Talk about poor timing to take a week off of writing. The Misano grand prix weekend was one of the most unusual we’ve had all season, the leadup had some dramatic impacts on the rider market for next year, and the days following have seen the return of MotoGP’s absent King. It was a rollercoaster period for riders, teams and fans alike, so let’s break it down into smaller pieces to understand exactly what has happened in MotoGP.
Firstly, we led into the weekend with silly season updates galore. Ducati announced Enea Bastianini had won the battle for the factory seat next year alongside Pecco Bagnaia, while Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco have been retained at Pramac. Joan Mir and Repsol Honda finally penned the deal that we’ve all known about for months, and Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez have been confirmed as RNF’s lineup for 2023 as they move into a new role as a satellite Aprilia squad.
There’s honestly not much to say about all this. Most of these deals had been fairly solid for some time – particularly the RNF riders and Zarco at Pramac – and it was simply the right time for the teams and riders to launch the announcement. Bastianini and Martin’s battle for the factory Ducati seat came to a close in Austria, and while both riders crashed from that race it was likely Bastianini’s shock pole position that finally sealed the deal for the Italian rider. Martin may have been Ducati’s golden child, groomed for success since he stepped up to the class, but Bastianini’s performances this year have outshone the Spaniards fairly consistently.
The news leaves just four seats left for next year’s grid, though none of them are actually open for business. VR46 have yet to announce their lineup for 2023, but it can be safely assumed that both Marco Bezzechi and Luca Marini will retain their current positions given their fantastic form so far in the season. The Japanese-sponsored LCR seat will go to either Takaaki Nakagami or Ai Ogura, depending on what Ogura wants and whether Honda prefer young talent or experience on the bike. There will be no surprises on these seats once the teams get around to announcing their riders for the following season.
The final seat at GasGas Tech3 is also known at this point, though the identity of the rider occupying it has come with some surprise. Remy Gardner looked fairly safe to retain his current seat in the team, but the news broke last week that he had been told by KTM there wasn’t room at the inn for him in their future plans. The reasoning had nothing to do with speed or consistency, since Gardner had shown clear improvements in his first six months on the bike and had occasionally run close to the pace of his far more experienced factory counterparts. No, the reason he had been dropped from the team in favour of Moto2 championship leader Augusto Fernandez was his lack of professionalism, with the Aussie rider highlighting comments made by himself and his manager earlier in the year as the main offenders.
How can a manufacturer justify letting go of the reigning Moto2 champion on such loose terms? KTM have not exactly had the best track record of handling their riders of late, so it doesn’t exactly come as a surprise that this has been the eventual outcome. Ditching both Iker Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci midway through the 2021 campaign, dropping Zarco after he announced his dissatisfaction with the project, effectively ending Bradley Smith’s MotoGP career after he worked tirelessly to produce the racing bike it is today… the Austrian factory has made a habit of cycling through rider lineups in their desperation to find performance and success in the premier class, and it’s starting to become a serious problem for them.
When you’re supposed to be the manufacturer that ladders riders up to the top of the world – remember, KTM supports bikes in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, Moto3 and Moto2 – dropping riders every season from your senior projects injects fear into any future prospects who may want to sign with you. Sure, you could argue that Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira are examples of the system working to perfection, but there are plenty more examples of rider contracts being poorly handled in the MotoGP class, and Oliveira stands out as a rider who has been talented but hardly happy on board the RC16. Should they wish to retain some of the young talent currently coming through the system, such as the wildly talented Pedro Acosta currently in their Moto2 lineup, then some systematic change is required.
Onto the race weekend. Misano was a weekend of three completely abstract days, separated almost entirely from one another by the different climates the riders faced. On Friday, the sky was clear and the weather was lovely, and across all three classes we saw times lowering towards the expected pace for qualifying. On Saturday, the clouds rolled in, and an overcast FP3 was followed by qualifying sessions hampered by spats of rain. In the top class, Quartararo was hampered the most by this, as despite his fantastic race pace he ended up stranded down in P8. Bezzechi got the most out of his time in Q1 to land a front row start, while Jack Miller reminded everyone why he is the current King of mixed conditions by taking his first pole in four years.
Sunday saw the weather change once again, this time in the opposite direction. The sun was back out for race day, and it was far more intense than it had been all weekend. Rain is often talked about in motorsports for what it can do to grip conditions, but rarely is it mentioned that intense heat can have similar effects. With the temperatures much higher, tire degradation increases tenfold, and riders can greatly struggle with conservation over the course of race distance as their grip vanishes lap over lap.
What followed was nothing short of a bloodbath. Moto3 saw six crashes, MotoGP saw seven, and Moto2 took the cake with fourteen riders wiping out of a 31-strong field. Riders of all levels of talent and experience were being caught out, and each race quickly evolved into something of a battle for survival. The conditions were nothing short of treacherous, and it took the grid plenty of time to come to terms with how to best combat the conditions.
In the MotoGP race, the two biggest contenders caught out were poleman Miller and local hero Bezzechi. Miller took an early lead but dumped his Ducati on the second lap; Bezzechi, despite his many laps spent at the Misano circuit with his VR46 comrades, bit the dust only a few laps later, with inexperience on a MotoGP bike likely to blame. They weren’t alone, however, as plenty of other riders hit the gravel trap or received long lap penalties for struggling to keep it on the racing line.
With two of the lead Ducatis out of the picture, a group of four emerged at the front: Bagnaia, Bastianini, Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales and Marini. Bagnaia led the charge, slowly upping the pace as he tested the mettle of those behind him, while Vinales and Bastianini took it in turns to pressure him from second. Quartararo attempted to hunt the leading pack down in fifth, but despite his impressive pace the poor qualifying meant he spent far too long in the early stages mired down the order. Unless someone made a mistake ahead of him, he was set to lose points in his championship challenge.
In the end, Bastianini was the lone rider able to run the distance against Bagnaia’s superior race pace and consistency, and the two engaged in a last-lap tussle and a drag to the line. Bagnaia won out, taking his fourth win in a row to join an elite club of consistent achievers in the class, but Bastianini’s last lap was nothing short of incredible. The Gresini man made a mistake taking avoiding action early in the lap, then somehow closed the gap back to Bagnaia and took the fastest lap of the race on his final attempt. The man showed real guts, and proved that he is more than capable of being a factory rider.
Ducati may not see it that way, however. Despite their saying that the 8 riders on Desmosedicis are free to battle on track as long as they keep it clean, they will know how close they are to clinching their first rider’s championship since 2007 right now. Bagnaia represents their only hope at dethroning Quartararo, and had Bastianini taken five points away from him it could have easily had ramifications later on in the title chase. Had it been Miller riding in second, the factory could have at least relied on him acting as rear gunner rather than attempting a ballsy move on the final lap.
This is the dice Ducati have rolled by letting Miller go from their factory squad in favour of a younger rider. Bastianini has no greater allegiance to the manufacturer than he has to himself, and will go on attempting to take whatever results that he can rather than focusing on the greater good of Ducati as a whole. The Italian manufacturer is about to be reminded of what it’s like having two hotshots in the same factory squad, just as Honda are set to discover with Marquez and Mir next year. It requires a specific level of calm and management to keep such a scenario from boiling over.
Finally, I think it pertinent to talk about the missing world champion. Marc Marquez will be taking part in the post-race test in Misano this week, before deciding when he intends to return to racing in the class. Whatever date they settle on, it will be before the end of the season, as the Spaniard will be needed for directing the project towards a more successful 2023 campaign. Despite having missed more than half the season at this point, Marc is still the top-scoring Honda rider by a fair margin, and that will be a strong reminder to the Japanese brand of just how reliant on him they are for success.
This may also play into the hands of Nakagami when attempting to secure his ride for next year. Honda has successfully nabbed both Suzuki riders from the open market, but no amount of raw rider talent can replace experience, especially on a bike as complicated as the current Honda. They will need riders with experience on the bike to continue developing it, and while Marc is a fantastic reference for them his absence from the sport will hurt his ability in the short term. If Ogura nabs the seat, the Honda lineup for next season will be three inexperienced riders and a wounded warrior – hardly ideal for a manufacturer facing its worst season in memory.
Next up is Aragon, the final race before the flyaways and a big chance for Bagnaia to inflict even more damage to Quartararo’s lead. For Quartararo’s sake, I hope the racing is a tad closer this time.
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