These days Jorge Martín and Pecco Bagnaia are engaged in a wonderful battle for the MotoGP crown. Both have known each other their whole lives, ever since they fought to become World Cup riders as children. During their first steps into competition, in Moto3, they strengthened their bonds and became friends, although in this sport, on the racetrack, it is better to put feelings aside. “I never thought we could fight for the title together,” admits the 25-year-old from Madrid.
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“When I arrived, he already had experience and was always superior to me, so I tried to learn a lot from him,” he adds. Now, in the midst of the fight for a dream, it is the Spaniard who has once again demonstrated his remarkable development on the Ducati to give his former teammate a record pole position and his fifth sprint victory in a row – his seventh to deal another blow of the year – at the GP of Thailand. The reigning world champion starts this Sunday (9 a.m., DAZN) from sixth starting position and lost nine points in the table after his seventh place in the short race on Saturday. Now 18 points separate the two and 136 points are at stake.
This “odd” couple, as Bagnaia himself defined it, came together under the umbrella of Team Aspar in 2015 and 2016. “For me it’s really nice to see Pecco and Jorge fighting in MotoGP. Also to Marco [Bezzecchi] and Alex [Espargaró]. We are the seed of all this and I love it,” exclaims Jorge Martínez Aspar, former rider and leader of the team in which both achieved their first World Cup podium, in an interview with EL PAÍS. “They are still the same children that I had by my side six years ago,” he says. In the small category, the Spaniard and the Italian shared a bunk in the team truck. They spent the afternoons playing on the video game console, imagining themselves in the middle of a battle for glory, the same one they were now fighting in the real world. “Our relationship is based on respect and we both know each other’s potential well, so there will always be a fair fight between us,” says number one.
That potential leads to one of the most exciting World Cup finals in recent memory. With four Grands Prix still to go, they are less than a race away. Both feature the same technical package, although one wears the official Ducati red and the other the purple and white of one of the satellite teams. “Jorge is in spectacular shape. We always told him he would have everything he needed to win. Salary, motorcycle, all the conditions for him are as if he were a rider of the official team,” emphasizes Paolo Ciabatti, sports director of the Bologna brand, to this newspaper. In its own words, the manufacturer’s policy is: “Let the best win.”
Everyone in the paddock agrees that Martín is currently the fastest rider in his category, but Bagnaia has more experience and a title that is still very fresh in his mind. “I see Jorge faster, he is at his best, but Pecco knows how to persevere and fish even in bad times,” says Aspar. Those who know them best say they are both similar, particularly in their personal treatment. “Pecco is a pilot and a very educated, technical and informed person. He wants to know everything and he is calm, he is not aggressive. Martin is much more impulsive. Of course it has been refined and is becoming more and more sophisticated,” analyzes her mentor. “Jorge is more explosive and has hot blood, he can control the bike even when there are problems. Pecco wants to have everything under control, have the bike tailored to him and feel perfect for his riding style. That’s the biggest difference between the two,” explains Ciabatti.
More of a mental problem than a technical one
Carlos Checa, former rider and television commentator, emphasizes that the two candidates are capable of getting the most out of the best bike on the grid. “Maybe they take a tenth or two from each other, and that in one round is not appreciated by the human eye. “You can only see that in telemetry,” he emphasizes. Due to the transparency policy between Ducati riders, both competitors can check their data at the end of each session and immediately see where they are losing ground. “For me at this point it is no longer a technical problem, but a mental one, and I think Jorge has less pressure and more of a lead, he arrives fresher.”
Martín exudes confidence despite suffering two serious setbacks at the last Grand Prix. He crashed at the Indonesian Grand Prix while leading by a wide margin and saw Bagnaia capitalize on his mistake to add his sixth win of the year on Sunday to regain the lead of the competition, which lasted just 24 hours for the Spaniard . Last week in Australia, a strategic error saw him drop from first to fifth on the final lap, leaving the Italian with another second-place finish. “Maybe it was overconfidence,” says Aspar, interpreting the Madrid native’s recent mistakes. Likewise, Ciabatti recalls the significance of the Italian champion’s accident in Barcelona, which bordered on tragedy when he was run over by Brad Binder’s KTM: “That changed the script of the season. An accident like this takes a toll on you personally and psychologically.”
Bagnaia emerged from the crisis when he needed it most, and that coincided with Martín’s first failures of the season. “Now they have balanced the forces for this final stage and it will be very exciting,” says Checa. The Saturday sprints were the biggest advantage for the Madrid native, who, in addition to three wins on Sunday, has collected seven victories in the modality introduced this year. The Turin native, on the other hand, runs better and better on the weekends and usually gets the most out of long races, in which he has already achieved six victories. The number one also won four sprints and his biggest liability was the five zeros on Sunday.
There are now four finals left and the key will be to minimize mistakes. “This is a race of successes. What they can’t afford is to go out and not lose. You always have to compete to win and I’m thinking about the World Cup. Maybe that means you know that one day your limit is to finish fourth,” says Checa. “Regularity will win,” agrees Aspar. At Ducati as a factory, they follow the battle with joy and puff out their chests because they know that in the end one of their riders will win the world championship. “There are three Ducati riders in the first three places. When we think about where we were a few years ago, it’s a miracle. The most important things for us are Pecco, Jorge and Marco [Bezzecchi] They are pilots who respect each other. They do everything to win, but never do anything wrong or unsportsmanlike. This is what we want, so that the best win with the image that Ducati wants to convey through the championship,” concludes Ciabatti.
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