Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia heads into the summer break eighth in the championship after an indifferent first half of the season.
Bagnaia has fallen three places compared to last season but, in his defence, he is at least riding at a more consistent level. Aprilia’s progress, and the end of Ducati’s dominance, is the main cause of his regression.
The Italian hasn’t won a Grand Prix yet this season, with his only victory coming in the Brno Sprint. When one factors in the Saturday races, he has scored eight podiums in 22 starts.
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Francesco Bagnaia’s head-to-head with Marc Marquez paints a damning picture
Bagnaia was utterly thrashed by Marc Marquez last season, ultimately finishing over 250 points, but he did have the ‘excuse’ that he was up against arguably the greatest rider ever in his absolute prime.
He also felt that changes to the Ducati bike had nullified his strengths, a claim the team disputed.
But this year, Marquez has been far from ‘prime’ condition. In fact, the Spanish rider missed the Grand Prix at Le Mans through injury and the entire Catalan GP weekend.
Beforehand, with a screw pressing on his radial nerve, Marquez was riding with ‘one and a half arms’. As he slowly rebuilds the muscle in his right arm, he still isn’t fully fit.
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Indeed, Davide Tardozzi said last month that Marquez would not be 100% until September.
Even if that claim is treated with a degree of scepticism, how can Bagnaia explain the fact that he trails Marquez 18-6 in the head-to-head (accounting for all competitive sessions where both have been classified)?
Despite the 33-year-old being significantly weakened, Bagnaia can only beat him in flashes. And this ultimately demonstrates why he can’t be called a legend, even if he’s clearly a great rider.
- READ MORE: Livio Suppo feels Francesco Bagnaia ‘needs to prove’ his MotoGP titles weren’t down to Ducati’s bike
Marquez is the favourite to win the title from here, while Bagnaia is headed for a respectable but ultimately forgettable farewell. If there is to be any challenger within the Ducati stable, it will probably be VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Bagnaia is a two-time world champion and nobody can ever take that away from him. But facing Marquez is the ultimate test of a rider’s ability, and he has failed it spectacularly.
Barring a stunning revival at Aprilia, he will be known as a rider who peaked at the right time on a dominant Ducati, but fell short of being an all-time great. At this stage, nobody can argue with the decision to let him go in favour of Pedro Acosta.
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