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Francesco Bagnaia continued his dominance in the MotoGP circuit by securing his third consecutive win at Mugello in a thrilling race. The Italian rider displayed exceptional skill and determination, outshining his competitors, with Jorge Martin finishing closely behind in second place.

The race initially saw Bagnaia making a strong start, but his lead was short-lived as Jack Miller quickly overtook him, rapidly advancing from fourth to first position. However, Bagnaia swiftly responded, regaining his lead just one corner later at turn two.

As the race progressed, the pace of the KTM rider faltered, allowing for intense moments on the track. At one point, a near collision loomed as both Marquez brothers and Luca Marini found themselves in a precarious situation. 

 

 

Alex Marquez pushed too hard, out-braking himself into turn one, narrowly squeezing between his brother and Marini before running wide. Miller capitalised on the opportunity, reclaiming his position, but Marquez remained on the inside, jostling for control.

Meanwhile, Marc Marquez, in fourth place, faced a devastating setback as he crashed out of the Grand Prix for the fourth consecutive time. The crash occurred at the final corner while he was attempting to overtake Marini, but Marquez misjudged his line, losing the front-end and ending his race prematurely.

While Bagnaia and Martin maintained a stable gap of half a second between them, yellow flags were deployed in sector three due to Miguel Oliveira’s crash. 

As the race continued, Alex Marquez, who had been in fourth position, made a move to claim third place from Marini on lap 12. However, Marquez ran slightly wide, allowing Marini to regain his position momentarily. Determined, Marquez tried again on lap 13, utilising his better rear grip to close in along the start-finish straight, successfully securing third place.

The battle for victory intensified on lap 14 when Bagnaia, who had initially held a lead of four tenths of a second, unleashed an impressive surge, extending his advantage to over six tenths of a second and ultimately crossing the finish line with a comfortable one-second lead.

The Marquez family’s challenging race took a turn for the worse when Alex crashed out of third place at turn two during lap 15. Despite the setback, Marini, eager to secure a podium finish on home soil, fought hard, attempting an immediate response after making a mistake at the final corner. Although he briefly managed to move ahead of Johann Zarco, the Italian struggled to fend off the French rider for an extended period and losses out his podium spot.

Sumber imej: KTM Media Centre
  • Johann Zarco telah mengatakan bahawa dia kepenatan akibat bergelut dengan jenteranya sewaktu pusingan MotoGP Argentina.
  • Dia tidak mampu mengemudi jentera KTM RC16 mengikut cara yang diinginkannya.
  • Zarco telah menamatkan perlumbaan di tempat ke-15, manakala Hafizh Syahrin pula di tempat yang ke-16.

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  • Johann Zarco said he was exhausted from fighting his bike in the Argentina MotoGP.

  • He couldn’t ride the KTM RC16 the way he wanted to.

  • He finished 15th and Hafizh Syahrin in 16th in the race.

While we published Hafizh Syahrin’s struggle with the KTM RC16 MotoGP bike, we wondered what his ex-Yamaha Tech 3 teammate Johann Zarco went through.

The two-time Moto2 champion finished 15th in Qatar and obtained the same result in Argentina. Even then, his final placing at Argentina was after Morbidelli took himself and Vinalez out of the race. By the end, Hafizh Syahrin was able to latch on Zarco’s back wheel and finished one spot behind.

On the other hand, long-time KTM MotoGP rider Pol Espargaro and new Red Bull KTM Tech 3 signing Miguel Oliveira took off to fight it out for 10th and 11th.

Zarco had been quite prior to this, but he recently shared his thoughts in an interview with Motorsports.com.

First, he was held up by Jorge Lorenzo who mistakenly his the pitlane speed limiter on the Repsol Honda. Zarco was in 21st place into Turn One. But his race also deteriorated as it went on.

“I almost struggle all the way, from the start. With Lorenzo I don’t know what happened and I had to brake a lot behind him, I was second to last,” he recalled.

“Beginning of the race, the first eight laps I was feeling quite good but not able to overtake my opponents because I cannot control well the bike at the moment.”

“Then more and more I was going in the race it was coming harder and harder to ride the bike. I spent a lot of energy.”

“Difficult to leave this kind of races when everything I would like to do, I can’t. This makes me fight with the bike, and then I am exhausted.”

At that point, the bike started to slide, difficult to brake and turn into corners. Zarco rides the traditional long-arc style, in other words, early braking to carry more mid-corner speed and smooth transitions. Hafizh Syahrin rides in this method, as well.

Photo credit Fox Sports Asia

Is this the key to why both these ex-Yamaha riders are suffering?

However, he is adamant in keeping his riding style, as he believes that it allows KTM to improve. Staying on one style means you don’t have too many variables to work with, making it easier to concentrate on which areas that need improving.

The Austrian factory would surely (and sorely) be missing inputs from test riders Dani Pedrosa and Mika Kalio by now. Both are unfortunately recuperating from their injuries.

  • Johann Zarco’s form seemed to have dropped after his crash at Le Mans.

  • Some speculated that success had gone to his head.

  • But he had just fought back to finish 2nd fastest during the post-Czech GP tests yesterday.

Johann Zarco had a great start to the MotoGP 2018 season, when he finished 2nd twice in four races and well ahead of the factory Movistar Yamaha team.

But after the heartbreaking crash at Le Mans in front of his countrymen, his form had a taken a dip somewhat. The sudden drop in performance even prompted his Monster Yamaha Tech 3  boss, Herve Poncharal, to state that Zarco had suddenly been basking too much in the MotoGP limelight and life in the fast lane, especially after meeting his current girlfriend. Others speculated that he might have contemplated about his mortality after the crash. These riders risk their lives and limbs for the sake of our entertainment, after all.

Poncharal knew the crash at Le Mans was different to any other and Zarco had dropped down the order, finishing 10th in Italy, 7th in Catalunya, 8th in The Nederlands, 9th in Germany and 7th again in the Czech Republic races.

Pic from MotoGP.com

“I’m happy about the race, a good race, good pace, and we were able to fight at the beginning,” said an upbeat Zarco. “The soft rear tyre was a good choice, I’m happy for that, it helped me to fight at the beginning. Maybe I could have overtaken more riders at the beginning, but it was difficult. In the race I tried to do the best I can, and in the end for sure the tyre was getting used and it became a little bit more difficult, not because of the tyres just because we’re working on the bike to find the best feeling,” said the 2-time Moto2 champion when interviewed by MotoGP.

But if the results of the just-completed post-Brno tests were anything to come by, Zarco certainly hasn’t lost his motivation and certainly not his skills. With the help of his team on the 2017-spec Yamaha YZR-M1, the Frenchman completed a punishing number of 71 laps and emerged 2nd fastest overall.

Zarco continued, “Now we are coming back on good things, from the Saturday we are quite fast, not enough to be on the podium but I understood good things this weekend so, I’m pretty happy and when everything isn’t perfect I’m taking points and that’s the main thing at the moment.”

He was honest about the dip in his performance, too, “… maybe in the last races I was racing like a guy who is going to buy the bread every morning. Now I can ride the Yamaha well and the answer is yes, I’m happy.”

A happy rider is a fast rider. The next round is at Austria this weekend, from 12th August 2018.

The motorcycle industry in South East Asia continues to grow in recent years, with more and more riders reverting back to their motorcycles, not only as a mean of transportation, but also for leisure and recreation. (more…)

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