Pecco Bagnaia set himself the main objective for the second half of the season to improve his performance in the sprint On Saturdays, he managed to do his job with a victory at the Austrian GP after trying to get the better of Jorge Martin, his great rival for the title. The Spaniard finished second despite making a mistake that penalised him twice, and the equality between the contenders is now reflected in the table: tied at 250 points, with the Italian leading by majority of victories on Sunday.
The Ducati leaders, unable to get away from each other, already exchanged blows in Friday’s practice sessions, sharing the free sessions. On Saturday, the first blow was landed by Jorge Martín, who scored a pole position stratospheric – 1:27.748, a new track record – in the morning. Bagnaia, a little slower, thought that first place was his when he saw his time, and he celebrated briefly when he crossed the finish line. The cold shower only motivated him to up the ante in the afternoon race.
“We have worked hard on this. Jorge is certainly stronger in the sprintbut having already won three this year is very important for me,” stressed the current champion in DAZN. It is his fourth consecutive victory on this track, where he has remained undefeated since 2022, his third sprint in the last five Grand Prix. “I have learned to manage the soft tyres better, and it is very important to always be up front in the qualifying sessions. To do this you have to do things a little backwards, go into the corner slower to come out faster by accelerating,” he explained about the reconfiguration of his driving.
This metamorphosis has given Bagnaia more explosiveness, and he once again showed his more aggressive side in the short race on Saturday. He took advantage of a bad start by Martín to take the lead in the first corner, although he then saw the Madrid rider quickly return the favour. In the first lap, the two candidates passed each other on four occasions. The Pramac rider, fired up and somewhat nervous after this duel, went over the edge before the chicane in the first sector, going down the escape route and giving up the leading position to the red Ducati.
Martín stayed glued to Bagnaia’s tail, but in the stewards’ offices the hammer was ready. Despite having lost time and having let the world champion pass, the Spaniard did not lose the mandatory second required by the regulations. By just one tenth, he was given a long lap penalty which he served seven laps from the checkered flag, ending up in no man’s land, but still in third place. Ahead of him, Marc Márquez was riding alone and was close to second place after starting third on the grid, but the Catalan crashed after another unforced error in the slowest corner of the track and ended up retiring, quite annoyed with himself.
The crash of 93 was the only gift that fate granted to Martin. “Without the long-lap “I would have finished much better. I really enjoyed the first two laps, and then I just tried to maintain the podium position. I saved a race with many complications, but I think I have the potential to fight with Pecco. I was able to attack him and counterattack, and there are other times where I have those cards,” said the Spaniard, thinking already about this Sunday’s race (2:00 p.m., DAZN). A domestic accident, in which he cut his left thumb after slipping while coming out of the shower, did not prevent him from setting the best time and having to deal with Bagnaia as always. The script for the World Championship is up to both of them, with no realistic opportunity yet for the supporting actors.
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