In the fight for the world title in the 2023 MotoGP season there was a – at least temporary – changing of the guard on Saturday at the Mandalika International Circuit on Lombok in Indonesia. Because Ducati factory rider Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia has lost the championship lead, which he had held since the end of April, to Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin.
While Martin clinched his fourth sprint victory in a row on Saturday and thus took the championship lead for the first time in his MotoGP career, Bagnaia only crossed the finish line in P8. Directly ahead of him in seventh place was Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini, who this weekend marks his comeback after missing three race weekends.
Bagnaia, who had only started from 13th place on the grid, bit his teeth on Bastianini for several laps. A stable order was not issued by Ducati, which is why Bagnaia’s points gap to Martin before Sunday’s Grand Prix is seven points. On Sunday, Martin will again start from P6 on the starting grid, whereas Bagnaia will once again take 13th place on the grid.
In the stable duel in the Ducati factory team, Bagnaia had already lost out to Bastianini in qualifying, namely in the Q1 segment, in which both duels for the subsequent place in Q2. While the returnee Bastianini made it into Q2 with the second fastest time behind Luca Marini, Bagnaia was 0.099 seconds slower. The championship leader therefore had to start the sprint from the fifth row of the grid. 13 laps later he lost the championship lead.
No Ducati stable orders: Bagnaia “accepted it from the start”
Bagnaia sums up Saturday as a whole, on which he also received a fine, as follows: “With fresh soft tires [in Q1] I had a few problems. My bike is very nervous with these tires and I find it difficult to open the throttle. Of course it wasn’t easy from 13th on the grid. Overtaking is actually only possible if you aggressively push other drivers off the line. But that has never been my driving style. That’s why I struggled today.”
Regarding the Ducati team duel with Enea Bastianini, in which there were no stable orders, Bagnaia notes that he had not expected one at all. “We will never have a team order. That’s just normal with eight riders who don’t all have the same package, but have the same opportunities for top results. That’s simply Ducati’s strategy and I’ve had it from the start accepted,” said the reigning MotoGP world champion.
“The only way to get past Enea today would have been to push him off the line. But that’s not the way I like to race,” Bagnaia underlines what he had already said shortly before in general terms has already explained, also with regard to the team duel.
And Bagnaia also takes the same view, namely not demanding a stable order, with regard to qualifying. “Why should you give a driver who is just returning from an injury the instruction not to improve his lap time?” he asks, referring to teammate Bastianini and the duel between the two in Q1. “For the outside world this may be difficult to understand. But for us it is normal,” said Bagnaia.
Bastianini, who finished the sprint in P7 just under half a second ahead of Bagnaia, also says that he had no thoughts about a stable order. “I didn’t think about that. It was my return race and my only job was to enjoy it and finish. I’ve been sitting at home long enough now, watching the races furiously in front of the TV.”
Bagnaia is relaxed about the new World Cup status
Regarding the new situation in the 2023 MotoGP overall ranking, which no longer shows him as the world championship leader for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of April, “Pecco” Bagnaia says: “The season is still very long. Seven points behind with six left to races. That makes me believe in the title. I will continue to give everything.”
By the way: Bagnaia was fined 500 euros on Saturday because he drove out of the pit lane at a red light in Q1.