability to struggle to win, and I’ve to take have a look at what’s the best choice. What’s the most full, what’s the bundle that may give me the best choice, the utmost to use my greatest degree.”
Vinales hasn’t dedicated his future to Aprilia simply but
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
