2024 MotoGP Jerez Report

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On Sunday, the battle for the win boiled down to Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez. (MotoGP/)

Journalists rack their brains for fresh superlatives to describe this past weekend at Jerez. The bare bones are these: 181,000 people came to see Marc Márquez set pole on the Gresini 2023 Ducati. He crashed out of the Saturday sprint while leading, remounting to finish sixth. Jorge Martín took the win (continuing his strong streak) while Francesco Bagnaia (factory Ducati) was knocked out of the event by contact with others. Crashing was big that day—nine in all, many in the “wellspring” of turn 5, which remained wet all weekend. Second and third were Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GasGas Tech 3) and the permanently talented Dani Pedrosa.

Jerez was packed to the rafters with a weekend attendance of 181,000 fans. (MotoGP/)

On Sunday Martín (Pramac Ducati) took the lead from Bagnaia on lap 2 and held it until Martín on lap 10 lost the front from brake locking approaching turn 6. Márquez moved forward slowly until closing with leader Bagnaia on lap 20, triggering tense dueling between the two. Márquez has now achieved a provisional fit between his style and that of the Ducati. Bagnaia, having one of his seemingly flawless days, would be difficult prey.

Bagnaia’s pressure on early leader Martín had the desired effect. Approaching turn 6, Martín leading, Bagnaia a bit to one side to keep his front tire from the hot slipstream, Martín had the dual task of achieving maximal braking and closing the line. It was too much and the front locked.

The agony of defeat. Jorge Martín lost the front at turn 6 and threw away a shot at the win. (MotoGP/)

Márquez related that his stiffness from yesterday’s sprint crash made him overcareful, such that “others overtook me.” He languished in fourth for seven laps.

As Márquez came to his pace, he overtook Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) on lap 14, later saying, “…the bike was incredible, it was flowing, I caught Pecco.” His words seem to describe finding grace.

Bagnaia said, “You know perfectly when you are fighting with Marc that you have to put your elbow out.

“When I saw Marc was [right behind me] I pushed for two laps and I did 37.8s, but I saw that he was gaining.”

Márquez said, “I knew that first overtake was the time to do it because otherwise the front [tire] temperature would go up and I could not stop the bike well.”

The pass failed. Both men were by now on tires kept alive by thoughtful management,  definitely in decline. Márquez said, “…then I did one lap more behind him, but it was impossible to brake hard.”

Rubbing is racing, and Márquez and Bagnaia had a serious scrap midrace. (MotoGP/)

At the second attempt, Márquez closed in, getting rubber streaks on his leathers from Bagnaia’s tire. He described his thoughts; “I prefer to pick up the bike, lose the position, and try again on the next lap. But it was already too late for the front tire temperature.

“The last two laps, when the front tire temperature went up, couldn’t do anything and I had some locks.

“I didn’t give up completely but I didn’t make that extra push to fight with him because the risk was too high [of making] three zeros in a row.

“…if I hadn’t given up at the right time, I, Pecco, or maybe both of us would have crashed. In turn 10 I felt the blow on my arm and leg—at that moment you can crash alone or take your opponent to the ground as well. I lifted the bike, lost the position, but got 20 points.”

Wisdom.

“There is respect and rivalry with Pecco,” Márquez said. “…for me it is a pleasure to fight with him who is world champion and the benchmark of Ducati. Today we fought again and I was fast enough to try to attack him.”

Bagnaia said, “Where there is respect there is a show, and fun.

Full respect between two champions. (MotoGP/)

“Vibration,” as chatter is now termed, was present for Brad Binder (factory KTM, sixth) and prince-in-waiting Acosta (10th) but Martín reported none. This problem awaits resolution. Acosta noted “It happens a lot in the sprints, with the soft [tire].

Rookie sensation Pedro Acosta didn’t have the weekend he was looking for, but still did respectably. (MotoGP/)

The crashes during the sprint? Many were attributed to what people were calling “weeps”—some continuing source of water that welled up particularly in turn 5.

As always, there were many talented riders having an indifferent weekend though they have proven they are capable of better. Maverick Viñales, the winner at the COTA US GP, was a sprint faller at T5, then ninth on Sunday. He said, “Our weekend was shaken up by our limited experience with this bike in the wet in qualifying.”

Acosta? “…we lost a lot at the start.

“…the first lap was a disaster, going wide with [Johan] Zarco and [Joan] Mir. But after that I was able to recuperate with some overtakes and finish in the top 10.” He started 10th, fell back to 18th on lap 1, and slowly recovered to 10th by lap 16, where he remained.

Why such haplessness when the riders usually at the front are so consistent? Remember that when Marc Márquez was plucked from Moto2 to begin his years of dominance, he was plucked by Honda Motor Co. Operating racing motorcycles is more than pouring in gas, airing up the tires, and saying, “Go get ‘em, champ!”

Dani Pedrosa ended up with a sprint podium on Saturday but crashed out on Sunday. (MotoGP/)

Pedrosa rode as a wild card. “I made a good start and recovered some positions.

“For some reason I lost the front wheel in turn 8.

“Maybe it was because, if you don’t take the perfect line [there], then you hit a slippery spot.”

Jack Miller, originally “untimely pluck’d” from Moto3 (by special dispensation!) and put straight into MotoGP by Honda so long ago? His fate awaited in turn 5.

So much good talent, so much early promise.

Fabio Quartararo (factory Yamaha “I was struggling on turning, just like Álex [Rins], and I think we are looking a bit too much into braking…and are missing a lot on turning.”

Oh the irony! For years the Yamaha’s strength was high apex speed—mysterious grip and stability in long, fast sweepers. The corner-speed style that kind of bike supported won races for Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Then in recent years it seems Yamaha engineers have tried to transform the bike into all things for all riders. The result does nothing well.

Honda and Yamaha in their time won races with one-dimensional motorcycles. The Yamaha excelled in corner speed but fell behind on “Honda tracks” like COTA, where lots of “little” turns rewarded the point-and-shoot style. Ducati for years hoped to beat Honda with Honda’s special strengths—late, hard braking that allowed Márquez to enter corners on just the front wheel, plus lift-and-leave acceleration.

Márquez has put his recent lack of results behind him and is beginning to find success on the Ducati. (MotoGP/)

Ancient history though he is, 1950s American dirt-tracker Albert Gunter advised a young Dick Mann, “You can’t beat those guys by using their ideas—they’ve had ‘em a lot longer ‘n you have. You have to find an edge of your own—something the others don’t have.”

It appears that Ducati has done that. Márquez said of the Italian maker, “The Ducati is the most complete bike on most tracks.” Over the past three years riders have noted that its midcorner speed capability (tire grip created by the right kind of chassis flexibility) has steadily risen, such that now, it is neither a pure corner-speed bike nor a simple point-and-shooter. Somehow Ducati has found a way to combine both abilities.

KTM and Aprilia show moments of sublime brilliance, but have so far been unable to extend the moments into steadily swelling point totals. Yamaha and Honda—what can we say of them? In the Grand Prix past there were great names—engineers with long experience—”Big Naito” at Yamaha, Miyakoshi “the little general” at Honda. Is there corporate memory in the racing development of the Japanese makers? I hope so, and hope to see them clear a path to the “completeness” that Marc Márquez sees in the Ducatis.

They say, “Turnabout is fair play.” During 2003, when Ducati first brought its kind of horsepower to MotoGP and made an impression, Honda decried them in meetings as “pirates,” non-members of the GP insiders’ club, using high performance to break down the door. Today the Europeans have become the New Establishment. Who will discover and exploit their weakness?

At Jerez, the top five—Bagnaia, Marc Márquez, Bezzecchi, Alex Márquez, and Enea Bastianini—were all on Ducatis.

The French MotoGP at Le Mans is in two weeks.

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