Dre’s Race Review: MotoGP’s 2024 Emilia-Romagna GP

“Get ready for the next battle.”

And in the other half of my DRR block for this weekend, it’s time to review the MotoGP Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the second trip to Misano in as many weeks (Not including the test too). And with Tekken celebrating its 30th Anniversary this weekend, World Champion Francesco Bagnaia chose a perfect time to do a “Kazuya” and lose control yet again.

The King Of Bozo Gene Tournament

This was all going to plan for Francesco Bagnaia. Pole position and the fastest ever lap of Misano in the process. He had to deal with another Jorge Martin lightning start off the line as he got the Holeshot, but when Martin got a track limit warning, he got distracted by the notification on his dashboard, went wide, and let Bagnaia back in front. Bagania takes his eight Sprint win and reduces the Championship deficit to four. 

The Grand Prix came around on Sunday, and Bagnaia played possum beautifully. Martin was going to get the holeshot yet again, but Bagnaia deliberately hung back as Martin went too deep and switched back into Turn 2 to lead like the King that he is. Smart riding. 

But Bagnaia was clearly off his rhythm and was passed by Martin and third place sitter Enea Bastianini in quick succession. Bagnaia fell a couple of seconds back and nearly fell into Pedro Acosta’s clutches before the Spaniard crashed for the second race in a row. 

We were in this weird holding position for a good while as Enea was running close and sizing Martin up around the half a second mark. Bagnaia, who was lying dormant sitting behind, hit two back-to-back Lap Records in an attempt to bridge the two-second gap to the front two. Martin and Enea responded in kind, and as Bagnaia was going all-out for the chasedown, he does his best Anthony Joshua impression and plays a game of head down, arse up. 

This was the first time Bagnaia crashed in a GP off his own volition all year. This was meant to be the house money rounds for Bagnaia. Instead, he’s essentially broken even, with Martin’s arguably fastest races in Indonesia and Thailand around the corner. In terms of title management, it’s going about as well as when Jin Kazama ran the family business. 

Meanwhile at the front, it was reaching fever pitch, as Bastianini was going for a final assault on Martin. On the final lap, Martin was slow coming out of Turn 3 and Bastianini hit Martin with the Phoenix Smasher. Martin runs wide, gives up the ghost and decides to do Heihachi’s Electric Wind God Fist over the line to voice his displeasure.

My thoughts on this one? The more I see it, the more I think it’s unfair racing from Bastianini. I understand sending it down the inside of a vulnerable rider on the final lap. But the fact you initiated contact, didn’t make the corner, and ran so far wide, Jorge Martin had no choice but to take the the kerb and gravel, I don’t think that’s “responsible riding”, the phrase that’s become the centerpiece of MotoGP’s racing ethics. And the fact this incident wasn’t even investigated by the stewards is eyebrow-raising, let alone the nature of the no-call.

And this is the problem. This isn’t the classic #NOKWAPI I’ve used before to describe biking stewarding. This is challenging the very fabric of modern MotoGP racecraft itself. For years, we’ve been told it’s essentially no-holds barred on the final lap. Block passes, running dudes off the road, the code of MotoGP has been: “If in doubt, all out”. Bastianini did that and had every right to try, but I’m not sure running someone off the road is good racing that should be front and center of the series, especially with a win on the line. 

But changing 20 years of history and platitudes on a whim is never an easy sell and the amount of fans, commentators and journalists going: “It’s just hard racing, it’s not ballet dancing” with general male-pearl clutching and F1 comparisons says to me… good luck convincing anyone on that. And with another ex-racer in Simon Crafar taking Freddie Spencer’s role next year, I don’t think that’s changing. 

At the bare minimum, there needs to be a conversation and clarity around what doesn’t count as “responsible riding”. It is a term that’s far too vague and ripe for different interpretations to punish or not punish riders on track. And with bikes this hard to pass on, days like these will keep happening and the stewarding room is an entity I don’t trust at the moment.

The Lightning Round 

Ducati have won the Constructors Championship. In September. Yep. And if the scoreboard is anything to go by, KTM and Aprilia will still be in Tier C for 2025 too. Congrats to the dominant force in bike racing for their 100th Premier Class win and their 20th podium lockout.

Fabio Quartararo was on for his best result of the season in P5… until he ran out of fuel at the line. *groan*

Pecco Bagnaia wearing a helmet to support a charity supporting neurodivergent people in Italy was a lovely gesture, and good to see him show growth as a person. We’ve come a long way from the Dennis Rodman helmet…

…The not so nice Bagnaia fact? He’s crashed every year Misano’s ran a second GP there. Oof.

With Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta both crashing, three Honda’s got into the points and they outscored the Austrian factory on the day. Welp. Also, where the HELL is Aprilia right now?!

Aron Canet for the NINETEENTH time in his Moto2 career, finishes second, this time after being so slow off the final corner, Celestino Vietti beat him a drag race to the line, only 500 meters after Tony Arbolino got a false neutral from the lead. Heart-attack inducing levels of pain for the walking tattoo. 

David Alonso wins his eighth Moto3 in brilliant fashion and celebrates… with a Unicycle ride. I love this kid. And whoever added the “crash” graphic afterwards, is a genius, give them a race. 

Also, how many Tekken references did you count? Happy 30th Anniversary. And even if you didn’t like this post, whatever you do, don’t throw your phone off a mountain.

Dre’s Race Rating: 8/10 (Great) – I thought this was going to be a procession, and it turned into a superb race. Tension between the leaders, Bagnaia being a huge antagonist before the drama of his crash, and then that final lap being the dramatic finish. This was a lot of fun, even if the controversial finish will be talked about for a while. See you in Mandalika.