Champ’s 97 brilliant seconds, Marquez enjoys the fight, and the Frenchman chastises the stewards: Speaking with PTs
Francesco Bagnaia was in disbelief at his good fortune. He started the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday from a lowly seventh position on the grid and rode the knife-edge of great risk to get his Ducati into the lead. However, on lap 11 of 25, MotoGP title leader Jorge Martin (Ducati) crashed out ahead of him, and he ended up taking the lead.
Surely it will be easy to win then? Not so quickly.
After three laps, Marc Marquez moved up to second place on the Ducati, passing Marco Bezzecchi. The record Jerez crowd’s shout provided Bagnaia with all the information he needed to figure out who was behind him, even without the use of his pit board. The six-time world champion, who is seeking his first victory in three years, would eventually catch up to him.
Bagnaia recognized that time had to be used to summon a strategy for fighting, then fleeing. And he used it to his full advantage to win a race between the current and former MotoGP champions, the former attempting to restart a faltering title defense and the latter serving as a reminder of the brilliance and intensity that still exists within.
In front of the largest event crowd Jerez has ever seen—296,741 people pouring onto the circuit over three days—Baganaia vs Marquez was the topic of the fourth round of the season.
Jack Miller of Australia was equally confused and irritated following a disastrous weekend in Spain, while Johann Zarco, a seasoned French racer, lost it all when he confronted the race stewards, feeling even more enraged than when Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro wrecked his Honda.
SUBLIME 97 SECONDS IN BAGNAIA
After the Spanish legend shoved Bezzecchi away, Bagnaia held an edge over Marquez of 1.024 seconds, and the Italian realized he had to take the lead.
Bagnaia had been running in the 1 minute 38 second range for four laps, comfortably leading and controlling his tires. On laps 17 and 18, he increased the pace to 1 minute 37.816 and 1 minute 37.954, respectively. Nonetheless, Marquez’s shadow became bigger and bigger. It was time to adopt a new strategy.
Bagnaia remarked, “I pushed two laps when I saw Marc was behind, but I saw that he was gaining.”
So I just think to don’t stress too much the tyre in that moment, because in any case he was catching. I just tried to have a bit more tyres for the last three laps.”
With five laps left, Marquez was just a tenth of a second adrift. He ambushed Bagnaia into the circuit’s famed amphitheatre section at Turns 9-10 to briefly take the lead on lap 21, Bagnaia immediately fighting back. The next lap, Marquez went again, and Bagnaia held his line and left Marquez with black Michelin tyre rubber on the right shoulder of his sky-blue leathers.
Bagnaia then took out the pin.
On lap 23, Bagnaia unleashed a stunning 97 seconds of brilliance, using whatever remaining grip his medium compound Michelin tyres had after 22 laps. He completed the four-sector lap in a circuit record 1:37.449, with his quickest sectors coming in the first, third, and fourth of the lap. Despite Marquez risking all to achieve his fastest lap on the last lap of the 25-lap race, Bagnaia had done enough to close the distance to four tenths of a second.
I just try to press again a lot from that point on as soon as he makes the second effort on corner nine, Bagnaia stated.
“It was really helpful to arrive with a little breath left in the last lap,” the 1:37.4 says.
