Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1520705
SUNDAY MOTOGP After his Sprint DNF, World Champion Pecco Bagnaia needed to pull some magic if he were to rattle the cage of Jorge Martin, whose confidence seems to be growing every time he straps the helmet on. Bagnaia did what was needed and jetted off into the lead from second on the grid to lead Martin and Espargaro, with Di Giannantonio and Vinales all go - ing for third place. Three laps into the race, Acosta was fighting his way through and made a lunge on Di Giannantonio into the Garage Vert double right-hander but it would be the scene of the rook - That promoted Marquez to second—an amazing result considering his 13th-placed grid start—and Vinales into third place, the trio crossing the line in that order, with Martin taking his 12th Sprint race win by 2.2 seconds. Enea Bastianini made a good hash of it to come through from 12th on the grid to take fourth ahead of Espargaro, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GasGas Tech3), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM), Raul Fernandez (Track - house Racing Aprilia) and home favorite Fabio Quartararo (Mon- ster Energy Yamaha). ROUND 5 / MAY 10-12, 2024 BUGATTI CIRCUIT / LE MANS, FRANCE P100 MIR'S FUTURE UP IN THE AIR Joan Mir's future remains up in the air as Honda's desperate struggles continue apace. The 2020 World Champion is assess- ing an offer from HRC to stay beyond 2024 but has also been heavily linked with the seat at Trackhouse Aprilia, where former team manager Davide Brivio has recently taken the reins. But the Majorcan refused to be drawn on his future on the eve of the event. "Actually, this is a good question, but I cannot answer you," he said. I have options on the table but I don't really know what I want to do. This is a bit the reality. So I need a bit more time, to under- stand, to take a good decision for my future. This is the reality." RIDERS REACT TO NEW RULES Marc Marquez expressed his delight at the technical rules de- signed for 2027, which will reduce engine capacity from 1000cc to 850cc, limit aerodynamics and ban ride-height and start devices. "It looks like they are going more to the show," he said. "More restrictions on the technical side is good for the riders. In the end, if you have less technical things on the bike, the rider can make more of a difference, and the value of the rider will be better. They fol- lowed like this in Formula One last year, so let's see." ZARCO ADMITS STEWARDS OUTBURST "UNPROFESSIONAL" Johann Zarco walked back his strongly worded comments Briefly... Maverick Vinales was determined but Enea Bastianini was flying. He would have been in the fight for the podium in the Sunday GP had he not copped a long-lap penalty for nerfing Espargaro off-track. MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP