Bagnaia slashes Martin deficit of Aragon crash with Misano runner-up finish

Francesco Bagnaia feels a “maximum” second place in the San Marino Grand Prix has provided the ideal result to slash into Jorge Martin’s MotoGP points lead.

For the second year in a row Bagnaia performed a ‘phoenix’ effect at his home grand prix, following 2023 when he kept his pursuit of a second title on course with a podium finish at Misano just one week after a massive smash in Barcelona.

This time Bagnaia steadily pursued Marc Marquez to complete a brace of second positions in San Marino seven days after his painful crash at Aragon that had handed main rival Martin a 23-point advantage.

Pramac’s Martin made the wrong call to enter the pitlane during the flag-to-flag grand prix as rain briefly feel at Misano, while running second to Bagnaia, and could only finish a lapped 15th. As a result, Bagnaia recouped a considerable margin to stand seven points from his title rival at the top of the championship.

“It doesn’t taste like a victory because it isn’t a victory but it is still very good,” he said after the race in Misano. “I’m a believer! I want to win but today second place was a huge result in terms of the championship.

“Yesterday I was angry because I had the chance…but I didn’t take it,” he said of his runner-up result behind Martin in the Saturday sprint; a result that had pushed the gap up to 26 points. “But today was the maximum I could do.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia also felt the recovery from his heavy Aragon crash added shine to his results in Misano.

“After Aragon it was a really tough Monday,” the Italian explained. “I wasn’t able to do much, and the pain was starting, a lot. We worked a lot with my crew and my physio and they did a fantastic job in the end. I’m very proud of what we did.”