Revving Up the Championship: Controversy, Hope, and Historic Wins at the 2024 Emilia Romagna MotoGP

At last, a glimmer of optimism for Honda? Five key discussions from the Emilia Romagna MotoGP

The future looks brighter for the manufacturers from Japan

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

The Ducati competitor remained in the hunt for the championship by clinching his first win since the British Grand Prix, accomplishing this feat through a bold maneuver to surpass the front-runner of the Emilia Romagna GP, Jorge Martin, on the last lap.

Views have been divided regarding the issue, as the officials decided not to intervene in any way.

Bastianini now trails the championship leader by 59 points, following an event where Martin increased his advantage to 24 points ahead of Francesco Bagnaia, after the pole position holder faced a peculiar exit from the grand prix.

This event secured a podium spot for Marc Marquez, maintaining his contention for the championship, while notable performances were also observed from Fabio Quartararo and the main Honda team members.

Ducati marked its 100th victory in grand prix racing thanks to Bastianini, and also secured the constructors' title for the 2024 season.

Discover five key insights from the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. This article will not delve into the specifics of the final lap occurrence. For an in-depth examination of that event, please refer to our detailed analysis available here:

Bastianini's championship aspirations remain uncertain

No matter your opinion on Bastianini's move past Martin, it's undeniable that it was a bold risk given the high stakes involved had it not succeeded.

An accident at that moment might have effectively dashed Bastianini's championship aspirations, simultaneously squandering dwindling chances to secure additional grand prix victories as the season approaches its concluding stages.

Instead, things turned out favorably, and Bastianini remains in contention, albeit trailing Martin by a significant margin of 59 points.

Throughout the weekend, it appeared that Bastianini was trailing behind Bagnaia and Martin, who seemed to have a noticeable edge in speed. However, intense efforts after hours, with Bastianini mentioning he was analyzing data in his garage until 10pm on Saturday, dramatically changed his fortunes. From the beginning of the grand prix, he became a major contender for the win.

Following the summer hiatus, Bastianini has outperformed all riders except Martin in terms of points accumulation. This demonstrates the Italian rider's steady performance. The Emilia Romagna race confirmed his ability to compete with the top two contenders in MotoGP at present.

However, his victory at Silverstone didn't immediately result in further victories. Consistently achieving first place has proven to be a challenge for Bastianini in MotoGP. As a result, considering him a real contender for the championship is still challenging at this point.

Bagnaia's errors are starting to add up

Francesco Bagnaia's season tally of non-finishes has reached seven, following a late crash at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with only five races remaining.

Bagnaia's performance in Sunday's race faced a significant setback right from the beginning due to issues with his Michelin tires, causing him to fall far behind the leading pack. Despite showing dominant form in practice, securing pole position with a record-breaking lap, and leveraging a mistake by Martin in the sprint race to claim victory, the points difference in the championship was narrowed to a mere four points before the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

In Sunday's race, the distance between them was set to widen once more, despite Bagnaia regaining his speed around the midway point. However, the impact on his standing in the points tally is significantly more detrimental than anticipated, as he now trails by 24 points.

Martin has secured the runner-up position in four out of the previous five Grand Prix races. This has compensated for the setback he experienced due to a tactical mistake at the San Marino GP. It's precisely this strategy that Bagnaia needs to embrace.

What adds to the irritation is that Bagnaia, had he reduced his pace slightly, could likely have secured the second position anyway, especially considering Martin was forced off the track by Bastianini's maneuver on the final lap.

The duo would have been tied in points as they approached Indonesia…

Leading scorers post-summer hiatus 📊 (Top 4)Martin leads with 129 points, closely followed by Bastianini at 127. Marquez has accumulated 115, while Bagnaia trails with 95 points.#MotoGP pic.twitter.com/Lkz1Qe1KwT— Crash MotoGP (@crash_motogp) September 23, 2024

Marquez's aspirations for a championship take a hit

At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Marc Marquez faced a reality check when he failed to compete for his third consecutive grand prix win.

Another mishap in Q2 hindered his progress, relegating him to a seventh-place start. However, he acknowledged that given the performance of his Gresini-operated GP23, his realistic goal was fourth place, and no level of extra effort would have altered that outcome.

Bagnaia's fall turned out to be a fortunate event, elevating him to third place and allowing him to remain only 60 points behind Martin in the championship standings.

He anticipates that the upcoming overseas races will further highlight the disparity between the GP23 and GP24 models, and he acknowledges the need for something more to truly compete for the championship. However, his remark about being open to finishing fourth indicates that he hasn't dismissed the chance of securing his ninth championship in 2024.

He explained that opting for greater risks could result in finishing in fourth place, potentially just four seconds slower than the front runner. On the other hand, choosing a more cautious approach would also likely lead to a fourth-place finish, but with an eight-second lag behind the leader. Therefore, he concluded, the outcome would essentially be the same, which guided their decision-making process.

The upcoming overseas races present several chances for Marquez to aim for victories once more, as the reduced grip situations, uncertain weather, and specific track designs could work to his advantage.

At last, a glimmer of optimism for Honda and Yamaha

In the Emilia Romagna GP, world champion Fabio Quartararo once again demonstrated his exceptional skills by securing a place in Q2 with his Yamaha and finishing the sprint in seventh place.

He was poised to secure his first top-six finish of the season, but his motorcycle ran out of fuel on the final lap, causing him to finish in seventh place instead.

The 2021 world champion faced a significant setback, yet Yamaha's ongoing development is truly showing positive results. He competed once more with the latest chassis unveiled at the San Marino GP, complemented by a new engine. However, the motorcycle struggled with grip during the qualifying rounds and lacked the necessary power for overtaking.

Deeper in the rankings, Honda achieved its peak performance of the year. Following the absence of Joan Mir and Luca Marini from the San Marino GP because of health issues, they made a strong recovery to secure the 11th and 12th positions in the race.

Mir and Honda achieved their highest placement of the year at eleventh, whereas Marini secured the twelfth position.

Although Honda and Yamaha still have significant ground to cover, receiving a positive push as they approach the overseas races is encouraging. Given their performance in some of last year's international competitions, the upcoming events might favor both teams, allowing them to capitalize on the progress made in Misano.

Significant developments on the horizon for KTM?

At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the outcomes for the KTM team were a blend of highs and lows. Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder both started among the top five contenders and secured positions within the top six during the sprint race.

In the grand prix, both racers showed impressive pace, potentially heading for another set of top-five finishes, but each encountered individual crashes. Concurrently, Jack Miller and Augusto Fernandez faced challenges due to vibration problems during the race, ultimately finishing 16th and 18th respectively as they crossed the finish line.

Undoubtedly, the trial run at Misano shortly after the San Marino Grand Prix provided a significant advantage to KTM, as it introduced its latest aerodynamic package during a race weekend for the very first time at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The real excitement unfolded away from the racetrack, according to a revelation from GPOne. It disclosed that Francesco Guidotti would relinquish his position as the team manager for KTM in the coming year, with Dani Pedrosa, who has clinched 31 grand prix victories, set to succeed him.

Upon contacting KTM for a response, the Austrian bike maker refuted the speculations, according to Crash.net.

However, these updates come after KTM announced earlier in the year its separation from engineer Fabiano Sterlacchini, who it had previously attracted away from Ducati in the middle of 2021, and who is now poised to move to Honda.

KTM's progress has not met its expectations in recent years, lacking a win in dry conditions since the Barcelona Grand Prix in 2021 and any sort of win on a Sunday since 2022. It's evident that the team believes a reorganization within is necessary to propel the project forward.

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