Catalan GP 2024: Bagnaia closes the gap to the top of the championship
At the track of Circuit de Barcelona- Catalunya, it was another showing of what Moto GP does best – CLOSE UNPREDICTABLE RACING.
With Motogp riders arriving in the paddocks of the Catalunya circuit, it was understood that the championship leader would not change statistically. Still, the Catalan GP presented itself as an opportunity to close the gap to the table toppers. Here is a timeline of how the weekend unfolded-
Free practice 1
With Jorge Martin topping the first practice session on Friday closely followed by Marc Marquez in second position, the weekend already looked set for another great battle. They were followed by the KTM machines of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3)
With Aleix Espargaro announcing that he’ll be hanging his boots come the season’s end, it was the last Catalan Gp he would be attending as a rider. He started his weekend by placing his bike in 5th position in free practice 1.
Here’s how the top 10 looked at the end of FP1:
Practice
With a 60-minute practice session presenting itself as an opportunity to have a direct entry into Q2, Riders were pushing their limits to have a position inside the top 10. With the factory KTMs keeping the top positions for themselves for the majority of the session, it was looking like a strong weekend for the KTM riders.
It was Aliex Espargaro however, who topped the session in a perfect start to the weekend. Brad Binder came in a very close second, only 0.072s adrift of the top step. With Pedro Acosta coming in 3rd place, it was yet another strong performance from the rookie.
The top 10 gaining a direct entry into Q2 were –
Free Practice 2
With Saturday providing the riders with a last 30-minute FP2, everyone was out on track to gather data to fine-tune their setups.
Aleix Espargaro continued his pace from Friday practice to top FP2 before the all-important Qualifying. Elsewhere it was Francesco Bagnaia who had a strong start to his Saturday from finishing P2 in FP2 followed by two fast Prima Pramacs, with Franco Morbidelli in 3rd and Jorge Martin in 4th. Pedro Acosta rounded up the top 5 positions.
Qualifying
With 10 positions in Q2 already decided from Friday’s practice session, Q1 was ever important as it gave the riders entry into the final 2 positions in Q2. As a fast Q1 came to an end, Fabio Di Giannantonio topped the session with a time of 01:38.208. However, it was Raul Fernandes of Trackhouse Racing who gathered the most eyes as he outqualified both Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez, and entered Q2.
Come Q2, the competition was as fierce as ever. It was Aleix Espargaro at his home run, who broke the lap record and secured pole position for himself. Beside him was Francesco Bagnaia who posted a lap time 0.031s slower than the Spaniard. Coming in P3 was Raul Fernandes who got his lap time reinstated. However, it was a disaster for the Prima Pramac Racing garage as both Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli came down at the same corner barely moments apart. Jorge Martin eventually qualified in P7, with plenty of work to do. Elsewhere, Alex Rins pushed his Yamaha to a brilliant p8.
Here are the full results- Qualifying Results
Sprint
With the weekend hinting at a close race, we were not disappointed in the sprint. With 3 Riders crashing out of the lead, it was anybody’s win.
At the start, it was the world champion with the best of the starts followed closely by Pedro Acosta in his GASGAS machine. It didn’t take much time for the rookie to start attacking Bagnaia for the lead resulting in a back-and-forth battle between the two. Behind these two, a fast-charging Trackhouse Racing machine of Raul Fernandes was lurking.
As Acosta cleared Bagnaia at Lap 3 of the race, Fernandes too took his chance and overtook Pecco to slot into P2. Raul Fernandes made easy work of Acosta and was now leading the race. Behind them, Brad Binder too had arrived at the scene and started fighting with Acosta. Meanwhile, it was a disastrous end for Raul Fernandes as he slid off the track in turn 10, understandably dejected.
Now the duel between Pedro and Brad looked like it would become one for the race lead, but KTM of Binder built a gap for himself, leaving Pedro Acosta to defend himself from Francesco Bagnaia in P3. But Binder’s race lead wasn’t long-lasting either, as he lost it in Turn 5.
With Pecco inheriting the lead, Acosta was again left to fend his position from Aleix Espargaro, with the Aprilia rider quickly clearing the GASGAS rider. It was now a match between Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta for the final position on the podium.
The front of the sprint was looking sealed until the very last lap, when Francesco Bagnaia lost his Ducati in Turn 5, with Aleix Espargaro inheriting the lead in almost a fairytale end of the Sprint for the Spaniard.
A scrap for p2 on the grid between Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta went all the way up to the final sector. Jorge Martin finished in P4, with Enea Bastianini finishing in P5 from outside the top 10.
Here are the top 10 –
Race
If anything could be made out of the Saturday sprint, it was a certainty that Sunday’s race would be a close-fought battle. And as the five lights went out, we fans were certainly not disappointed.
It was Francesco Bagnaia who got the best of the starts followed by Pedro Acosta in P2. Brad Binder slotted into 3rd as Aleix Espargaro being not so lucky, fell down the grid. Jorge Martin shot up from P7 to P4.
Martin looked determined to move up the grid as he cleared Brad Binder with an ambitious lunge into turn 10 of lap 1 itself. Further ahead Acosta had started his attack on Pecco, allowing Martin and Binder to close onto them. Martin eventually passed Acosta into turn 10.
Martin was looking very determined as he passed Pecco as well into turn 1. Next, it was Acosta who passed Pecco into turn 10. The rookie was looking very quick as he easily closed the gap to Martin and started attacking the Pramac Rider.
Behind Bagnaia, a fierce scrap ensued between Brad Binder, Raul Fernandes, and Aleix Esparago. Eventually, both Fernandes and Esparago passed Binder who got shuffled back into P6.
Further ahead, it all came crashing down for the rookie Pedro Acosta as he slid off the track into the gravel at turn 10.
This promoted the #1 bike to P2. From there, Bagnaia drove on his toes to close the gap to P1 and eventually passed Jorge Martin for the lead of the race.
From then on, Pecco shot ahead in the distance, with Jorge dropping. Eventually, Jorge managed to maintain the status quo and maintain his second position until the chequered flag.
Further behind, Marc Marquez had clawed his way back to the front from all the way back in P14. It was now a battle between Aleix Espargaro and Marc Marquez for the final podium position. Marquez made the overtaking move on Esparago and made it stick. He just had to hold onto it till the end of the race. In a battle that happened until a drag race to the line, it was finally Marc Marquez who finished in third position.
Elsewhere, one of the heroes of the entire weekend was Raul Fernandes. From maiden front row start to leading the sprint to eventually finishing the race in P6, it was an overall great weekend for the Spanish rider.
Praise shall also be showered at Pedro Acosta who after falling off his back, managed to claw back into the points and finished p13
Championship Standings
After the CatalanGP, the championship looks like this:
The next race takes place at the iconic Mugello circuit in Italy from 31st May to 2nd June.