After 12 races out of 20 this season, the top 3 in the 2022 MotoGP standings – Fabio Quartararo, Aleix Espargaro and Francesco Bagnaia – are separated by 49 points. While defending champion Quartararo on the Yamaha and also Aprilia spearhead Espargaro have been in the first two places in the table for months, Ducati rider Bagnaia has recently returned to the circle of title contenders with two wins in a row.
Before his two victories at Assen and most recently at Silverstone, Bagnaia had crashed three times in a span of four races in a promising position. He wasn’t responsible for the crash at the start in Barcelona, but the crashes in Le Mans and on the Sachsenring – both in pursuit of the leader – were his fault.
However, Espargaro has not yet noticed any crashes in the race. After twelve races this season, the Aprilia driver is the only driver in the field who has always scored points. Even championship leader Quartararo has a zero number to show, namely from Assen, where he fell in a duel against Espargaro of all places. After P8 at Silverstone, Quartararo’s lead over Espargaro is currently 22 points. Bagnaia is another 27 points behind Espargaro. How does Quartararo rate his two direct pursuers?
Quartararo on Espargaro: “Lots of respect”
About Espargaro, with whom he has a friendship, Quartararo says immediately before the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg: “When we fight each other, it happens with a lot of respect. But he wants to win, like I want to win. That’s it now times our common goal. As far as both of us are concerned, I don’t think it will affect how we get along off the track.”
Espargaro throws in directly: “We clashed once in Assen and we will certainly clashed again in the coming races. But that’s racing. As long as we know how far we can go without losing respect for each other, that’s racing. Fabio is a very nice guy. He lives right next to me. Every time he walks by my house he stops by to say hello. I hope it stays that way for years to come.”
Quartararo on Bagnaia: “A very strong opponent”
While Quartararo and Espargaro are practically neighbors in Andorra, “Pecco” Bagnaia lives in Italy. How does Quartararo rate him? “With ‘Pecco’ it’s never been the case that we’ve fought head-to-head in a race,” he notes.
“Sure, we have [2021] fought for the World Championship for a long time and of course he is a very strong opponent,” said the defending champion, adding: “Basically, I have to say that there is no one in this racing series that you can simply leave behind. After all, this is where the best in the world drive.”
Quartararo on Marquez: “I haven’t won a duel yet”
Last but not least, Quartararo also means Marc Marquez, who wants to make his comeback before the end of the season. The duels for victories that both have fought so far took place at a time when the Honda rider from Spain was in top form. “I haven’t won a duel against Marc yet. The two direct duels we fought were Misano and Thailand,” Quartararo recalls.
The current reigning world champion is referring to the 2019 season, when he and Marquez first fought for victory at the San Marino Grand Prix and shortly afterwards at the Thai Grand Prix in Buriram. Quartararo was a rookie for Petronas-Yamaha while Marquez was on his way to his sixth premier-class world title on the factory Honda.