Bagnaia targets top spot at San Marino MotoGP after Aragon crash

Misano Adriatico, Italy

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Francesco Bagnaia has put his horror crash in Aragon behind him as the MotoGP champion attempts to reclaim top spot from Jorge Martin at this weekend’s San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix. From having a five-point lead this time last week Ducati rider Bagnaia dropped 23 points behind Martin after a disastrous weekend in Spain which culminated with the ugly accident with Alex Marquez that ended both their races.

The Italian was livid after the crash, claiming that Marquez deliberately ran him off the track and then insulted him once confronted, while Marquez insisted that he would have avoided contact but that Bagnaia made it impossible. But in Thursday’s pre-race press conference Bagnaia apologised to Marquez for the vehemence of his reaction, which he put down to being “very angry after what happened”.

“I didn’t want to say that he made me crash on purpose, his defence was a bit aggressive but that is normal when you’re fighting for podium positions,” said Bagnaia. Marquez told Sky Sport in Italy that the pair had since spoken privately and the matter was now closed. Just like last year, when he recovered from a huge crash at the Catalunya GP to compete at Misano, Bagnaia will race through the pain on home soil.

“I’m not at my 100 percent, I feel a lot of pain on the shoulder, over the collar bone and neck,” added Bagnaia. “I don’t feel like I can move my body as I want... the impact was very huge, 170 kilos were on my shoulder and the hit on the ground was quite huge. Luckily I didn’t get any broken bones but the muscles and ligaments are suffering a bit.” The crash, and the elder Marquez, Marc, winning his first GP in three years, blasted wide open the title race, with four riders now in contention and eight races remaining in the season.