Francesco Bagnaia’s MotoGP return to Barcelona: horror crash is checked off!

When Francesco Bagnaia traveled to Barcelona in September 2023, he had just had a perfect weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria and had clearly set the course for defending his title. At that point, he was 62 points ahead of Jorge Martin, and after the sprint on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, he was already 66 points ahead. But then came race Sunday and with it Bagnaia’s terrible highsider, which completely turned the course of last year’s MotoGP season on its head. It was only by sheer luck that Bagnaia did not suffer serious injuries, even though Brad Binder rolled over the legs of the Ducati rider lying on the ground just moments after the fall.

Almost seven and a half months later, Bagnaia is now returning to Barcelona and the place of horror. There is little to be seen today of his former stellar form: the Turin native is ‘only’ second in the World Championships heading into the Catalonia weekend, is already 38 points behind Pramac rival Jorge Martin and has only achieved one win this season. Bagnaia must therefore attack in Barcelona to reduce his deficit and not fall behind early in the season, especially since Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini are only two points behind him. [je 89, Anm.]But is that even possible with such a horrific fall in your memory?

Bagnaia puts MotoGP horror crash behind him: I know why I crashed

“Last year I had one of the worst crashes of my career here, definitely, with enormous consequences, because Brad rode over my feet. Also, the crash was completely unexpected, which didn’t make it easy. But all that is now in the past,” said Bagnaia unimpressed at the official MotoGP press conference on Thursday. “I was already fighting against this crash last year.”

While the two-time MotoGP world champion had achieved two impressive third places on the subsequent trip to Misano, despite being in great pain, he lost the feel for his Ducati Desmosedici GP23 on the subsequent tour of Asia, made hair-raising mistakes and increasingly lost his lead over his World Championship rival Martin. It was only at the third-to-last World Championship stop in Malaysia that he managed to return to his old form and finally successfully defended his title in Valencia. “I’m focusing on the here and now. I know why I crashed back then and I’m sure that it won’t have any impact on this weekend,” says Bagnaia.

At the time, a defective Michelin rear tire was mentioned, but this was never officially confirmed. If that was actually the case, a repeat of such an incident would be almost impossible and would also explain the world champion’s confidence. The only question that remains is whether Bagnaia can find an answer this weekend to the Aprilias of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, which were so dominant in 2023. “I was competitive last year and felt good, I could have fought with the Aprilias,” he believes. “We’ll see how it goes this season. The new bike could help us. It has less grip, but better turning. That could be a good compromise. Let’s wait and see, but the Aprilias will certainly be the ones to beat.”