Francesco Bagnaia MotoGP rivals judge Malaysia Sprint crash: “It’s like motocross”

A crash out of second place in the Malaysian MotoGP Sprint dealt a major late blow to Francesco Bagnaia’s 2024 world title hopes.

The three-times World Champion crashed out at turn nine, folding the front mid-corner as his front tyre hopped from under him.

Turn nine is a corner that has proven difficult all weekend. Aleix Espargaro fell there twice on Friday, and Augusto Fernandez crashed there in qualifying.

Marc Marquez, who inherited second place from Bagnaia when he crashed out, said that the tricky conditions in that corner and Bagnaia’s intensity in the opening laps might have been factors in the Italian’s crash.

“I mean, that turn nine is super-critical,” Marquez said, having been directly behind Bagnaia when the Italian crashed out of the Sepang Sprint.

“How many crashes we see, this type of crash in turn nine; I mean he was pushing, he did what he needed to do and tomorrow again he needs to take a risk and try to win the race because it’s his only chance to recover points.

“When you are in front in a championship, everything is easier to control and to manage. But, [Jorge] Martin is doing a very good job.”

Despite his position directly behind Bagnaia when he crashed, Marquez was not able to offer any analysis of why the crash happened.

“He [Bagnaia] needs to explain,” Marquez said. “I mean, on that brake point, believe me, my eyes every lap were going out from the helmet because you are braking super-hard and you have enough [work] to feel what is happening with your bike.

“I see only that he lost the front on the very last part. But, I don’t know what happened on the bike.”

Martin: Turn nine “really critical all the weekend”

Bagnaia’s main title rival Jorge Martin echoed the thoughts of Marquez on the treacherousness of turn nine this weekend, and noted the patchy surface on the inside of that particular corner.

“It’s been really critical all the weekend,” Martin said, following his Sprint victory that moved him 29 points clear of Bagnaia in the riders’ standings.

“I had a few moments yesterday in my time attack, also today in my time attack. It’s on the perfect line, you have like three different asphalts, and at some point there is no asphalt.

“So, it’s like motocross. It’s really difficult. You have to be really precise [with the] line on that corner.

“I didn’t see the crash yet, so I cannot give my opinion about it. But I also had some moments in that corner and I have to release [the brakes] sometimes during the race to not crash.”

Enea Bastianini: “I lost the front in that corner two times”

Bagnaia’s factory Ducati teammate Enea Bastianini was one place behind Marquez when Bagnaia crashed, and also had a view of the crash.

He again repeated that turn nine was proving tricky, and gave a clue as to where Bagnaia’s mistake might have come.

“Today turn nine was very critical,” Bastianini said, “because when you are with the brake it starts to move a bit, but when you release sometimes you lose the front.

“I lost the front in that corner two times, but I stayed more lucky compared Pecco [Bagnaia].

“I don’t know what happened to Pecco because he was in front of me, but [in front of] Marc [Marquez]. Probably the mistake has been after the middle of the corner.”