Outwardly, Pecco Bagnaia is the mildest of characters in the MotoGP paddock; he doesn’t look like he’d say boo! to a goose but those in the know, tell us of a rider who is afraid of nothing and who will fight tooth and nail against the best of them. Perhaps he is a little more calculating in his racing approach, so you rarely see fireworks in his riding, but the steel is there nonetheless.

After three victories on the trot, Bagnaia seemingly had Jorge Martin on the ropes, only for Martin to pull a stunning Sprint race victory out of the hat in Germany, soaking up pressure from Bagnaia the whole way.

Then, in the Main race, Martin once again looked as if he had it covered only to throw an almost certain race win away starting the penultimate lap, not only handing Bagnaia the win but also the championship lead. You just can’t give a rider like Bagnaia that kind of get-out-of-jail-free card; two MotoGP titles in two years, both won the hard way, is a testament to that. If Martin loses out yet again to Bagnaia, he has only himself to blame.

That’s not to say that Bagnaia will only win because of Martin’s misfortune; to capitalise on misfortune, you have to be in the right place to benefit from it and Bagnaia always seems to be in the right place.

After three rather processional races, the Sachsenring was a return to some great racing. Marc Marquez is acknowledged as the master of the circuit, with 11 victories over 14 years of racing. However, his hopes of repeating that success and gaining his first victory on a Ducati were dealt two blows during practice and qualifying.

First, there was a huge crash during practice that broke a finger and bruised several ribs; enough to put mere mortals into bed for a few days but MotoGP riders are a different breed. Then Marquez was badly baulked on his last run in Q1, meaning he would start in 13th. Surely a podium let alone a victory would be impossible from there?

The Aprilias were looking very fast, although Aleix Espargaro would take no part in the weekend’s proceedings, being ruled out by injury sustained in Assen. Maverick Viñales was fast but also crashed heavily in Germany, leaving him wheezing on all fours at the side of the track.

While Martin took pole, it was the two Trackhouse Racing Aprilias that really set pulses racing with second and third on the grid. Oliveira was able to convert that into a podium finish which was a joy to see and, not inconsequentially, protected Martin from Bagnaia, who lost points to his championship rival at the head of the table by finishing third and not second. In the circumstances, sixth place for Marquez was impressive, after a long tussle with Viñales.

The Main race started in a similar fashion, with Martin and Bagnaia duking it out at the front but what was even more heartening was the sight of Franco Morbidelli giving it horns at the sharp end, looking like he might overtake teammate Martin for second and then taking that spot from Bagnaia after he in turn had been relegated from the lead by Martin. Morbidelli then looked as if he was going to challenge Martin for the lead. Where did this come from? Not unwelcome, of course, but we haven’t seen this version of Morbidelli for a long time.

Inevitably, perhaps, Morbidelli started fading backwards to fight with Bastiannini, Bagnaia moving into second while Alex Marquez was running a strong third. Incredibly, however, Marc Marquez was up to fifth and harrying Morbidelli. Even a near-highside after contact with the Pramac rider couldn’t dent Marquez’ confidence and his charge continued unabated as he passed his brother for third. This would be crucial as, beginning the penultimate lap, Martin threw it all away with a devastating mistake that looked innocuous – and that, thankfully, he walked away from – but which had huge consequences in terms of the championship as Bagnaia catapulted to the head of the points table. As mentioned at the beginning of this piece, you just can’t give Bagnaia that kind of get-out-of-jail-free card because he’ll punish you for it.

That also meant that Marc Marquez finished an incredible second, while his brother and teammate rounded out the podium. It was a brilliant finish for the Gresini team and the first time since 1997 that brothers have shared the podium.

There is no doubt that the title fight is once again between Martin and Bagnaia, although Marc Marquez or Enea Bastiannini could yet spring a surprise or two; a victory for either while the top two fail to finish would close up the gap nicely but Bagnaia is simply looking too strong at the moment for a third consecutive championship to be ruled out. Martin will have something to say about it, of course, and misfortune for Bagnaia can’t be ruled out, bringing Martin back into it, but only if he stops making mistakes himself.

What of the rest of the grid? KTM’s progress seems to have stalled somewhat, with even Pedro Acosta failing to make any headlines, while Brad Binder and Jack Miller appear to be mired in the midfield.

Fabio Quartararo refuses to give up and makes the Yamaha look better than it is while none of the Honda riders appear to be able to make the RC213V look like anything other than a dog. Put it this way, when Luca Marini celebrates his first point of the season and that only because of tyre pressure penalties for three riders ahead of him, then you know things can’t get much worse. Honda, more than any other team, must be desperate for the new rules to come in, in 2027.

For once, there was absolutely nothing to report on the silly-season shenanigans. The most interesting was a rumour that Lewis Hamilton was about to buy into Gresini racing and that Valentino Rossi and his partner are expecting a second baby! Hardly the stuff of intrigue…

There’s now a month’s break until the British GP at Silverstone, the circuit that also this weekend, saw an emotional victory for Lewis Hamilton in front of his home crowd (for the ninth time!). It was a great race and we can only hope that we get a similar MotoGP race and second half of the season, with Martin and Bagnaia keeping each other on their toes and neither one getting too far ahead – or behind – so we get another nail-biting end to the season.

You’d have to say that Pecco Bagnaia is looking in ominously fine form right now, isn’t he? That was a particularly dominant weekend at Assen; never bettered in practice or qualifying, winning the Sprint and Main races as he pleased and setting the fastest lap. Jorge Martin had nothing for him in either race, even though his race time was an incredible 29 seconds faster than in 2023 – Bagnaia’s was over 30 seconds faster. That is a remarkable margin from one year to the next and it makes the decision to move to 850cc engines in 2027 seem like something of a necessity. The speeds can simply not keep rising like this, as exciting as it may be.

The only problem with Assen was that it was a rather processional race and this at a circuit that has given us some cracking races over the course of its history. That makes three consecutive races that haven’t lived up to the promise of the beginning of the season.

The Ducati GP24 has had the chatter gremlins that blighted the early season developed out of it to devastating effect; Bagnaia has won the last three GPs and also the last two Sprint races and that particular double hasn’t been achieved before – Sprint and Main race at consecutive GPs.

What is even more worrying for Bagnaia’s rivals is that he was quick from the get-go on Friday morning whereas, in the past, he has taken time to get up to speed. Martin might still lead the championship but Bagnaia seems to have no chink in his armoury right now.

It really was a weekend of processional racing, with very little of interest going on all the way through, apart from the odd high-speed crash. Should we be worried for the rest of the season? I don’t think so. Martin will bounce back, Marquez will have a day in the sun, as will Acosta, although some of the fire shown at the beginning of the season seems to have gone out of his momentum. You can never discount the VR46 pair, or Bastiannini on the second factory Ducati and the KTMs can spring a surprise when the conditions are right.

Even the silly season has died down a little, although the news that Pramac will be running Yamahas for seven years from 2025 was significant enough, the move seemingly prompted in part by the fact that Ducati chose to pass over Martin for the factory seat in favour of Marc Marquez although, in reality, there was a lot more to the decision than just that. That leaves Ducati with ‘only’ six bikes on the grid but it’s hard to see how that will affect them adversely before the big rule change in 2027; less data and feedback, certainly, but six bikes worth of data is still more than any other manufacturer on the grid.

Alex Marquez has signed to stay with Gresini for the next two years and Aleix Espargaro will become Honda’s official test rider from 2026 onward.

The only consolation from Assen is that we only have to wait a week until the next race, which is at the Sachsenring, in Germany. Traditionally a happy hunting ground for Marc Marquez but it’s hard to see any outcome other than a Bagnaia/Martin head-to-head.

We can always hope!

With the postponement of the Kazakhstan round of the 2024 MotoGP Championship to September, we’ve had an interminable wait in June until the Dutch TT at the end of the month, with very little to write about in terms of on-track action, although it will come as no surprise that there has been plenty of behind-the-scenes intrigue and announcements.

It came as no surprise that Marc Marquez was announced as Francesco Bagnaia’s teammate at the factory Ducati team, as seismic as that announcement was. With Jorge Martin heading to Aprilia for 2025, that left the door open for Marquez, who was always in the running.

With the ink barely dry on that contract, the next bombshell was the news that Maverick Viñales had signed for the Tech3 GasGas team (rumours have it that it will be branded KTM for 2025, boss Pit Beirer intimating that KTM is the preferred brand name to have on the entry and timing sheets), with Enea Bastiannini taking the seat next to him, leaving Jack Miller out in the cold.

Now we get into the field of rumour and conjecture. Could Jack Miller go to Honda, in place of Joan Mir? If the latest rumour to do the rounds is correct, however, Mir might have agreed to stay at Honda for a further two years, despite the terrible start to the season that both factory Honda riders have experienced, closing that particular door to Miller.

Augusto Fernandez is also out of contract with Tech3 GasGas at the end of 2024, while Alex Rins also has no home to go to in 2025 as yet.

Ducati has to find a place for Fermin Aldeguer, which might be possible at Pramac if that team chooses to stay with Ducati and not move to Yamaha, a deal that is reportedly still on the table. A decision has to be made soon. Also, if Pramac does change to Yamaha, will the team retain Franco Morbidelli?

As much has been decided, there is still a lot to be finalised. One thing is for certain according to Jorge Lorenzo; we are set for a new golden era of MotoGP racing, with Marc Marquez on a championship-winning bike and Pedro Acosta on the factory KTM. All we need now is BMW to commit for 2027-onwards and Suzuki to make a comeback, although that latter idea is probably far-fetched.

In the meantime, there is a championship to be won or lost and it is simply too close to call. Let’s hope we have another last lap of the last race conclusion, no matter which way it goes.

Isle of Man TT 2024

The beginning of June brought us the unbridled joy of the Isle of Man TT races, which went some way to make up for the dearth of MotoGP racing this month. And what a TT it was.

Records in racing are there to be broken and they often are, with very few records standing for longer than two or three years, and often for appreciably less. To find a record that has stood for 24 years is rare and yet, that is how long the record for most TT wins has stood.

As anyone will know, the record had been in the hands of Joey Dunlop since his hat-trick of victories in 2000, bringing his tally to 26, mere months before his untimely death at a race in Estonia.

For a long time, it looked as if John McGuinness was the rider most likely to break or, at least, match the record but, having got to 23 wins, his progress stalled.

For the past several years, the men to beat at the TT have been another Dunlop, Joey’s nephew Michael, the last of the Dunlop racing clan (for now, at least), and Peter Hickman, the latter setting the outright lap record and who was on course to break that record in this year’s Senior TT, only to crash – thankfully without injury – halfway through that race.

If Michael Dunlop also failed to complete the Senior TT, retiring early in the race, that could do nothing to alter the fact that he is now on an incredible 29 wins at the TT, comfortably breaking his uncle’s record and there are few who would bet against that tally being added to in the coming years.

Whilst it is sad to see Joey’s record being broken, there is a lovely symmetry to it being broken by another Dunlop. Michael himself will publicly claim that the record was never on his radar but that assertion has to be taken with a pinch of salt. It obviously was on his mind, even if he never thought he might equal, never mind beat, his uncle’s record. Personally, I’m a huge McGuinness fan, but it feels right that Michael has become the new benchmark.

Thankfully, 2024 will go down in the history books as another TT with no fatalities; as far as I can work out, only the third time in the TT’s history. What this serves to emphasise is the fact that there are always many crashes on the Mountain Course, with only a small percentage that are fatal but, predictably, the media only ever concentrates on the deaths. What will they have written about this year with nothing ghoulish to report?

I have written at length about the TT before in these pages, Isle Of Man TT 2023, so there is no point repeating it again, except to say, Long Live The TT, and all the mad geniuses who choose to race there. They deserve to be regarded as our heroes.

For once, a MotoGP weekend that doesn’t need a thesaurus of superlatives or even a long-winded report! If we thought the racing might have been a bit processional, especially in the Main race, then that’s certainly not how Pecco Bagnaia will have viewed it, missing out on pole position but taking dominant victories in both Sprint and Main races and seriously eating into Jorge Martin’s championship lead, as the latter crashed out of the Sprint race.

Martin then lost out on a podium in the main race, thanks to an inspired overtake by Enea Bastiannini on the last corner of the last lap. It must have been sweet payback for the incident in the Sprint race where Martin cut back underneath Bastiannini after an overtake, hitting him and sending the factory Ducati rider into retirement.

Bagnaia never looked troubled, taking the lead at the first and second corners in Sprint and Main races respectively and soaking up all the pressure from behind, whether it was Martin, Marc Marquez or Bastiannini. Even at the end of the Main race, Martin had no answer for Bagnaia’s pace; he would close up to within three-tenths of a second but Bagnaia clearly had something in hand as he effortlessly increased the gap again. Perhaps Martin was really struggling, as evidenced by Bastiannini’s last corner pass, in which case, Martin’s efforts at keeping up the pressure on Bagnaia are to be applauded. A third-place podium will have been little consolation in the face of a huge points swing in Bagnaia’s favour.

In other news, Marc Marquez had another encouraging weekend, even if he had no response for the factory Ducati’s outright pace. A second and a fourth at a track where he expected to struggle are nothing to be ashamed of.

Similarly, Pedro Acosta had another strong weekend, with a third in the Sprint race and a fifth in the Main race. He will have hardly cared, with the ink still wet on a new factory KTM contract in his back pocket. That will be at the expense of Jack Miller, who can only hope that the lifeline of Acosta’s GasGas seat will be compensation.

Apart from that, there was precious little to report on the matter of who will be riding where in 2025. Prior to the weekend, Ducati had indicated that a decision on who would ride alongside Bagnaia in the factory Ducati team would be made at Mugello but Luigi Dall’Igna then announced that nothing would be announced at Mugello, so the saga continues.

Marc Marquez seemed to pour cold water on a possible move to Pramac Ducati and a current GP bike in 2025 but would Ducati be prepared to provide a fifth GP25 for him at Gresini in order to keep him in the fold? With Acosta and Binder holding the factory KTM rides, there’s no space there and, while there is a seat at Aprilia alongside Viñales, there has been little conjecture about such a move for Marquez.

Another option for Marquez could be a 2025 GasGas. Spanish newspaper Motorsport sensationally reported that KTM’s satellite project, Tech3 GASGAS, could offer Marquez a factory-spec bike in 2025, plus the chance to retain key sponsor Red Bull, which is allegedly a sticking point for Marquez heading to the factory Ducati squad. Pedro Acosta had a typically clear view of the whole situation; “At the end of the day, this Ducati thing looks like a soap opera. Every weekend we have a different answer but nobody knows anything.”

It is difficult to envisage any scenario other than Jorge Martin getting the seat – what more does he have to do? – but, just when you think Bastiannini has blown it, he has a great race weekend; is it a case of too little, too late, however?

We were due to head to Kazakhstan next, but that has been postponed to September, so we now have an interminable wait until the end of June for the Dutch TT at Assen. Surely, in that time, there will be more answers than questions as to the look of the 2025 grid? We can but hope.

Breaking News!

Bloody typical! You write a really boring race weekend report and think you’ve done your job; nothing too much to report and even the 2025 rider/team situation has died down, if only for a few days.

And then comes the complete bombshell that Jorge Martin, current championship leader and firm favourite to take the factory Ducati seat alongside Francesco Bagnaia in 2025, irrespective of whether he is able to take the rider’s title in 2024, has signed for Aprilia!

This is monumental, momentous, unprecedented. Well, maybe not that much as it has undoubtedly happened before – Rossi to Yamaha, anyone? – but in terms of the 2025 grid, it has huge implications.

Martin has always said that he would move to a different manufacturer if he didn’t get the factory Ducati seat. In what appears to be a calling-the-shots move, Aprilia has sensationally announced that Martin will ride the factory Aprilia in 2025.

Now, immediately prior to this, it was reported by Autosport magazine that Ducati informed Martin that he was the ‘chosen one’ (for 2025), between the Barcelona and Mugello rounds. Even if Marc Marquez was another name bandied around for the seat, Martin seemed a shoe-in.

Apparently not and perhaps we’ll never know the full reasoning behind the move but there you have it; Martin and Aprilia in 2025.

What that does mean is that Marquez is in pole position to get the second factory Ducati seat, while it has been reported that Bastiannini will head to Tech3 GasGas. Nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing and, as Martin has shown, nothing is certain until contracts are signed, sealed and delivered.

Time to forget all the behind-the-scenes rumour, conjecture and surmise and spend a weekend racing. That is, after all, why we are here.

There was one bit of news that cast a mild pall over the paddock and that was the news that Aleix Espargaro would be retiring at the end of the season. It’s bitter-sweet, really; he’ll be properly missed but he’s a dedicated family man and we can’t wish him anything other than happiness as he gets to dedicate his life to them. Fourteen years of top-flight racing takes its toll on a rider’s family and, if Espargaro can retire healthy, having provided for that family handsomely, then he can consider it a job well done.

Not only that but he’s developed the Aprilia into a winning machine that is one of the more attractive packages on the grid, repaying his employers many times over. Espargaro will in all likelihood take up a testing and development role for one of the factories and that might include the odd wild-card ride so it won’t be the last that we see of him and that’s good for everyone.

On Saturday morning, he proved that last year’s double victory – Sprint and Main – was no fluke as he powered to pole position, with a new lap record on the way. What a dream it would be for him to race in front of his home crowd for the last time and end the weekend with another pair of wins. Even one would do!

What a topsy-turvy qualifying it was. At first, in Q1, it looked a shoe-in for the Marquez brothers as they rode in line astern – Marc following, as he so often does, although this time with the permission of his brother – to set the top two times. But from out of nowhere, Raul Fernandez on the Trackhouse Aprilia set a new lap record, beating the one set by Aleix Espargaro in Friday practice.

On his second run, Fernandez then beat his own time, setting another new lap record, before Fabio DiGiannantonio went out and set another new lap record to bump Marquez out of the top two, miring him down in an eventual 14th on the grid for race day.

And then, in Q2, Espargaro did it again and set yet another new lap record to take pole in his home race, with Bagnaia and Binder joining him on the front row, although that was later turned into fourth on the grid when Fernandez’ previously cancelled lap was reinstated.

Sprint Race

If Espargaro failed to convert pole position into first on the road as the race started, then at least he wasn’t left behind, sitting in a close sixth. But that in no way explains what was happening at the front, which was a whole load of chaos.

First Bagnaia lead from Acosta and Binder. Then Acosta led. Then Fernandez led and Bagnaia was down to fourth. Then Fernandez crashed out of the lead. Binder now leads. Marquez was up to fifth from 14th on the grid. Then Binder threw it away, so Bagnaia led again. Then things calmed down for a few moments, with small gaps between Bagnaia, Espargaro and Acosta. Then Bagnaia crashed on the last lap, leaving Espargaro in front, while Marquez had got past Acosta. Martin, who had been having a lacklustre race with no grip from his rear tyre, found himself in fourth; proper damage limitation as he really wasn’t in contention throughout the race, profiting from the mistakes of those in front of him. He now leads the championship by 37 points from Marc Marquez.

It’s hard to choose who was the most disappointed or, conversely, who was the most overjoyed at the end of the race. Naturally, Espargaro, in front of his home crowd, was overjoyed, but Marquez in second had every right to be just as happy, especially as he had been pushed all the way by Acosta; from failing to get through Q1 to a podium is becoming a bit of a habit.

Fernandez admitted to crying with frustration, Binder was philosophical and Bagnaia seemed simply confused.

Main Race

He might be a two-time world champion, but it’s amazing how inconsistent Pecco Bagnaia can be. I’m racking my brains to think of another rider who crashes out of the lead in one race and then goes on to win the very next race, the next day! Catalunya made it three race weekends in a row where he failed to finish the Sprint race. However, his intelligence in the Main race was unsurpassed as he managed his rear tyre to perfection, dictating the pace in the early stages and not getting caught up in fights with Martin or Acosta when they passed him but saving enough to pass and leave Martin trailing when it was important.

By recent standards, it wasn’t a vintage race. In fact, if it wasn’t for the rookie and the multiple world champion, it could have been a very dull affair. The rookie, of course, is Pedro Acosta, who ran a close second to Bagnaia and led very briefly, before being demoted to third by Jorge Martin, but then made that second again when he got past Bagnaia, who had been overtaken by Martin. It was a ridiculously strong showing – as we have become used to – but was ultimately for nothing as he slid innocuously off on lap eleven. He remounted and re-joined dead last but still managed to finish in 13th place, with a hugely damaged aero, which will be galling for the four Hondas, who finished in line astern behind him.

The multiple world champion mentioned is Marc Marquez who, yet again, converted a Q1 qualifying position – 14th in this case – to a podium finish, this time at the sad expense of Aleix Espargaro, who was mere metres away from a second podium of the weekend in front of his adoring home crowd. What made it more remarkable – Marquez’ performance, that is – is that he was running a soft rear tyre, to everyone else’s medium; how he made it not only last but had performance left in it at the end of the race to resist a very quick and determined Espargaro is anyone’s guess.

If it wasn’t Martin’s best weekend, it also wasn’t his worst, either; no wins but still an increased lead in the championship, albeit by only a few points but, still a lead that will need a lot of misfortune to lose. Mind you, MotoGP 2024 has taught us that any slip can be punished mercilessly by the vultures riding right behind you – in both the race and the championship table – waiting to pounce on your carcass. He can crash out of the next Sprint and Main race and still lead the championship but he’ll desperately want to protect that points lead. Given his success rate in the Sprint races, it would be a brave fool who would bet against him adding to his tally in those races.

As usual, there were a lot of questions and answers. The main questions have to revolve around Marquez and Acosta; when will either of them win a race? Given Marquez’s pace in both the Sprint and Main race, surely he would have been in the fight for the win had he qualified better? As it is, to reach the podium in both races from 14th on the grid makes you wonder what everyone else was doing! On Acosta, we can be a little more forgiving, given that he is still a very raw rookie but, because of his performances, we tend to expect more of him and it is definitely a case of when, and not if, he wins a race. Won’t that set the cat among the pigeons!

The main thing to love about Acosta – and it reminds us of all the greats who have emerged over the years – is that he is a complete natural and no respecter of reputation. He’s got pace and is still finding the limits, which is why he has started crashing in recent races. Marquez said a few weeks ago that he is not crashing so much at the moment because he has not found the limit of the Ducati; god help the rest of the field when he does find the limit, backs off a little and starts winning.

Oh, and there’s another question; what are the other KTM/GasGas riders thinking when a rookie is out-performing them on the same bike? Brad Binder is doing everything expected of him and would be more successful but for bad luck, but Jack Miller has to feel the cold draught of demotion blowing on his neck. It can’t be a pleasant feeling.

Enea Bastiannini did his chances of retaining his seat at the Factory Ducati table no good in Catalunya; even if the team agreed with his decision to ignore the first long lap penalty, resulting in a second being awarded and a 30-second penalty being added to his race time, dropping him out of the points, he was never really in contention, a situation he can’t afford with Martin and Marquez snapping at his heels in the race for a seat alongside Bagnaia.

In terms of that, the likelihood of Marquez joining the factory team might be an administrative nightmare too far. Marquez is a Red Bull contracted rider, but Ducati has ties with Monster Energy. Also, his ties with Samsung, Allianz and Oakley also clash with Ducati’s major sponsors.

With that in mind, one possible outcome would be that Ducati retains Marquez by giving him a factory bike at Gresini. That way, Ducati gets to keep arguably the best talent on the grid, without having to pay him – directly from the factory, that is.

If Jorge Martin unfathomably misses out on the factory Ducati seat, then he will lose faith in Ducati and depart for new pastures. Quite where that might be is unclear, although there is a seat at Aprilia going spare. KTM/GasGas have a surfeit of good riders, so no space there. Would he really want to go to Yamaha or Honda? Of course, he might be in the pound seat as and when either team hits a rich seam of development, especially coming into the new regulations from 2027 onward, but is that too big a risk?

We’ve only a week to wait for Mugello, which is also the date by which Ducati has promised to announce its decision. It will be a relief to have everything for 2025 settled soon, so we can really concentrate on the racing.

I’m getting stuck on how to start these reports; there are only so many times that you can say, yet again, “Well, no one could have predicted that,” or, “Oh my goodness, what a race.” About the only thing that was predictable was Jorge Martin’s dominant Sprint race victory, his 12th since the format was introduced.

But even that wasn’t a given, despite his incredible, record-breaking, pole position lap, the first ever around the Bugatti circuit under 1 minute 30 seconds. Even a late crash in qualifying, which can normally be the kiss of death to a pole position, did nothing to dent his dominance. With Francesco Bagnaia alongside him – and a very fast Maverick Viñales – there was no guarantee that the Sprint race would go the way of Martin. Likewise, there was no guarantee that Marc Marquez would play any part in the front running, having failed to get through Q1 and starting 13th.

It just shows you what we know! While Martin streaked to an immediate lead, Bagnaia had a dreadful start, finishing the first lap down in 14th, before running off-track soon after and touring around to the pits, his race run. Conversely, Marc Marquez pulled a masterstroke and lay 4th at the end of the first lap, which became third after Aleix Espargaro served the first of his two long-lap penalties, and second after Marco Bezzecchi threw away a certain second place near the end of the race, just when it looked like he might have a chance of catching Martin.

It was breathless stuff and the joy on Martin’s, Marquez’s’ and Viñales’ faces was matched by the thunderous look on Bagnaia’s face as he sat in his pit garage, seeing his deficit to Martin grow to 29 points and having team-mate Bastiannini overtake him in the championship standings (all that would change after the Main race, however).

Prior to this, all the talk had been about the new-for-2027 regulations which mandate – as if you haven’t already heard – 850cc engines, no ride-height or hole-shot suspension systems and a huge reduction in aero efficiency.

These measures have drawn varying opinions from riders, although the general view has been that a reduction in the reliance on electronic systems will allow the better riders to rise to the top, rather than making it easy (!) for any rider on the grid to fight at the front (which is surely what has enabled MotoGP to be so thrilling in the past couple of seasons…)

Bagnaia was one of the mildly dissenting voices: “I just care again about being fast, like I am right now,” began Bagnaia. “I want to be competitive and understand the situation, understand the new bikes and then to be the strongest again.

“I’m curious to try the new engine, the 850cc. It will be nice to have a change, but the thing that is strange to me is that we are on top of motorsport development and improving and prototypes have to be the strongest, but we will go to reduce the speed which is a bit strange. But if we want more battles, the only thing to remove is the aerodynamics. The rest is not for a battle, it is for safety.”

Jorge Martin sees the reduction in aero technology as a positive step; “I think it will be interesting for the most talented riders to get used to these new bikes,” said Martin. “I think that with fewer devices the battles will be easier. We will overtake easier and in terms of speed, we will arrive where we are, that’s for sure or we will be close. But I think for the battles and the show it will be better. I’m really happy about that.”

Martin then admitted that current technology involved in MotoGP bikes has levelled the playing field a bit too much; “now, with all the devices and the technical side we have, I think the bad riders – well not the bad riders because they are all good and this is MotoGP – but they close the gap to the best riders. It is much easier to ride these new bikes and going to these new bikes in 2027 will be interesting for sure. The value of the rider will increase. Nobody knows in 2027 so let’s wait.”

Maverick Viñales, spoke about the rule changes and also believes those with more technique will have the advantage; “without the rear ride-height device I think it will be more technical. It will be good for the riders who have more technique. Especially now, you can go full gas on acceleration and just let the bike work. But without the rear device, you have to work a lot more on the acceleration. So the riders who have a little bit more technique will rise up.”

The underlying thinking, of course, is that speeds are simply getting too fast for current circuit safety, especially the older circuits on the calendar with less adequate run-off areas. But another way of looking at it is to realise that a good shake-up of the regulations is necessary to prevent things becoming stale. With a clean slate, all the manufacturers have a chance to reset and potentially steal a march on their rivals; who knows who will get it right and who will get it wrong and who would bet against Honda and Yamaha catapulting themselves back to the front and current leaders Ducati getting their sums minutely wrong and being off the pace? Stranger things have happened.

The last time MotoGP tried to reduce engine displacement was during the 800cc era of 2007 to 2011. The change did little to reduce lap times but spelt an end to close racing for the duration. Now we have an era of unprecedented close racing and it will be a shame if the rule changes put an end to that, however temporary. You just have to hope that Dorna and the teams have done their homework to prevent a repeat of the 800cc era’s relative boredom.

As an aside, with MotoGP reducing engine displacement, a knock-on effect will be World Superbikes having to suffer a performance reduction as well. Can’t have a production-based series out-performing a prototype-based series! Also, what happens to Moto2? Can’t have Moto2 bikes lapping nearly as fast as MotoGP! This discussion is set to run for a while.

And now let’s just take a moment to catch our breath before we talk about that Main race. It is considered very poor journalism to resort to swearing but every now and then, you just have to!

Holy shit, what a race! Not a huge amount of overtaking at the front but the tension in the last ten laps was almost unbearable. In fact, the tension all the way through was pretty strong.

Bagnaia’s done it before; had a terrible Sprint and then came back fighting in the Main race and it was just like that in France. Leading from the start, with Martin snapping at his heels, there was always the fear that one or both of them would disappear into the distance, leaving the rest to fight over the scraps.

But Bagnaia and Martin didn’t streak off into the distance, Aleix Espargaro in third neither catching them nor losing ground. The real fireworks started when Marquez, who had again made rapid progress through the field, worked his way up to and got past Viñales, by that time running in third. In short order, Marquez made up over two seconds to Bagnaia, by now behind Martin, who had passed the reigning champion but had not managed to pull any sort of gap. If a stalemate then ensued, it was at least enthralling, Marquez seemingly unable to make a move on Bagnaia and Bagnaia in turn unable to attack Martin or, at least, attack with any success. When this happens, you don’t need overtaking!

All the way through, there was the greatest chance of one of them throwing it away thanks to the unrelenting pressure, but then they’re not the best in the world for nothing. Marquez pulled a last-lap do-or-die move on Bagnaia and was through. The last few corners were all but unwatchable but you couldn’t take your eyes off the screen. Martin looked as if he had it all covered in the lead but, let’s face it, it was Marc Marquez behind him and, behind Marquez, Bagnaia was not afraid to get his elbows out. The order remained the same to the flag but there was not a single moment when anyone – the riders or the spectators – could relax. Absolutely brilliant.

There’s not been a duff race the whole season and, if this continues, then we’re going to have the second season in a row where the championship goes down to the wire and we’ll all need a good rest!

Love him or hate him – and there seems to be an equal number in both camps – it is great to see Marquez fighting at the front again and it is surely only a matter of time before Marquez wins a race. From 13th to second in both Sprint and Main races; that’s not luck and it’s great to see him fighting at the front again. Don’t forget that he’s riding a year-old Ducati GP23 and still managed to split the factory GP24s.

I would not want to be in Ducati’s shoes right now, with three of the best riders on the grid all deserving a move to the factory squad for 2025 or, at least, a current bike in 2025. Bastianini is doing a good job of showing that he deserves to retain the seat but you can’t ignore the form of Martin, nor the marketing pull of Marquez, who is strengthening his case with every passing race.

Pedro Acosta had a lacklustre weekend by his standards, culminating in his first big mistake of the year. Even when crashing, he makes us draw a sharp intake of breath as somehow he slid between Aleix Espargaro and Fabio Di Giannantonio, with inches to spare at either end of his sliding machine. Isn’t it funny how we have so quickly become familiar with him running at the front?

Brad Binder had a dreadful qualifying, being delayed from getting onto the track in Q1 by a technical issue with his bike, resulting in a desperately disappointing last place on the grid. He converted that into 15th in the Sprint but a much more encouraging eighth in the Main race after a battle with Franco Morbidelli. By any standard, it was an exceptional ride; it’s just that it received no coverage whatsoever.

Oh, and what a surprise, the Hondas and Yamahas had races to forget, Fabio Quartararo’s heroics in qualifying notwithstanding. The new rules cannot come quickly enough for the Japanese manufacturers.

Next, we head back to Spain for the Catalunya GP. After every race weekend we ask ourselves how it can get any better and every race weekend, it does. We’re going to need some strong tranquillisers before the season is out!