BARCELONA, 23 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosts this weekend the Catalunya Grand Prix, the sixth round of the motorcycle World Championship, with the Aprilia focused on ending the dominance of the Ducati and with Aleix Espargaró, who announced on Thursday from the circuit that He retires at the end of the campaign, ready to take a step forward to repeat the 2023 victory and give himself the best farewell gift on his ‘home’ circuit.
Without a doubt, the leading role before the races went to Aleix Espargaró who, born in Granollers (next to the track) 34 years ago, announced accompanied by his family and a good part of the paddock that he would put an end to his career when finish this World Cup. A Championship that has not started in the best way but in which it looks competitive.
And in Montmeló he did not win in 2022 due to the mistake of thinking that the race was over with one lap left and, last year, he did take the race to the Sprint and the long race on Sunday. It is ‘his’ circuit, it will be the last time he races there as a professional motorcycle rider (barring future surprises in the form of a ‘wild card’) and he will want to say goodbye in the best way; with victory or with podium.
In addition, the Aprilias are doing well and are good at the Catalan track, where Maverick Viñales was second in 2023. In addition, Viñales has been pushing hard since he did a double (Sprint plus race) in Las Américas. In a territory where Noale’s bikes are strong, it is expected that they can get the Ducati into trouble.
Italian duel in Barcelona, where we do not expect to see the KTM (Pedro Acosta’s GasGas may be a surprise) on the podium and much less expect anything from Yamaha or Honda. But beyond this planned head-to-head between the two Italian factories, the debate and focus is, once again, on the internal fight at Ducati to obtain one of the official motorcycles for the 2025 World Cup.
The current leader of the World Championship is Jorge Martín, with the Prima Pramac Racing satellite. He has a 38-point margin over Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia, current world champion and the only official driver for next year. And 40 margin over Marc Márquez who, with the bike of the second Gresini Racing satellite team, is going from less to more and lately fighting for podiums.
But the fourth rider in the championship, tied with Cervera after the first five races, is Enea Bastianini who is still determined to fight to retain his official bike in the Ducati Lenovo Team. Maybe he has everything decided at Ducati or, perhaps, in Barcelona Bagnaia’s new teammate has just been pointed out.
But ‘Pecco’, with a secured contract, does not want to be harmed by this internal battle at the Borgo Panigale factory. His war is to retain the world title and, at the moment, he has a considerable disadvantage compared to Jorge Marín who is even more ‘Martinator’. Last year they fought until the end and now it is the Spaniard who takes the initiative.
A year ago, in the Catalan event, Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales signed the double in Sunday’s race and third was Jorge Martín, who wants to at least repeat that podium. The truth is that, then, Bagnaia went down as soon as he came out and could not add. It is not a track that usually suits the Italian, but he is more aware than ever that he must cut Martín’s margin right now, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
GARCÍA DOLS AND HOLGADO DEFEND LEADERSHIP IN MOTO2 AND MOTO3
Just as in MotoGP the leader is the Spanish Jorge Martín, in Moto2 and Moto3 the also Spaniards Sergio García Dols and Daniel Holgado come to the top of the classification of the intermediate and small category, respectively, with the aim of marking ground in Montmeló against their respective rivals.
After winning the French GP race in Le Mans, Sergio García Dols rose to the lead, which he defends with a scant 7 points margin over the American Joe Roberts, his closest rival. Third in the championship is the Spanish Fermín Aldeguer, already 26 points away, while the Japanese Ai Ogura, second in Le Mans, is fourth and the also Spanish Alonso López, third in France, is fifth in the Championship.
In Moto3, the fight is between the Spanish Daniel Holgado and the Colombian of Spanish origin David Alonso, with a single point difference between the former and the latter. In Le Mans, Alonso won ahead of Holgado, who now defends the lead by the slightest difference and, in Montmeló, he will want to inflate the cushion of advantage again.
2024-05-23 17:33:55
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