Francesco Bagnaia makes bold Marc Marquez claim about 2024 MotoGP title defeat
“Losing is useful…”
Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia believes his 2024 MotoGP season “would’ve been a Marquez 2019 year” had it not been for sprint races also counting towards the final standings.
The double MotoGP world champion lost the title in the final round of the season to Pramac’s Jorge Martin by 10 points, having been able to force a showdown in Barcelona.
Though Bagnaia won 11 grands prix, joining the likes of Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner in achieving this feat in a single season, eight non-scores massively contributed to his defeat to a more consistent Martin.
Five of those non-scores came in sprint races, including particularly costly ones at the Catalan and Malaysian Grands Prix when he was leading and running second.
Without sprint races, Bagnaia believes his 2024 would have been like Marquez’s dominant 2019 campaign, when the then-Honda rider won 12 races and was second in every other bar one.
“It was an incredible season,” Bagnaia said on Andrea Migno’s podcast.
“Even though I won in Qatar, understanding the GP24 wasn’t immediate. Only in Jerez did we understand its potential.
“In general, I always finished in the top three on Sunday, except when I’d fall, and in Austin where I finished fifth.
“Without the sprints, it would have been a Marquez 2019 year. Too bad we had to give up the title because of mistakes and bad luck.
“The team deserved it. I fell several times this year, when I was slowing down, like in Barcelona [sprint].
“However, losing is useful, because it made me realise that we can’t let our guard down.
“I always set out to win, but sometimes you can’t.”
If the championship was decided on GP results alone, Bagnaia’s claim holds merit as he outscored Martin 370 to 337 on Sunday results.
In sprints, Martin totalled 171 points for the season while Bagnaia managed 128.
But the Marquez 2019 comparison is generous when considering he only retired from one race and won the championship by 151 points over Andrea Dovizioso.
