Jorge Martin gives verdict on Pecco Bagnaia-Alex Marquez Aragon MotoGP crash

Jorge Martin’s championship prospects were boosted at last weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix as he continued his exceptional consistency while Francesco Bagnaia crashed out.

Martin had arrived in Aragon trailing Bagnaia by five points in the World Championship, after the Italian took victory in both the Sprint and Grand Prix in Austria.

But a poor weekend for Bagnaia, points-wise, was matched by another weekend of two second places for Martin, who has finished second in all six races held since the summer break.

Bagnaia’s weekend was completed by a late-race incident with Alex Marquez. After a poor start, Bagania was coming through the field, and arrived at Marquez’s rear wheel with seven laps to go.

On lap 18, Marquez ran wide at turn 12, and, as Bagnaia tried to take advantage, the two made contact and fell a turn 13.

Martin gave his view of the incident in the post-race press conference, although he was clearly reluctant to lean too far in one direction or the other.

“It’s difficult,” Martin said. “You should ask Pecco [Bagnaia] and Alex [Marquez].

“For sure, it’s difficult to see because also there was a lot of dust on that side, so I think Alex couldn’t lean more, like happened to Joe Roberts in Moto2 (Roberts crashed on the last lap while battling with his American Racing teammate Marcos Ramirez), and finally there was a contact.

“Hopefully they are okay because it seemed after the crash they were close to the bikes, so I hope they are okay for the next race.”

After the incident, Bagnaia went to the medical centre where it scans did not show that any bones were broken. The Italian did report, though, that he was feeling pain in his neck and left shoulder.

The next round of the MotoGP World Championship, the San Marino Grand Prix, is this weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Bagnaia entered this race in 2023 with an injured leg after he crashed in the Catalan Grand Prix, and this year he will have the same one-week recover period after Aragon to be ready for Misano.

Although Bagnaia has won twice in Misano in the MotoGP class, it was Martin who won both races in 2023, and the Spaniard this year takes a 23-point championship lead to his rival’s home round.