The world champion’s title defence faces further knock after difficult Mandalika Friday
Through all of the talk about last weekend’s last lap drama at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, another major moment from that race has largely been overlooked: Francesco Bagnaia’s title defence is now on shaky ground.
But since the summer break, Martin has been solid. The Pramac rider has scored 129 points since the British GP, while Bagnaia’s tally over the last five rounds is 79. Compared to the previous five rounds when he’d amassed 147 against Martin’s 120, the swing has been stark. Bagnaia’s no stranger to recovery efforts on the island of Lombok, having come from 13th on the grid last year to win the grand prix after Martin crashed out. But on Friday this year, the “nightmare” of 2023 reared its head as his pace deserted him.
On the average run pace, the gulf between Bagnaia, his chief title rival and a team-mate still within reaching distance of the championship remains. Morbidelli, incidentally, was third fastest on Friday and his average pace on the medium rear was 1m31.081s. However, he only did five laps on it and then eight on a soft rear - both tyres brand new when he started those runs. So, Morbidelli’s true pace isn’t clear after Friday’s action.The problem Bagnaia faces, though, is the fact that both Martin and Bastianini are dialled in already on the medium tyre.
If Bagnaia’s difficult form continues into the grand prix, Martin will know just how big of an opportunity he has. Weighing that up in another battle with Bastianini, should he remain a frontrunner this weekend, will test his ability to see the bigger picture.
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