One triple-header done and dusted, another to go. The MotoGP riders and teams are taking a well-deserved weekend off after flying from Italy to the island of Lombok and then to Motegi. The Emilia-Romagna, Indonesia and Japan GPs were the first triple-header of this season finale and will be followed by the one consisting of Australia, Thailand and Malaysia, then only the grand finale in Valencia will remain.
It is a World Championship that is being fought out point by point, with Martin in the lead with 4 GPs to go, but the advantage is small, just 10 points over Bagnaia. The battle now seems to be a private affair between the two of them - at least barring surprises - because Bastianini and Marquez are 79 and 81 points respectively behind Jorge and, with still 148 up for grabs, only the math still keeps them in the game. All the rest of the field, however, cannot lean on mathematical hopes either.
When you do 3 GPs (for a total of 6 races) in a row, nothing is a foregone conclusion and mistakes come at a high price. Both Martin and Bagnaia know something about this, and both are doing their best this year, but also their worst on certain occasions.
The just-concluded three races, in terms of number of wins and podiums, went to Bagnaia, but the accumulated score says otherwise. Pecco made a full haul in the Sprints winning them all, while he took one win and two podiums in the GPs. Jorge, on the other hand, was only on the podium once on Saturday, but always on Sunday, winning in Indonesia. As a result, the Spaniard in the 3 GPs scored 80 points, three more than the Italian.
Both made one mistake, but Bagnaia's was more serious. In fact, Pecco went down on Sunday at Misano losing 20 points, while Jorge's crash in the Sprint in Indonesia cost him only 12. Martin is making consistency his strong point, as well as having shown especially in Japan the ability to overcome difficult situations, bringing home a 4th place on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday after a disastrous qualifying that had put him on the 11th grid slot at the start.
So Bagnaia still finds himself playing catch-up, despite having already won 8 GPs this year against Martin's 3 and 6 Sprints against 5. One could argue at length about a now anachronistic scoring system that does not reward winning and gives points to 15 out of 22 riders, but it is worth little because these are the rules and everytong has to play by them. After all, if the world champion is in that position it is because of the 7 zeros on the leaderboard, while his rival has only 4.
To catch him again, Pecco must of course get ahead of him, but above all, he can no longer afford the luxury of making mistakes. Which may be the key to this season finale, thinking especially of the next round at Phillip Island, where the weather is notorious for its vagaries.
Mistakes aside, Jorge and Pecco have clearly made all the difference in the last two races, and the only ones who have managed to keep a pace similar to theirs have been Bastianini and Marquez. Enea has been a podium regular in the Sprints and also won at Misano, but he is weighed down by the mistake in Indonesia. Marc has been more consistent, although in the last 3 Grands Prix he has not had the treble and has paid dearly for the engine failure of his Ducati. However, these are the Magnificent 4 of this season, able to monopolize practically all the steps of the podium.
Only Acosta broke this dominance, placing 2nd in Mandalika. However, the rookie paid for inexperience and too much eagerness in Motegi, crashing in both races. Even so, he scored more points than the far more experienced Binder, who has the sole excuse of a failure of his KTM in the Motegi Sprint.
The surprise of the first triple-header, however, has been Morbidelli. Franco is painstakingly rebuilding a season that started out in the wrong way and the 5th rider to score the most points in the first triple-header: 46. Despite the lack of podiums, the Pramac team rider has managed to always see the finish line and even with good placings.
Bezzecchi, on the other hand, is still the protagonist of too many ups and downs, but at least on Sunday he took a step forward. One cannot judge, however, his teammate Di Giannantonio, who is paying for a bad shoulder and will decide tomorrow whether to stop and undergo an operation. Fabio has picked up 15 points in three GPs, the same number as Zarco on a Honda that continues to be in crisis.
The involution of Aprilia is clearly visible in Vinales' results. Top Gun has not taken off at all and his 24 points are less than those scored by Quartararo on the Yamaha (who also ran out of gas on two occasions within sight of the finish line). If he wants to bid farewell to the Noale manufacturer in the best possible way, then Maverick will have to get busy between now and Valencia.