Thrills and Shifts at Motegi: Five Crucial Learnings from the 2024 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix

Five Insights Gained from the 2024 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix

Five Crucial Lessons from the 2024 Season’s 16th MotoGP Race

The championship competition heated up during the 2024 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix following a series of race victories by Francesco Bagnaia.

The two-time global champion delivered his finest performance since the Austrian Grand Prix in August, securing a second-place finish in qualifying, then going on to triumph in both the sprint and the grand prix.

Jorge Martin experienced an unusually challenging weekend, marked by a fall during Q2 that positioned him 11th, followed by securing fourth in the sprint race and runner-up in the grand prix. Consequently, the Pramac competitor's advantage in the championship standings has decreased to a mere 10 points.

Pedro Acosta demonstrated his increasing proximity to achieving his initial victory in MotoGP by securing his first pole position. However, despite his evident quick pace, he was unable to maintain it until the end, as he experienced falls in both Motegi races.

Marc Marquez shrugged off a contentious decision to cancel his fastest lap in Q2, which after the session had ended, demoted him from pole position to ninth place on the starting grid. Despite this setback, he managed to fight back and secure podium finishes in both of the weekend's races.

Away from the race circuit, there were significant developments as Romano Albesiano transitioned to Honda to take on the role of technical director. Meanwhile, Aprilia will welcome Fabiano Sterlacchini as his successor.

Here are five essential insights gained from the 2024 MotoGP event in Japan.

1 – The battle for the title continues as Bagnaia recovers form

Following his exit from the race in Emilia Romagna and challenges faced in Indonesia, Bagnaia managed to gain a significant advantage over his main competitor, Martin, with his lead at 21 points ahead of the race in Japan.

Bagnaia confessed post-victory at the grand prix that he anticipated difficulties at Motegi, yet surprisingly, he was more competitive from the start than at any other time in Japan. From the onset of Friday, it was evident that Bagnaia was a strong contender for victory in both races, with Martin’s mishap in Q2 providing further opportunities.

Pedro Acosta's fall while leading the sprint race (details to follow) inadvertently handed Bagnaia a victory worth 12 points, and a second crash in the main race by the Tech3 newcomer eased the pressure on the reigning world champion.

Despite this, Bagnaia maintained a steady and exceptional performance throughout the race, effectively managing any challenge posed by Martin towards the end. Achieving his fourth weekend with 37 points and securing his eighth victory of the season, Bagnaia joins the ranks of racing legends such as Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner, showcasing his top form at Motegi.

While the race may not have captured everyone's attention for its excitement, Pecco Bagnaia's speed was truly remarkable 👍💫 #MotoGP #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/6FeIWIvBHk

However, his inconsistent performance in 2024 poses challenges in viewing this as the beginning of a significant trend. Martin's steady performance in Japan was beneficial, enabling him to depart from Motegi while still maintaining his position at the top of the championship standings.

In yet another challenging weekend, Martin secured 20 points in the grand prix, and it's possible he could have finished higher than fourth in the sprint if not for the need to adopt a conservative strategy due to occasional rain showers.

Additionally, he wore out his tires significantly more than Bagnaia, given his start from the 11th position, and a major fright towards the end had him extremely worried, causing him to give up his battle for the victory. Should Martin eventually secure the championship title, he will regard the Japanese race as a crucial moment in his pursuit of the season's success.

In two weeks, Australia will offer a completely different challenge, yet both competitors seem determined to stay closely matched in the rankings, despite having 11 instances where they didn't score any points in 2024 up to this point.

2 – Acosta experiences a tough lesson at MotoGP's training ground

The newcomer from Tech3 appeared visibly disheartened in the Motegi paddock on Sunday night, grappling with two Did Not Finish (DNF) outcomes in a Japanese Grand Prix where he had a chance at his inaugural victory.

Bagnaia identified Acosta as a likely challenge for the upcoming Sunday race due to his impressive pace over longer runs in the practice sessions. In his debut season, Acosta secured his first pole position, although his achievement was aided by the cancellation of Marc Marquez's leading lap in Q2.

During the race, Acosta seized the moment to pull ahead in the third lap out of a total of twelve. However, by the ninth lap, as he was extending his lead over Bagnaia, he unfortunately lost control and crashed at Turn 7.

Pulling ahead alongside Bagnaia during the initial laps of the grand prix and occupying the second position, Acosta experienced a fall at the final turn. He later explained that the incident occurred because he accelerated slightly too soon while attempting to navigate out of the corner, causing the front to lose grip and leading to his crash.

This incident was his third accident in four Grand Prix events, each time occurring when he was performing well. Observers have noted similarities between Acosta and Casey Stoner, who experienced numerous falls during his initial season with LCR Honda.

KTM has evidently advanced, as Acosta finds greater satisfaction after returning to previous settings and adapting a new frame to his advantage. However, it hasn't reached Ducati's performance level, requiring him to embrace higher risks to achieve his goals. "I refuse to concede that the Ducati surpasses the KTM, even if it means I'm prone to more crashes," he shared with the Spanish press in Japan.

He definitely must begin to witness more victories, but it's also crucial that he continues to have the freedom to err. As a newcomer contending at the forefront during MotoGP's most challenging period, he's navigating this balance.

Therefore, he should allow himself some leeway and focus on the reality that, once again over the weekend, he was more competitive and significantly quicker than his peers in the KTM group.

3 – Di Giannantonio's journey in the 2024 season might be cut short

Entering this part of the 2023 season, the VR46 team's racer was facing the possibility of his MotoGP career winding down. Marc Marquez had secured his spot at Gresini, and even prior to this, Di Giannantonio's chances of remaining with the Italian team were slim.

A year later, Di Giannantonio delivered an impressive showing at a particularly challenging track, despite dealing with an arm injury. Since dislocating his left shoulder at the Austrian Grand Prix, it has been a persistent issue, and there has been discussion of undergoing surgery.

However, it seems there has been a noticeable uptick in the likelihood of surgery, as Di Giannantonio disclosed post-Japanese GP that he has a crucial meeting scheduled for Wednesday this week to decide on the appropriate subsequent actions for his shoulder.

The GP23 has become less competitive compared to the GP24 as the year progresses into its latter half. Meanwhile, Di Giannantonio is gearing up for an important pre-season in 2025, as he prepares to switch to a factory-spec Ducati.

If the Japanese Grand Prix turns out to be the final race of the season for the Italian rider, he can be proud of his accomplishments, including beating his teammate Marco Bezzecchi in qualifying, securing a solid sixth place in the sprint, and finishing eighth in the main race.

4 – Marquez hit by unusual refereeing error

Marc Marquez, an eight-time world champion, seemed set for the pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix after setting a new lap record and leading Q2 towards the end. However, following the session's end, he was relegated to ninth place because his lap was annulled for going beyond the track boundaries.

Marquez and the Gresini team were upset because they weren't informed right away, which resulted in him not having any opportunity to complete more laps.

MotoGP's race director, Mike Webb, later explained that there was an issue with the automatic system responsible for recording laps that were nullified. This problem forced the stewards to erase the time by hand, resulting in a delay in communication to the team.

For the first time since its inception in 2021, the system in question has experienced a failure. In that year, to better determine track boundaries, pressure sensors were integrated into the run-off zones.

The aggravating aspect of this situation was that it remained unclear until the conclusion of Saturday's sprint race. It highlighted, yet again, the concern regarding the stewards panel's openness, particularly since this incident was, in fact, unrelated to them.

The malfunction was discovered and fixed, however, it is expected to prompt riders to reconsider and make sure they have alternative lap times available as a backup should a similar problem occur again.

5 – Honda Announces Major Technical Hire

During the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday, Honda revealed a significant development by announcing the recruitment of Aprilia's Romano Albesiano as its technical director for the 2025 season. This news follows extensive rumors that Fabiano Sterlacchini, formerly of KTM, was close to joining Honda in a similar capacity for the upcoming year.

Aprilia revealed concurrently that it had successfully signed Sterlacchini for 2025, stepping in for Albesiano. According to Crash.net, it was Albesiano's actions that prompted Aprilia to make this decision, not a case of the Italian being pushed out.

Honda's riders and the soon-to-join HRC test rider, Aleix Espargaro, who has collaborated with Albesiano at Aprilia since 2017, welcomed the announcement with commendation.

Albesiano transformed the RS-GP from a somewhat ridiculed contender in the 2015 racing circuit to a setup capable of clinching multiple race victories, managing to lure a high-profile rider such as Jorge Martin for the 2025 season.

Honda's present circumstances echo those that Aprilia experienced a few years back, marking a significant change in strategy for the Japanese company. It's anticipated that Ken Kawauchi, the existing technical director at HRC, will transition to the test team.

Sterlacchini's move to Aprilia is a significant acquisition, given his extensive background with Ducati and, more recently, KTM, bringing considerable promise for the upcoming development stage of the RS-GP.

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