By Talyta França
The expectations rise as the sixth race of the MotoGP 2024 season is set to take place at the iconic Catalunya circuit in Spain this weekend, from May 24th to 26th.
All eyes are on home favorites Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin, along with the two times MotoGP World Champion Pecco Bagnaia, as he prepares to face not only their rivals from Gresini and Pramac but also the ghosts of past accidents haunting the Barcelona track.
In September 2023 spectators witnessed a dramatic crash during the opening lap at turn one, initiated by Bastianini's slip. The subsequent chaos involved multiple riders, including Bagnaia, whose leg was struck by KTM's Brad Binder's bike. Both Ducati riders were taken to the hospital right after the crash.
Bagnaia did not have any serious injury, to everyone’s surprise after watching the horrifying scenes from the accident. Bastianini, on the other hand, suffered multiple fractures on the ankle and his left hand.
“It's a track that I've always liked a lot,” said Bagnaia in an interview with Motosprint after the accident, “It is certainly not the safest in the world championship due to the asphalt.”
For Ducati, Catalunya has been a theater of both triumph and tribulation. The years 2019 and 2020 witnessed, in a row, Andrea Dovizioso's successive crashes, involved in a chaotic chain reaction at Turn 2 during the opening lap in 2020.
As the clock ticks down, with only two days remaining until the 2024 MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix, tensions escalate among the Ducati riders searching for victory against Gresini's Marquez. Martin's strong performance in the France GP a few weeks ago, and his current leadership over standings with 80 points, are targets of expectations around the possibility of the Spanish first victory in the MotoGP Championship.
In between the excitement, the curiosity remains about whether Ducati will rise above past hurdles to clinch victory at Catalunya and end their six-year trophy drought at the circuit, which has persisted since the Spanish Jorge Lorenzo victory in 2018.