On The Mark

The last few weeks of the MotoGP racing season, at both the intermediate (Moto2) and top (MotoGP) levels, has been exemplary. Far from the Jersey Shore on four wheels that is NASCAR, MotoGP provided thrilling races in a straightforward championship format between riders that are actually gentlemen. The crashes, and there have been quite a few, have mostly been the result of rider errors from pushing too hard rather than fratricidal bunting of fellow competitors and so far, there hasn’t been any post-race pugilism.

A fine example is last weekend’s race in Malaysia between the only two remaining championship contenders, defending two-time World Champion Francesco Bagnaia of Italy and the current points leader, Jorge Martin of Spain. Martin had a comfortable points lead and only had to finish the race somewhere near his rival to maintain it. If Bagnaia crashed in the main event, he’d relinquish the championship, but if he didn’t and beat Martin by a wide margin, he’d be right back in contention.

One would think that the situation, which favored Martin, would lead to the Spaniard taking a very conservative role since all he had to do was finish in Bagnaia’s vicinity to maintain that lead. On the other hand, Bagnaia had to be aggressive enough to beat Martin by as much margin as possible, but not so aggressive that he crashed out. The drama for the Sunday final was set when Bagnaia did just that - crash - while following Martin in Saturday’s sprint race, losing precious points.

On Sunday, the desperate but resolved Italian lined up on pole position thanks to a track-record-breaking qualifying session…but his Spanish shadow lined up in second. Rather than taking it easy, however, Martin challenged the start and nearly made contact with Bagnaia’s leg while braking for turn 1. There was no conservatism from the championship points leader: he gave no quarter and expected none. It was clear that the pair were setting the table for what would be an epic battle; however, the race was red-flagged for a second-turn, mid-pack crash.

After a long delay to tend to the concussion Jack Miller got from having his head hammered between the rear tire and the frame of Fabio Quartararo’s bike (!), the race was restarted with one less lap. Did the points situation or the prior-start’s second-turn melee temper Martin’s approach to the race? Oh hell no! Bagnaia got the jump on the start, but Martin stayed right on his wheel and during the next five laps, they treated the world to one of the most amazing displays of racing ever, going at it hammer and tong, but without any dirty dealing.

The lead changed hands four times on the opening lap alone, with 11 total lead changes in the first three laps. There were times when the two riders were bar-to-bar, nearly touching, ripping down the big straights at speeds clocked at up to 204 MPH. Finally, Bagnaia was able to lay down his fastest lap on lap 5 and Martin was forced, both by the pace and the need for clean air to his cooling system, to relinquish the close-quarters battle. The Spaniard stayed within striking distance the remaining 14 laps to pressure his rival should he make a mistake. Bagnaia, however, rode metronomically-perfect laps to the win. The top two were so fast that eight-time champion Marc Marquez crashed out trying to stay with them. No one else was even close.

Most importantly, during the cooldown lap, Martin rode up to Bagnaia and gave him a hearty handshake. Their post-race words were even more gentlemanly. Martin: “Thanks to Pecco [Bagnaia], because even if we were so aggressive, both of us, there’s always this respect. We don’t want to race to destroy the other’s race … we want to win, both of us. So it’s a nice show for the fans.” Similarly from Bagnaia: “Jorge was super aggressive but we had a very clean battle, we never touch, and I was just waiting for the moment to attack on the pace and knowing my pace was good enough to open the gap. The performance we are showing is something incredible … we are doing something speechless.”

I could not agree more - it was a “speechless” performance between two rivals at the absolute top of their games and done in a way that was both super-aggressive, but also super clean. At the end, the racing stewards and organization didn’t have to create new rules to govern overtakes. It was the racing that took center stage and gave a “nice show for the fans,” not the post-race dramatics, made-up controversies, and overly-complicated championship structures. No matter who comes out on top in MotoGP, Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin are already both champions.