Thursday, May 23, 2024, 8:07 p.m.
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In the current MotoGP scene, you can count on the fingers of one hand the grand prizes where the Ducati do not start as favorites. The one from Catalonia is one of them. A fast and fluid layout, with long curves and few areas of heavy braking and strong acceleration. A configuration that fits the Aprilia like a glove. And this was demonstrated last year, with a historic double by Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales in Sunday’s race, which was added to the victory in Saturday’s sprint by Granollers.
Precisely, the eldest Espargaró was the protagonist at the start of the Catalan Grand Prix, with the announcement of his retirement at the end of this season. He wanted to do it at his home GP, surrounded by his family and on a weekend in which he has a real chance of victory. He hardly spoke about what will happen on the track, but his teammate Viñales did, who acknowledged that this weekend they had him marked in red in the box. “It is obvious that we can do well here, but we have to be calm and work calmly, because it is going to be a complicated weekend to manage, with so much ambition within the box that we will have to stop,” he said.
Whatever happens this weekend, Jorge Martín will continue to lead the classification after the Montmeló race. The Madrid native accumulates a comfortable advantage of 38 points over Bagnaia and 40 over Márquez and Bastianini in the ‘Ducati Cup’, which is today the battle for the championship. After having a perfect weekend at Le Mans, the driver from San Sebastián de los Reyes is aware that it will be difficult to repeat it on the Catalan track. «My goal here is probably not to win because it is going to be complicated, but it is to get closer to the Aprilia and if we get closer we will have a chance. That is my priority to try to get the best out of the Ducati, to squeeze the most out of it and be able to get points,” he explained.
One before and one after
The race in Catalonia marked a before and after in 2023 (it was run in September, in the final stretch of the championship). Here began Martín’s comeback against Bagnaia that was about to give him the title at the end of the year. Although it is also true that the Italian had a terrible accident on Sunday, when Binder’s motorcycle ran over his legs, in an incident that could have ended in tragedy. Although the two-time MotoGP champion remembered it, he did not believe that it would affect him on the track: «Last year’s crash will not affect me at all. I hope to do at least three curves… », he commented with a laugh, although he also pointed to the Aprilia as the favorites.
As for Márquez, third in the classification, but with a very positive dynamic after the double podium at Le Mans, he preferred to return to a low profile in the Catalan event, perhaps the Spanish Grand Prix that has historically given him the worst: “It is one Of the circuits in which it has always been difficult for me, I choke a little. In fact, I have only won in my two best years, 2014 and 2019, so if we win this weekend it means we are very, very good. And despite everything, he was looking forward to what he could achieve in his first time with the Ducati: “I’m looking forward to seeing where we are with this Ducati and seeing what we can opt for during the weekend.”
For Pedro Acosta this Catalan Grand Prix will also be important, after his first major mistake in MotoGP. In the last race, the Murcian was ready to win for the first time, as he indicated at the time, and the excess of desire caused him to crash on the third lap. “We have to make mistakes like the one we made in Le Mans, and we have to go through all those bumps that form my learning curve in MotoGP, which is now around 30%,” he acknowledged. He has a lot of room for improvement ahead of him, a driver who will turn 20 this Saturday.
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2024-05-23 18:07:41
#Martín #Márquez #flee #favoritism #Montmeló
