We should not be too naive when we face the last three Grands Prix of the MotoGP World Championship. It would be convenient not to think that things are even. It would be somewhat naive to believe that the champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha)which has been at the forefront of the championship for many races, continues to be, now, with three races to go (Australia, Malaysia and Valencia) y 75 points at stakethe great favorite, not only as leader, but also as brand new champion.
No, it is not and not only because of the crisis he is going through, because he has not won since the German Grand Prix, in June, when he went to sleep, yes, yes, with 91 points more than the Italian ‘Pecco’ Bagnaiathe one chosen by the powerful Ducati factory to be champion, but because his Yamaha is already worse than the ‘Desmosedici’, than the Aprilia and, of course, returned Marc Márquezthan the Honda RC213V of the champion from Cervera (Lleida).
annulled rent
That is why the ‘Devil’ may soon stop being the leader of the World Cup and, perhaps, in 13 days, in Phillip Island (Australia), those 2 points of advantage that he has over Bagnaia will disappear. Or, perhaps, even the 20 that he takes from Aleix Espargaró who, yes, true, is there with the hook, but keeps intact, starring in an authentic feat, the possibilities of being MotoGP world champion.
When I say not to be naive, it is that the orders from the team, from Ducati, from the bosses of the Borgo Panigale firm, have already reached the MotoGP grid. And, even, perhaps they have not even dictated them to their seven (almost) official pilots so that they do not bother Bagnaia. Since Jack Miller, who was decisive for Bagnaia to achieve the podium (3rd) in Buriram, last Sunday, with a motivating sermon to ‘Pecco’ (“you must believe in yourself more, geez!”, told the Australian, who gets married this weekend), even Marco Bezzecchi, going through Jorge Martín, Johann Zarco, Enea Bastianini, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Luca Marini know that they cannot pass Bagnaia “unless we can achieve, with that overtaking, the victory ”, as Zarco told, who was the first to give himself up, yesterday, to the cause of supporting Bagnaia to try to get Ducati to win the big title, which they haven’t won since 2007 (Casey Stoner).
Bagnaia thanked Zarco for not having forced the overtaking and taking more risk than necessary
You can now say mass Bagnaia (“Zarco didn’t pass me because he didn’t brake much better”), the Borgo Panigale bosses can now tell you all the theses in the world, the truth is that ‘Pecco’ went to thank Zarco, a once the race was over, “for not having risked a fall for both of them in the last laps” and that the three bosses of Ducati Corse (Paolo Ciabatti, Davide Tardozzi and Gigi Dall’Igna) ran to the Pramac team workshop to thank Zarco’s gesture. White and bottled: Bagnaia (as usual) is the chosen one and the pilot to protect.
Do you want more reasons to understand that Quartararo is racing, now, against a team of eight drivers? Zarco did the fastest lap, I repeat, the fastest race lap, on lap 19 (1.38.941 minutes), just the lap in which he caught Bagnaia and was right next to the Italian, in fourth position! And from there, write down: 1.39.271, 1.39.940, 1.39.896….until 1.40.272 and 1.40.042 of your last two laps. That is to say, he arrived like a rocket to Bagnaia, overtaking Márquez on the way, and, as soon as he hit the tail of the Ducati leader, he began to roll a second slower per lap.
It is not surprising, then, that some French media criticized the attitude of his compatriot Johann Zarco, since another Frenchman, Fabio Quartararo, is the leader, the champion and the one who fights with Bagnaia for the title. Moreover, many messages on French social networks suggest to Zarco that “if he does not plan to help Quartararo, what he should do is apply for Italian nationality.”
The ‘Devil’, desperate
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Quartararo, who left Buriram (Thailand) without speaking to his technical team, not the Yamaha engineers, not the Michelin technicians, not even the media, knows that he has run out of credit. Either he wins, or he returns to the podium, or he must give up the throne. On Sunday, they say, his motorcycle had no grip, because the tires suffered from excess pressure and ruined his race. They count. The same thing happened to his brand mates Franco Morbidelli and Cal Crutchlow. The 17th place of the ‘Devil’ in Buriram is the second worst classification for him since he debuted in MotoGP, in 2019.
MotoGP World Championship, with three races to go (75 points): 1. Fabio Quartararo (France, Yamaha), 291 points; 2. ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia (Italy, Ducati), 217; 3. Aleix Espargaró (Spain, Aprilia), 199; 4. Enea Bastianini (Italy, Ducati), 180 and 5. Jack Miller (Australia, Ducati), 179.