The 2024 championship race pendulum swung back toward Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) at the British GP, but at the Austrian GP, the reigning World Champion secured his third Tissot Sprint and Sunday double of the year, putting Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) back in the driver’s seat.
Even with Bagnaia’s recent Sunday heat wave and Martin’s lack of a 25-point haul since Le Mans, the two are still only five points apart heading into Round 12 at MotorLand Aragon. When MotoGPTM last stopped in Alcañiz, Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) triumphed over Pecco by a mere 0.042 seconds.
The #23 wasn’t able to reach the same heights as he did at Silverstone two weeks ago, despite the fact that the “Beast” claimed a podium on Sunday in Austria. A recurrence of his 2022 Aragon heroics is much-desired, as Bastianini perceives a 61-point disparity between him and his colleague in the overall standings following Bagnaia’s dramatic turn at the Red Bull Ring.
Following a technical issue on the starting grid for Sunday’s race, Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGPTM) took home 13 points from Austria following a Tissot Sprint crash from P2. A Sunday P4 was the least of what the weekend promised, as the eight-time World Champion is currently 83 points from the Championship peak.
Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) achieved his first Sunday top five since Portimao, which allowed Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) to move up to P6 and closing down on the South African. Viñales’ 139 points outscore Binder’s 128. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) drops to P7 on 125 after a challenging weekend.
Aragon expects another exciting chapter in 2024. Will the lead in the championship shift again? Martin, the home soil hero, will undoubtedly hope so.
