Jorge Martín and Francesco Bagnaia have shown clear superiority this MotoGP season, but they have also suffered many crashes throughout the year – costing them both many points as they battle intensely for the title.
Loris Reggiani explained to La Gazzetta dello Sport that nowadays, you have to race on the limit considering the characteristics of the bikes, which can lead to mistakes:
– The current MotoGP bikes are difficult to ride. To overtake, you attempt maneuvers on the limit, like [Enea] Bastianini did in Misano, or you risk losing the front end. With this aerodynamics, the bike is easier to ride to its limit, and therefore overtaking becomes much harder. Then, there is the air vortex from the rider in front that destabilizes the bike.
On the other hand, the former rider recalled the impact that chasing another rider has on front tyre performance and, consequently, on braking: ‘You are forced to lead the whole race, otherwise the slipstream from those ahead heats up the front tyre, affecting the braking. So, you have to ride at 100% throughout the race, which is why mistakes happen. So, ease up on the criticism. Bagnaia and Martín are forced to ride monstrous races. On the first lap, you take more risks for this reason’.