The top three in the 2024 championship standings – Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez – reveal the strengths and weaknesses of themselves and the other two
Six of 20 race weekends on the 2024 MotoGP calendar have been completed. This weekend, the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello is on the agenda, one of two Ducati home races on the calendar. The second (San Marino Grand Prix in Misano) is scheduled for September.
Before the Mugello weekend, four Ducati riders are in the top four places in the 2024 MotoGP standings, with the top three having already pulled away a little. They are Jorge Martin (Pramac-Ducati), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Marc Marquez (Gresini-Ducati).
Jorge Martin, reigning world championship runner-up, leads the standings after two Grand Prix victories and three sprint wins from six race weekends in 2024. He has a 39-point lead over two-time and reigning world champion “Pecco” Bagnaia, who has already won three Grands Prix this season, but not a sprint. In fact, he has recently failed to score points in the sprints three times in a row.
And Marc Marquez, six-time MotoGP world champion, is currently only two points behind Bagnaia in his first season on a Ducati. Marquez has yet to win on the Ducati, but has already finished in the top 3 three times in the Grands Prix and four times in the sprints. Unlike Martin and Bagnaia, who both ride a Ducati Desmosedici GP24, Marquez is on last year’s GP23 model.
How do the three top contenders for the 2024 MotoGP title rate each other? What are their strengths and weaknesses and where do they see each other’s strengths and weaknesses? All three were asked about this following the Catalan Grand Prix, which they all finished on the podium.
Defending champion “Pecco” Bagnaia says in relation to the strengths: “With Jorge, it’s the acceleration at the exit of corners. With Marc, it’s how he enters the corners. And for myself, it’s the braking.” Asked about weaknesses, he says: “Weaknesses? To be honest, there are no weaknesses at the moment, only strengths.” After a little thought, Bagnaia comes up with one for himself: “Maybe the sprints. “
World championship leader Jorge Martin says in relation to the strengths: “I agree with ‘Pecco’. You can also see that from the data. They are always the same after six races. It’s getting more and more difficult to beat each other every time because we’re getting closer and closer. That makes it difficult.”
And weaknesses? “Maybe I need to improve a bit on the brakes. Because they overtook me there, that’s probably my weak point,” says Martin, alluding to the sprint and Grand Prix in Barcelona. On Saturday, the Pramac rider was overtaken by Marc Marquez halfway through the race when braking into turn 1, and by Bagnaia in the final phase on Sunday when braking into turn 5.
Marc Marquez also agrees with Bagnaia’s comments regarding the strengths, saying: “‘Pecco’ explained it perfectly. The strengths are obvious.” Asked about the weaknesses, the Gresini rider replied: “Of course, every rider has weaknesses. As for mine, we are working on them.”
“We can’t afford to have problems on Fridays. We can’t afford to have to fight our way through Q1,” said Marquez and continued: “These two guys ride the Ducati really well. They are a bit stronger. Yes, I am there on certain tracks. But they are fast on every track. “
