Sprints have saved Bagnaia, but Bezzecchi clear on Sundays
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It’s not lost on Bagnaia that 44 of his points have been scored in the new – half distance, half points – Sprint races, where (as the tables below show) he is the highest performer so far, followed by KTM’s Brad Binder.But Sundays have been a different story. Bagnaia’s three DNFs – falling on his own in Argentina and COTA, then tangling with Maverick Vinales at Le Mans – have left him with just 50 points out of a possible 125.If MotoGP was still using the Sunday only system, Bagnaia would be third in the standings, 26 points behind Marco Bezzecchi (VR46) and 8 from another satellite Ducati rider Johann Zarco (Pramac).Bagnaia-Vinales Clash: Racing Incident? Le Mans Review | MotoGP Podcast Episode 89Video of Bagnaia-Vinales Clash: Racing Incident? Le Mans Review | MotoGP Podcast Episode 89Fortunately for the factory Ducati star, his combined total puts him one point clear of Bezzecchi heading into next month’s home Mugello round.But if Bagnaia had finished in the positions that he fell from in Argentina (2nd), Texas (1st) and Le Mans (3rd), he would have another 61 points more.“We are demonstrating that we are always in the front, always one of the most competitive, with the most pace. But then I am leading the championship by [just] one point,” Bagnaia said.“Every time I think to be calm or to wait a bit, I just commit a mistake or I just like [Le Mans] for someone else or something else. This is something that I have to understand.Related Jack Miller: Augusto “shocked me”, Aleix: “His race was crazy!” Marc Marquez grows confidence: “I feel fast, I can fight”“I have the luck that there are the Sprint races now because if not I was already so [far] behind and I could have [another] 50-70 points or more before this small break.”One area where Bagnaia has no need for concern at the moment is qualifying, having started from the front row in all but one event and from fifth in the other.It means Bagnaia leads the BMW Best Qualifier table on 86 points (out of 125, the same scoring system as a GP race results) compared to 49 for next best qualifier Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati), while Bezzecchi and team-mate Luca Marini are tied for fourth on 48.Meanwhile, Brad Binder’s starting positions are again at odds with his race results. The Red Bull KTM star holds third in the world championship, with two Sprint wins, but is ranked just 15th on the best qualifier list after starting 15th, 15th, 11th, 4th and 10th (see tables below).
The 26-year-old, who has been on the Sprint podium in four out of rounds, including wins in Portimao and COTA, added:“Without the Sprint races I would be so much behind, with 50 points. I have 44 points just for the Sprint races and this is helping a lot.“This year it’s quite clear that we are always in the front, we are always there leading and the other riders are [fluctuating] in terms of performance.“But years ago, it was not possible to lead in the championship [with three DNFs in ten races] because [the same four] riders were always in the front and one mistake can cost the title.“So this has changed a lot.”Bagnaia overcame a record 91-point deficit, and five DNFs, to win last year’s title.No rider has scored points in all ten races so far this season.MOTOGP 2023 – SPRINT ONLY POINTS AFTER ROUND 5 (60 POINTS MAX) RiderPoints1Francesco Bagnaia442Brad Binder383Jorge Martin364Marco Bezzecchi175Luca Marini166Jack Miller147Maverick Viñales128Aleix Espargaro129Marc Marquez1210Miguel Oliveira1011Alex Rins912Johann Zarco813Alex Marquez614Franco Morbidelli615Dani Pedrosa416Fabio Quartararo117Augusto Fernandez018Fabio di Giannantonio019Takaaki Nakagami020Jonas Folger021Joan Mir022Danilo Petrucci023Michele Pirro024Lorenzo Savadori025Raul Fernandez026Stefan Bradl0 MOTOGP 2023 – GRAND PRIX ONLY POINTS AFTER ROUND 5 (125 POINTS MAX) RiderPoints1Marco Bezzecchi762Johann Zarco583Francesco Bagnaia504Fabio Quartararo485Jorge Martin446Brad Binder437Luca Marini388Alex Rins389Maverick Viñales3710Jack Miller3511Alex Marquez3512Franco Morbidelli3413Aleix Espargaro3014Augusto Fernandez3015Fabio di Giannantonio2516Takaaki Nakagami2117Miguel Oliveira1118Dani Pedrosa919Jonas Folger720Joan Mir521Danilo Petrucci522Michele Pirro523Lorenzo Savadori424Raul Fernandez325Stefan Bradl226Marc Marquez0 MotoGP World Championship standings AFTER round 5 (185 points max)Pos RiderNatTeamPointsDiff.1=Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP23)94 2^1Marco BezzecchiITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)93(-1)3˅1Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)81(-13)4=Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP23)80(-14)5^1Johann ZarcoFRAPramac Ducati (GP22)66(-28)6˅1Luca MariniITAMooney VR46 Ducati (GP22)54(-40)7=Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP23)49(-45)8=Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM (RC16)49(-45)9^2Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)49(-45)10˅1Alex RinsSPALCR Honda (RC213V)47(-47)11^2Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP23)42(-52)12˅2Alex MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP22)41(-53)13˅1Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)40(-54)14^2Augusto FernandezSPATech3 GASGAS (RC16)*30(-64)15=Fabio di GiannantonioITAGresini Ducati (GP22)25(-69)16˅2Miguel OliveiraPORRNF Aprilia (RS-GP22)21(-73)17=Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)21(-73)18=Dani PedrosaSPAKTM Test Rider (RC16)13(-81)19=Marc MarquezSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)12(-82)20^2Jonas FolgerGERTech3 GASGAS (RC16)7(-87)21˅1Joan MirSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)5(-89)22NADanilo PetrucciITADucati Lenovo (GP23)5(-89)23˅2Michele PirroITADucati Lenovo (GP23)5(-89)24NALorenzo SavadoriITARNF Aprilia (RS-GP22)4(-90)25˅2Raul FernandezSPARNF Aprilia (RS-GP22)3(-91)26˅2Stefan BradlGERRepsol Honda (RC213V)2(-92)”4 BMW Best Qualifier Award after round 5 (125 points max)PosRiderPoints1Francesco Bagnaia862Alex Marquez493Marco Bezzecchi484Luca Marini485Marc Marquez456Jorge Martin397Maverick Vinales388Jack Miller309Johann Zarco3010Aleix Espargaro2611Alex Rins2412Fabio Quartararo2313Franco Morbidelli1514Miguel Oliveira1415Brad Binder1316Enea Bastianini1017Takaaki Nakagami718Joan Mir519Augusto Fernandez420Raul Fernandez321Fabio di Giannantonio3
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