The reigning MotoGP champion’s crown looks in serious threat after a Malaysian GP of extremes
When the curtain comes down on the 2024 MotoGP season, wherever that may be, the Malaysian Grand Prix will certainly be looked back upon as the round that most typified Francesco Bagnaia’s year.
Bagnaia, just as he has done at other points this year to his detriment, didn’t get off the line as well as Martin did and lost the lead into Turn 1 in the 10-lap sprint. Confident he had better tyre management of Martin, he elected to bide his time. Then he crashed at Turn 9, touching a bumpy bit of asphalt and tallied up his eighth DNF of the season.
Sprint results propped up his championship charge in the first half of 2023, but Martin became the Saturday specialist in the second have. Bagnaia actually went without a sprint win between Austria last year and Mugello this June. Bagnaia’s killing blow came on lap three at the last corner when he took the lead from Martin for the final time. At the end of lap five he was 0.8s clear and the next time around it was over a second.
Bagnaia’s Malaysian GP win was his 10th of the season, keeping his name among seriously impressive company like Marc Marquez and Casey Stoner. But neither of them won so much and didn’t lead the championship. Ducati’s Davide Tardozzi recently said Bagnaia’s win rate over Martin - who has still only taken three Sunday victories in 2024 - is an “open wound” for the Italian marque.
Through the season, five of Bagnaia’s eight non-scores have come in sprint races. But the critical error in the Emilia Romagna GP, in which 16 points went walking when he crashed out of third, arguably looms just as large over him than lost Saturday results recently.
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