After ten MotoGP weekends, Francesco Bagnaia is just three points off the top of the standings – how he rates himself and where he leaves the most points
The Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg next weekend officially heralds the start of the second half of the 2024 MotoGP season. A maximum of 370 points are still up for grabs over ten weekends. The world championship pendulum has already swung back and forth between Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin several times
After his two second places at Silverstone, Martin is currently just three points ahead of Bagnaia, who crashed in the final sprint and finished third in the main race, while his team-mate Enea Bastianini won twice.
Asked about his season and how he would rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, Bagnaia said: “Nine, because I had a few mistakes, for example the accident in Portimao with Marc. In Barcelona (in the sprint) I crashed while leading.”
“That was the worst mistake because I was nine tenths of a second ahead, and that was on the last lap. That’s why I can’t give myself a ten,” explained the world champion.
Bagnaia was unable to confirm the momentum from the last races before the summer break at Silverstone. Nevertheless, the Italian emphasizes: “I feel good, I’m working fantastically with my team. We have won six races, five in the last six Grands Prix (before the summer break).”
“So I am very happy because we are in a good situation. But in Austria we start again from zero, because only a few points separate us and the world championship is still very long,” said the two-time MotoGP champion.
“So it’s not time to think about something like a turning point or the championship.” For Bagnaia, it’s all about improving his sprint record. While title rival Martin has scored 86 points in the shortened races so far, Bagnaia has only managed 45 in total
