Thoughts by Kate Adams
Coming into the weekend, the Capitano, Aleix Espargaro, announced he would be retiring from full-time Grand Prix racing at the end of the 2024 season. He joked in the press conference that as a gift, other riders could let him win, and that's exactly what they did on Saturday, with three separate riders crashing out of the lead in the Tissot Sprint to let Aleix claim the top step. While he had less success on Sunday, he was still able to secure a P4 position, which I'm sure will be a touching way for the rider to say goodbye to his home Grand Prix.
Maverick Vinales had a weekend to forget. After being the favorite coming into the weekend, he only managed a couple of points on Saturday and four on Sunday. The headlines were on another Aprilia rider this weekend, Raul Fernandez. The Trackhouse rider picked up his first front row, which he converted into a P6 on Sunday—a very strong performance from the rider on year-old machinery. I suspect that Raul settled for 6th after Saturday saw him slide out of the lead in the Sprint. Miguel Oliveira had a quieter weekend, also crashing on Saturday but securing P10 on Sunday.
From zero to hero sums up the weekend for Factory Ducati rider Pecco Bagnaia. After crashing out of the lead during the Saturday Sprint, Sunday saw him fighting at the front with Pedro Acosta and Jorge Martin before coming out victorious and claiming the top step of the podium. Considering that in 2023 Pecco Bagnaia had his legs run over at this circuit, he certainly didn't let any memories get in the way of his powerful Sunday performance.
Across the garage, Enea Bastianini had the opposite weekend. After picking up P5 and 5 points in the Sprint, the Italian was run wide on Sunday, leaving the track and not losing enough time before collecting a long lap penalty—which he did not serve. As he didn't serve it, it escalated to a double long lap before turning into a ride-through penalty, and as none of these were served post-race, he got a 32-second penalty, demoting him to P18. He was quoted after the race as saying that he did not feel he deserved the penalty.
Prima Pramac Racing rider Jorge Martin played the championship game this weekend. Speedy and smart are two words we can use to describe Martin this season. His weekend started with P4 in the Sprint and finished with P2 in the Grand Prix—very important points in a championship that still has 14 rounds left, maybe 14 anyway. Franco Morbidelli had an unfortunate weekend, finishing outside of the points before crashing out of the Grand Prix.
VR46 saw Fabio Di Giannantonio outperform his teammate for another weekend. A P6 in the Sprint and a P5 in the Grand Prix completed a quiet weekend for Diggia. Marco Bezzecchi managed to collect points on both days with a P9 in the Sprint and a P11 in the Grand Prix.
Marc Marquez continued his impressive performance on Saturday with another P2, an incredibly impressive feat from the 8-time world champion, who lost a wing in a clash with Jack Miller on lap 1 and had qualified all the way down in P14. Sunday saw him pick up yet another podium with a P3 in the Sprint, and as we have gotten used to seeing, Marc treated fans to some more magical dance moves trackside. Brother and teammate Alex Marquez failed to shine on Saturday with no points in the Sprint, but on Sunday, he picked up a respectable P7, finishing ahead of Brad Binder but behind Raul Fernandez.
Speaking of Brad Binder, Brad binned her from the lead in the Saturday Sprint. He was the second of the three riders to crash out, helping Aleix secure that dream win. Sunday saw a challenging race for the South African, who seemed to struggle late in the race with his tires. He placed P8 in the race. Fellow factory KTM rider Jack Miller mirrored Brad's weekend. While he picked up P7 in the Sprint on Saturday, he crashed out early in the Grand Prix.
GasGas Tech3 saw Augusto Fernandez continue his struggles. His seat will be sought after by many who want a competitive machine. P17 in the Sprint and a crash in the Grand Prix will do nothing to help him secure a ride for next year. Rookie Pedro Acosta continued to show strong form on Saturday with another podium, picking up some points. However, for the second weekend in a row, the rookie made a rookie mistake and crashed while pushing. He did rejoin the race and also picked up points with a P13 after passing a gaggle of Hondas and Alex Rins.
Honda hearts remain hurting after they took 5 of the bottom 6 positions on Sunday (Enea penalty aside). Joan Mir picked up a single point, finishing in P15 ahead of Zarco, Marini, and Bradl.
Yamaha saw Alex Rins put in a fabulous Friday, putting the rider straight into Q2. He managed to qualify on the third row in P8, 11 positions ahead of teammate Fabio Quartararo. Unfortunately for Rins, he wasn't able to translate this into points as he finished P12 in the Sprint and P20 in the race. Quartararo was able to pick up places and finished as the top Japanese bike with a P9 in the Grand Prix.
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