MotoGP in Aragon

01.09.2024

Sprint

The Ducati Lenovo Team has partaken today in the twelfth sprint race of the 2024 season at Spain’s MotorLand Aragón. Enea Bastianini was seventh at the chequered flag after a comeback from row five, while Francesco Bagnaia coud not finish higher than ninth from third place on the grid.

Bastianini had a good start from fourteenth place as he made his way back to eleventh in the opening corners before dropping down to fifteenth. Lap after lap, Enea managed to settle into a competitive rhythm aboard his Ducati machine as he climbed his way to the top ten before making a double overtake on Quartararo and his teammate Bagnaia with four laps left – as he was among the quickest riders on track in the late stages of the encounter.

Bagnaia’s race took a wrong turn already at the start: the reigning world champion was forced to take a different line from third place on the grid to avoid the part of the main straight that was still dirty due to the overnight rain (as it off the ideal line). After losing some ground, Pecco did well in returning to fourth place in the opening laps, but the lack of feeling with the front tyre led him to a few mistakes and forced him to ride defensively up to the chequered flag.

Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 7th
“It was a complicated day as I had no feeling, especially with the front-end, in the morning, while the grip at the rear-end was incredible. The situation was quite critical: we tried to change the set-up a little bit, I even tried to tweak my riding style, but it wasn’t enough. Things went smoother in the race as track conditions improved and we found an adjustment that helped me a little; I managed to make up several positions and to finish seventh, which doesn’t make us happy, but in light of the situation I think we have to be happy with the result. Shouldn’t it rain tonight, I think things may improve some more tomorrow.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 9th
“The issue we encountered yesterday unfortunately returned this afternoon and there was very little we could do as a team. These things happen, unfortunately, and it had been a while since it last happened to us. The start was a difficult one but after last night’s rain, the track conditions in that spot were not ideal; I managed to not lose too much ground but as soon as I got to turn five, I immediately understood that something wasn’t right, and then things kept getting worse. It was a tough race because I was struggling on both corner entry and mid-corner and I was lapping really slow. I believe that, realistically, I could have battled with Martín, as Marc (Márquez) seems to be able to make the difference on all of us in three areas of the track. We’ll try to understand what to do for tomorrow and let’s hope things will go differently.”

Race

The twelfth Grand Prix of the 2024 season has drawn to a close for the Ducati Lenovo Team, with Enea Bastianini who put together a good comeback to fifth place at the MotorLand Aragón Circuit. Francesco Bagnaia was the unfortunate protagonist of a crash triggered by a coming together with Alex Márquez in the closing stages of the encounter, while battling for third.

From fourteenth place on the grid, Bastianini moved up to tenth place in the opening laps as he found himself in a group battling for eighth place. Due to the not-ideal conditions of the track, not as clean outside of the racing line, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider did not manage to get the better of his opponents at the beginning. In the second half of the race, however, Enea got up to speed aboard his Ducati machine #23 as he made up several position, the last of which on Morbidelli with five laps to go, before crossing the line in fifth place.

Bagnaia once again had a difficult time at the start – from third place – with some clear spinning of his rear wheel (on dirty asphalt) that cost him several positions. Pecco did a great job in addressing the lack of grip with the front tyre and as the race progressed, he made his way back to fourth place. With six laps left, the reigning world champion tried to take advantage of a mistake by Alex Márquez at turn 12. Unfortunately, a coming together led to a severe crash for both riders, from which Pecco escaped with a few bruises but luckily without any fracture.

At the end of the twelfth Grand Prix of the season, Bagnaia is now second in the championship standings with 276 points and 23 points shy of Martín. Bastianini drops down to fourth place, 71 points in arrears of the leader. Ducati leads the manufacturers’ championship with 426 points, with the Ducati Lenovo Team still leading the team standings (504 points).

The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action this Friday at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ for the thirteenth Grand Prix of 2024.

Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 5th
“I’m not happy because it was a very difficult race, maybe the toughest of the season and surely the opening day had a significant impact on my chances to do well. I had the speed, but it was hard to put all the pieces together: I tried to overtake on many occasions, but often enough things didn’t go according to plan, as I ended up going wide and making mistakes. The track was really dirty outside the racing line and that made everything a lot more difficult. It’s really a shame, because I think we could have got more out of this weekend, but we must be content with this fifth place.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – DNF
“I took advantage of Alex going wide to get ahead of him and also dove into the next corner with a slightly wider line knowing there was another rider; therefore, it’s a shame that it ended up this way as it had already been a difficult weekend. After another complicated start – due to the tricky conditions of that spot on the grid – I was putting together a good comeback, and I was a lot quicker. Right now, I’m quite in pain, especially in my left shoulder, but it looks like there’s nothing broken. We’ll do our best to be as fit as possible at Misano.”

Race results

Pos.	Nr.	Driver	Team	Bike	Time
1	93	M. Marquez			41:47.082
2	89	J. Martin			+4.789
3	31	P. Acosta			+14.904
4	33	B. Binder			+16.459
5	23	E. Bastianini			+18.776
6	21	F. Morbidelli			+20.549
7	49	F. Di Giannantonio			+21.159
8	72	M. Bezzecchi			+24.759
9	42	A. Rins			+39.420
10	43	J. Miller			+39.966
11	41	A. Espargaro			+40.602
12	30	T. Nakagami			+41.782
13	37	A. Fernandez			+42.083
14	5	J. Zarco			+43.264
15	36	J. Mir			+49.735
16	25	R. Fernandez			+57.322
17	10	L. Marini			+112.386
DNF	1	F. Bagnaia
DNF	73	A. Marquez
DNF	12	M. Viñales
DNF	20	F. Quartararo
DNF	88	M. Oliveira

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