Pecco Bagnaia has enjoyed his first weekend as number one in the MotoGP World Championship. The reigning world champion dominated the first race of the 2023 event with abusive authority, once again demonstrating Ducati superiority. The Borgo Panigale brand took four of the five Italian bikes that finished to the top. Only Maverick Viñales, with a respectable second place for Aprilia, slipped through the bullets in Bologna. Marco Bezzecchi completed the podium and Johann Zarco and Álex Márquez completed the top five.
In a race without as much history as Saturday’s sprint, much more intense and competitive, Bagnaia was able to set his pace from the second lap when he took the lead and didn’t have to look back until he crossed the finish line. After an initial shock with Marc Márquez, the other great protagonist of the day, the man from Turin signed the plenary session, adding 37 points out of a possible 37 at the premiere of the new weekend format. “It started the way I and the team wanted it to be,” the benchmark of the championship celebrated powerfully and effectively on the track. “That gave me a lot of strength. I want to show that I’m number one,” he added.
The eldest of the Márquez family, emboldened by his stratospheric Saturday at Portimao – where he took pole position and a podium in the sprint – over-reved on lap three as he finished fourth and after coming wide into turn three of the circuit was followed by local idol Miguel Oliveira, who finished second. The Portuguese was left lying by the side of the track, visibly injured, and the Cervera man immediately came over to apologize. In the process, the Honda man also hit Jorge Martín, who fell from third to 15th after the shock and then crashed with five laps to go. The Pramac Ducati rider from Madrid broke a toe on his right foot in the incident, while the Portuguese suffered no obvious injuries during an initial reconnaissance at the circuit.
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Marc Márquez, injured and sanctioned
Already showered and changed, head down and a little lame after the bump, Marc approached the Aprilia pits to apologize to the Portuguese team and then to the crowd, who didn’t forgive him and whistled loudly from the stands. The 1993 revolution lasted a day and ended with the Honda reference in plaster after his strong blow against Martín and Oliveira. The new injury is another blow for the pilot, who will undergo further medical tests this Monday in Barcelona to confirm the extent of his thumb condition. “There may be a fracture in the first metacarpal bone of the right hand,” said WM doctor Dr. Angel Charter. The setback could affect the eighth world champion’s participation in the Argentine GP, which takes place in Termas de Río Hondo next weekend.
The championship commissioners imposed, as the pilot and his entourage had already anticipated, a two-lap penalty on Márquez – which consists of deviating from the usual line in a marked area that varies by track and losing about two extra seconds entails – for the next race because of “being too aggressive and causing a collision”. For his part, the runner concentrated on his apology and gave no further information about his physical condition: “I can’t and don’t want to answer whether I will be in Argentina because it’s not the most important thing now. The most important thing is that Miguel is okay. Today another rider crashed because of a mistake because of me and I felt really bad. That’s why I’m asking you
Sorry”. According to him, the collision happened after the front wheel of his Honda locked under braking and the bike was thrown at its rivals due to the accumulated inertia. “When I released the bike brake, the steering was closed because Martín was there. I couldn’t avoid Oliveira,” he lamented.
The benchmark accident left the best Honda, Álex Rins’, in tenth place. At the front, eight of the top ten bikes were European, with a disappointed Fabio Quartararo leaving the lead Japanese machine, his Yamaha, in eighth place with a distinct lack of punch. The relentless battle over the last two laps for fourth place, occupied by the youngest of the Márquez, resulted in some of the finest overtaking maneuvers of the day. Zarco, going from less to more, was able to overtake Brad Binder’s KTM and its brand partner with a masterful final lap. The main role, however, took the punch of the elder of the Márquez and in the background the overwhelming victory of Bagnaia, the first leader of the world championship.
“Ask for forgiveness no longer works”
“Mother of God,” Maverick Viñales said after seeing Márquez’s accident repeat itself just before he climbed onto the podium. The disbelieving reaction of some pilots already indicated that there would be controversy in the paddock. Jorge Martín, who was injured in the incident, was very harsh on the Honda benchmark to Motorsport.com: “It’s not the first time he’s been thrown at me. Apologizing to the pilot and the public no longer works.” Another who slammed the Cervera man was Aleix Espargaró, who charged against the tentative sanction of two long laps imposed by the commissioners. “He deserves to be penalized with at least one race. If not, it’s ridiculous,” he explained, clearly annoyed. Four drivers had to visit the Faro hospital in Portugal on the first race weekend.