Second for most of the Japanese MotoGP and on course to make it a Ducati 1-2, Jorge Martin was left frustrated after being picked off right at the very end by KTM’s Brad Binder.
On a day that saw Marc Marquez secure his first MotoGP pole position in three years at Motegi and championship contenders struggle, five riders shocked us with their performance, but who are they?
Francesco Bagnaia becomes the first-ever Ducati rider to win four consecutive MotoGP races after getting the better of Enea Bastianini in an epic Misano Grand Prix.
Factory Ducati star Francesco Bagnaia arrives at Misano on the back of a three-race win streak but still 44 points behind MotoGP title leader Fabio Quartararo.
Aleix Espargaro admits Sunday’s Austrian MotoGP could be ‘damage limitation’ from ninth on the grid - but remains ‘competitive’, including a cancelled qualifying lap equal to title rival Fabio Quartararo.
Johann Zarco continued his impressive Austrian MotoGP weekend after breaking the 1m 29s barrier in FP3, although the big news was of Aleix Espargaro missing out on the top ten and therefore needing to go through Q1 later today.
With an announcement from MotoGP introducing sprint races for the 2023 season expected this weekend in Austria, Johann Zarco and Jack Miller have already stated they’re in favour of the shake-up.
Although the new chicane titled 2a-2b at the Red Bull Ring caught out several MotoGP riders including championship contenders Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro over the course of Friday practice, Jack Miller is one of many in favour of the addition.
Jack Miller has welcomed the new chicane to drastically slow down Turn 2 at the Red Bull Ring, but admits he will also miss ‘the most arse-clenching moment of the championship’.
Despite leaving Ducati for KTM at the end of the current MotoGP season, Jack Miller is still getting his hands on Ducati’s very latest aero innovations even if ‘it’s definitely not the easiest thing on the eye’.
Johann Zarco bounced back from an early crash at turn seven to top the opening British MotoGP practice session ahead of Francesco Bagnaia, who also crashed at turn four.
Aleix Espargaro and Fabio Quartararo - those are the sure-fire names, but who else makes Crash.net’s list of most impressive MotoGP riders of 2022 at the mid-season stage.
Although no MotoGP or WorldSBK racing will take place this weekend, Ducati riders from both championships and WorldSSP will take part in a race to determine who is the fastest rider on a Panigale.