Why it’s time for Martin to get his gloves off in MotoGP title run-in

OPINION: Enea Bastianini went all in with a controversial last-lap lunge on Jorge Martin at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to snatch victory from the Pramac rider. But with the title on the line, is it time for Martin to toughen up or is it down to the stewards to ensure that battles remain within the rules?

The events of Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will have far-reaching consequences on the 2024 MotoGP battle. While Francesco Bagnaia’s crash with a podium in the bag was obviously significant as it has handed a 24-point lead in the standings to Jorge Martin, it’s the final-lap clash between his team-mate Enea Bastianini and Martin that could have far more serious repercussions.

Whatever your opinion may be of the controversial race-deciding moment between Bastianini and Martin, the championship leader has received a clear message - it’s time to take his gloves off and go all-in.

To assess whether Bastianini crossed the limits of acceptable racing while battling Martin, it’s important to break down his pass into several parts. 

The factory Ducati rider was coming from a long way back and did go for a full divebomb on Martin when there wasn’t much of a gap on the inside edge of the track. While it may not be ethical for some, riders have been making such block passes for decades - and even Marc Marquez is infamous for leaving his rivals with no option but to concede position when he goes on the aggressive. Bastianini can certainly not be blamed for attempting that move when the reward was a race win in front of his home crowd. 

But it’s the second part of the overtake where things get interesting. There was just the slightest contact between Bastianini and Martin as they met at the apex, which forced the Pramac rider to sit up and go off the track. This is what incensed the Spaniard, who raised his hand in anger after feeling he had been denied a victory by an “unfair pass”.

But it didn’t end there. Bastianini then himself went beyond the kerbs at the exit of the turn, before rejoining the track in the lead of the race. This is where Gresini’s Marc Marquez felt the stewards should have drawn the line. Of course, Bastianini was distracted by the incident and did look over his shoulders to check where Martin was, but that doesn’t change the fact that he did not make the corner after completing an overtake.

Stewarding in MotoGP - and circuit racing in general - is a complicated and nuanced subject. Both the series and its four-wheel counterpart have been subject to criticism over vague rules and the apparent lack of consistency in decisions. To be fair to stewards, it’s not always easy to judge whether an overtake can be deemed legitimate or not as there are so many factors involved. But if the rider who makes the overtake subsequently goes off the track, then the rules have to be clear cut: either it’s acceptable or not. There should be no grey area in this regard. That’s not to say that Bastianini should have definitely been penalised for failing to stay on track, but it’s important for the series to leave no room for interpretation in the rules when it’s possible to provide a clear view.

In this context, it’s important to look back at a similar incident involving Bastianini at the French Grand Prix in May. On that occasion, the Italian went for a similar divebomb on Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro at Turns 9/10, albeit this time with far more room available to him. Like Martin, Espargaro sat up and went straight, while Bastianini himself ran wide and had to rejoin the track.

The stewards did not take any action against Bastianini for the incident itself, but curiously he was handed a long lap penalty for cutting the corner. Of course, the difference here is that Bastianini gained a sporting advantage by not going through the chicane as intended, while at Misano he almost certainly lost time by running wide. But in both cases one thing is common: he was unable to slow the bike in time to make the corner and breached the limits of the track.

Future MotoGP chief steward Simon Crafar, one of the most respected people in the paddock, provided an interesting viewpoint on the Bastianini/Martin crash. The former 500cc race winner argued that riders should be allowed to race more freely on the final lap, but added that Bastianini should have probably been asked to hand back the position if they had clashed earlier in the race. Crafar’s line of thought will definitely have its own supporters.

"If the next time I need to do [a move like that], at least for me there will be no consequences" Jorge Martin

After all, fans tune in to watch good racing and it’s important to keep them at the edge of their seats until the very end. In fact, all three world championship races at Misano were decided on the last lap, showing how MotoGP and its junior classes are able to keep things unpredictable at a track that is notoriously difficult for overtaking.

But Crafar’s argument about stewards needing to be lenient in the closing stages of a race directly clashes with another MotoGP rule: track limits. As per current regulations, riders receive a warning on their dashboard after they’ve exceeded track limits three times during the race, while a penalty is applied if they’ve violated the boundaries of the track on five occasions. But any reported breach of track limits on the final lap leads to an automatic drop in one position, leaving riders with no margin for error.

So if the riders have to be extra careful about staying away from the green area on the last tour, should they be allowed to be more aggressive than usual while battling with their rivals? It’s something Crafar will have to decide with the rest of the stewarding panel when he takes up his new post next year.

For now, though, there is one thing the rider who came off worse from the Misano clash must learn: don’t hesitate from turning up the aggression when the title is on the line.

Martin was visibly disappointed by the outcome of the Emilia Romagna race. It was his chance to take a first MotoGP win since the Le Mans event back in May and add salt to the wound of his title rival Bagnaia after the latter had given away a hoard of points with an unforced error. 

But, having shown a lot of maturity in the summer break in the aftermath of his Sachsenring crash, it’s likely that he will come out even stronger in the Asia-Pacific leg of the campaign that precedes the Valencia finale in November. There was already a hint of change in Martin’s approach towards battling his rivals on track when he spoke about the clash in the post-race press conference.

“We are not clear about the ideas the race direction has for the future,” he said. “If the next time I need to do [a move like that], at least for me there will be no consequences. Let's see in the future. I'm not a rider that really overtakes like this, but I respect the decision and I move forward.”

Martin now has a substantial 24-point lead in the championship over Bagnaia with six rounds to go. But as this season has shown time and again, it will take just one crash or a poor strategy call (like the one in the first Misano race) for the factory Ducati rider to strike back in their battle.

So far, Martin and Bagnaia have maintained a harmonious relationship on and off the track, as they both continue to represent Ducati as a manufacturer in MotoGP. But with Martin off to Aprilia next year after being snubbed by Ducati for a factory seat, and aware that it could well be his last opportunity to win the championship, all bets will be off.

Martin will and should leave no inch for his rivals while battling for position, and neither should Bagnaia given the stewards’ decision to clear Bastianini at Misano without any investigation. 

Given how little there has been to separate the two riders during this season, it won’t be a surprise if their title battle goes down the wire in Valencia. That very much leaves the scintillating possibility of the duo duking it out for victory on the final lap of the final race of the season. And if that means the championship is decided by a clash between the pair, the precedent the stewards set at Misano last weekend would be to blame.