Emilia Romagna MotoGP: Bastianini’s Controversial Win, Factory KTM’s Struggles, and Marquez’s Surprise Podium

Rider Performance Review: Factory KTM Pair Face Difficulties at Emilia Romagna MotoGP

Challenging Weekend for Jack Miller and Brad Binder

Enea Bastianini secured his second victory of the 2024 MotoGP season under contentious conditions at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The final lap maneuver to pass championship frontrunner Jorge Martin has stirred considerable discussion and is expected to remain a topic of intense debate as the racing community moves on to Indonesia in the coming days.

Martin has increased his lead in the championship to 24 points, even though he came in second place. The pole position holder, Francesco Bagnaia, had an unusual race and crashed while he was in third position, affecting his performance for the factory Ducati team.

Marc Marquez has fallen behind in the championship standings, but an unexpected third-place finish at Misano has mitigated the impact and kept his title hopes alive.

The Japanese team achieved excellent results, whereas KTM's key riders were unable to capitalize on their speed.

For the second consecutive round, no one achieved a perfect score at Misano.

Enea Bastianini – 8

Bastianini deserves significant praise for his performance turnaround from the sprint to the grand prix. Although he wasn't completely off the pace, having qualified third, he couldn't quite match the level of Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia over the weekend. His long-distance pace on Friday indicated that his main fight would be for third place. However, after putting in hard work overnight—reportedly spending time in his garage until 10 p.m. on Saturday reviewing data—he became a contender in the battle for victory from the start. Despite the controversy surrounding his last-lap pass on Martin, the fact that he was in a position to make such a move and succeed is highly commendable.

Jorge Martin – 7

In a crucial weekend where Martin needed to reassert his dominance following his strategic error at the San Marino GP, he fell short and appeared second-best overall. Although he improved his qualifying performance from the previous Misano round, he still couldn’t match Bagnaia’s pace. A careless mistake during the sprint race, where he exceeded track limits and received a warning that broke his concentration, cost him a potential win. Despite showing strength in the grand prix, it wasn’t sufficient to keep Bastianini at bay, and regardless of varying opinions on the incident, he left himself vulnerable. While his championship lead did increase, it wasn’t in a convincing manner.

Marc Marquez – 6

The second race weekend at Misano brought Marquez back to reality after securing two consecutive victories under unusual circumstances. Throughout the weekend, his speed wasn't sufficient to challenge the frontrunners, and if not for Bagnaia’s crash during the grand prix, fourth place was likely his maximum potential. A significant crash during qualifying left him starting in seventh position, and with a better starting spot, he might have been able to achieve a more favorable result.

Francesco Bagnaia – 5

Evaluating Bagnaia's performance over the weekend is challenging; a score of six seems too generous, while anything lower feels unfair. From Friday onwards, Bagnaia demonstrated exceptional skill. His speed over a single lap was impressive, and his race pace was formidable. He combined these strengths on Saturday to secure pole position with a new lap record and went on to win the sprint race after Martin made a mistake. However, he once again struggled with his start on Saturday, meaning Martin's error was probably his only opportunity for victory. During the grand prix, his tyres underperformed in the first half, and he eventually crashed while trying to recover from third place. This mistake was particularly costly, as it allowed Martin to extend his lead in the standings to 24 points. Instead of minimizing the damage, Bagnaia ended up complicating his own situation.

Marco Bezzecchi – 7

The VR46 team member didn't manage to reach the front row as he did in the last Misano round, but securing sixth place on the starting grid was a decent achievement. Finishing eighth in the sprint race wasn't particularly noteworthy, but achieving fourth place in the main race was a fair result. He was the only one to take a risk with the soft rear tire, and although it was challenging to do better, he maintained a respectable distance from Marquez's leading GP23.

Franco Morbidelli – 5

In the earlier Misano race, Franco Morbidelli from the Pramac team showed a performance reminiscent of his peak form. However, this weekend did not see him contending for a podium finish. He secured tenth place in qualifying, moved up to ninth in the sprint race, and finished fifth in the main grand prix. While these are respectable outcomes, they fell short compared to the performances of the other GP24 riders throughout the weekend.

Maverick Vinales – 5

Aprilia showed slight improvement at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but still fell short of challenging the leaders. Vinales, who was the top performer among the RS-GP riders, started in eighth position. However, he finished the sprint race without earning any points, landing in 10th place, and ended up 15.4 seconds behind the winner in the main race, finishing sixth thanks to Fabio Quartararo's fuel depletion on the final lap.

Fabio Quartararo – 8

Though Quartararo couldn't replicate his triumph from the last Emilia Romagna GP, the 2021 world champion demonstrated his skill on an M1 that struggles with grip for qualifying and lacks speed for racing. Beginning from 10th place on the grid, he climbed to seventh in the sprint race and maintained that position in the main event. He was set to secure Yamaha’s first top-five finish of the season before running out of fuel.

Aleix Espargaro – 4

Espargaro's last weekend racing in Italy with Aprilia was pretty uneventful. Although he managed to get into Q2, he ended up 11th, behind his teammate, and remained in his shadow during the races. He finished 12th in the sprint and 8th in the Grand Prix, more than seven seconds behind Vinales, which is not the kind of performance expected from the Spanish rider on that bike.

Alex Marquez – 4

Alex Marquez earned a higher score in our rankings due to his impressive performance, moving from the last position on the starting grid to secure a ninth-place finish. However, his problematic qualifying session likely prevented him from achieving even better results for Gresini this weekend.

Miguel Oliveira – 4

The Portuguese competitor had a fairly unremarkable weekend at Misano. Although advancing from Q1 was a commendable achievement, he failed to score any points in the sprint race and managed to climb from 12th to 10th place in Sunday’s main event. The Trackhouse team member can find some consolation in the fact that he is not the only rider facing difficulties with Aprilia at the moment.

Joan Mir – 6

After being unable to participate in the San Marino Grand Prix due to illness, merely being in top condition for this weekend was a significant achievement. Throughout most of the weekend, he was outperformed by his Honda teammate. However, in the grand prix, Mir elevated his performance to secure 11th place, marking his and HRC’s best result of the season. While this outcome might not make major news, it demonstrates that the 2020 world champion can maximize performance even with a subpar bike.

Luca Marini – 6

It would be unfair to rate either factory Honda rider differently considering the grand prix results. Marini finished 12th in Sunday's race, not far behind his teammate Mir, marking his best performance of the season. Additionally, Marini was the highest-placed Honda rider in both qualifying and the sprint, securing 16th position.

Raul Fernandez – 4

It seems that the rest of this season is essentially a series of test runs for Fernandez with Trackhouse Aprilia, aiming to assist the Italian brand in making improvements for the 2025 season. Despite this, he couldn't quite compete with the other Aprilia riders, finishing 13th after starting 14th on the grid, which isn't a particularly impressive result.

Fabio Di Giannantonio – 5

The VR46 team rider narrowly avoided being sidelined for the rest of the weekend after a severe crash in Friday's practice session threatened to worsen his recently dislocated shoulder. Although he barely missed out on a Q2 slot, Di Giannantonio finished 13th in the sprint race and 14th in the main event. His performance was hindered by a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits, which prevented him from securing a potentially better 11th-place finish. Beyond that, his weakened shoulder made further improvement difficult.

Johann Zarco – 3

Zarco wrapped up Friday's practice in an admirable 12th place, but things only got worse from there. He failed to make it into Q2 and ended up as the third-best Honda rider in qualifying. During the sprint race, he improved slightly to become the second-best Honda, but in the main Grand Prix, he dropped back to being the third-best again, finishing 15th overall and trailing a few seconds behind the top HRC competitors.

Jack Miller – 3

The Australian rider had a tough time at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, an event he'd likely prefer to erase from memory quickly. Despite the positive news of securing his future with Pramac in MotoGP, Miller faced difficulties maintaining speed throughout the weekend. His performance in qualifying placed him 19th, which negatively impacted his races. Although he managed to climb into the top 10 at one point during the main race, a vibration problem caused him to drop out of the points, finishing in 16th place.

Takaaki Nakagami – 2

Nakagami's LCR Honda appeared to lack new components when compared to the bikes of his fellow HRC riders. This was reflected in his performance; he qualified in 20th place, finished 19th in the sprint race, and came in 17th in the Grand Prix, trailing more than 10 seconds behind the top Honda ridden by Mir.

Augusto Fernandez – 2

Vibration problems significantly affected Fernandez's performance in the grand prix, resulting in a disappointing 18th place finish. Starting from 18th on the grid offered him minimal chances to advance. Fernandez, who has never felt comfortable on the RC16, experienced yet another event that diminished his confidence.

Brad Binder – 5

Binder experienced a challenging weekend riding the factory KTM. After advancing from Q1 and securing a strong fourth position on his RC16, things looked promising. However, he faced tyre warm-up problems that dropped him from podium contention to sixth place in the sprint race. During the grand prix, Binder crashed while vying for a top-five finish, which turned out to be a missed chance. Nonetheless, he earns some recognition for getting back on his bike and completing the race.

Pedro Acosta – 5

The Tech3 newcomer had a weekend similar to Binder's, showcasing impressive speed and a strong qualifying performance, but ultimately falling short in the main race. Acosta was the sole KTM rider to make it directly into Q2 after Friday's sessions and maintained his fifth-place starting position in the sprint race. However, during the grand prix, while running with the leading group, he crashed for the second consecutive Sunday.

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