Just 7 Grands Prix have been held (12 races, counting the Sprints) and the championship is barely a third of the way through, despite this the balance is already emerging. After a 3-week break, thanks to the postponement of the GP in Kazakhstan, this weekend we’ll get back to serious action, in Assen, then without interruption we’ll go to the Sachsenring, before stopping again for the summer holidays.
In Holland, Jorge Martin will arrive as leader of the standings, even if his lead was significantly reduced after Mugello. His treasure (after the crash in the Sprint and the 3rd place on Sunday in Italy, with Pecco dominating the weekend) amounts to 18 points, better than nothing but not enough to sleep peacefully. The Spaniard from Pramac was the protagonist of an excellent start to the season, ‘dirtied only’ by the aforementioned misstep at Mugello and the one in the Sepang GP.
From this point of view, Bagnaia was much more wasteful. In his ranking, the 3 consecutive zeros in the short races of Jerez, Le Mans and Barcelona immediately catch the eye. THEThe world champion, on the other hand, did it again on Sunday. Out of 7 GPs, he won 4 and got on the podium 5 times: his worst result was 5th place in Austin, while in Portimao he crashed in contact with Marquez. Martin responds with results in the Sprint – 3 victories and 5 podiums – but in the long race he has half the victories of his opponent (2) and 4 podiums.
However, thinking that the title will be a two-man fight like last year is naive, as well as premature. In fact, Marc Marquez cannot be removed from the equation. The Spaniard had to pay for his apprenticeship on the Ducati, but from Jerez onwards he has definitely changed pace. Just one thing is enough to understand: in the last 4 GPs Martin has scored 91 points, Bagnaia 103 and Marquez 100. Marc is therefore perfectly in line with the world champion.
Furthermore, like Jorge, he wasted little, only missing on two occasions (Portimao and Austin). Unlike his opponents, however, he has not yet achieved any victories and ‘only’ 3 podiums on Sunday. However, the 35 points behind Martin are still not too many.
Perhaps, instead, Bastianini’s 57 are. Up until now, Enea hasn’t had the pace of the best and his 3 podiums haven’t been enough to keep up with them. Even because the Rimini native is still unable to make a difference in the Sprint and the points lost on Saturday are weighing on the standings.
Acosta’s roadmap, however, is surprising. Not so much for the points obtained (70 less than Martin), but for his consistency. Although it would be easy to forget at times, Pedro is making his debut in MotoGP and is logically paying the price. Despite this, of the top 5 drivers in the standings he is the one who made the least mistakes: in 14 races he crashed only once, on Sunday at Le Mans. A sign that the GasGas rider has the right approach to a category that is not at all simple. Added to this are the two podiums achieved in Portimao and Austin, for the moment the highest points of his season.
