MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

There was a lot to chew over at the Barcelona round of MotoGP, and Misano is nearly upon us. So here's a few more things that we learned in Barcelona that matter: Maverick Viñales becoming the first rider to break the new tire pressure regulations; Honda's continuing problems; Fabio Quartararo going back to the future; and what the Misano test might bring, and what it definitely won't bring, and what that might mean for the future of Marc Marquez.

There were a number of records broken at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, including the first ever Aprilia 1-2 in MotoGP. But there was also a less commendable record set: Maverick Viñales because the first MotoGP rider to be punished under the new tire pressure regulations. The factory Aprilia rider was found to have completed less than 50% of the race with this front tire pressure above the minimum set by Michelin, nominally 1.88 bar. As it was his first transgression, he received a formal warning. The next time he is found to have broken the tire pressure rules, he will be handed a 3-second penalty.

MotoGP championships are hard to win and incredibly easy to lose. Yesterday, Pecco Bagnaia rode a stupendous race to finish second behind an unstoppable Aleix Espargaro in the sprint race. Today, Bagnaia took off at the start, and saw his race finish after just two corners. He highsided in front of a storming pack, lucky that his teammate Enea Bastianini had messed up the first corner and wiped out five other riders, clearing out the field somewhat and putting the rest on a state of high alert.

The fates smile on Bagnaia on Sunday at Montmeló. Brad Binder was unsighted by Maverick Viñales and Miguel Oliveira, and so had no warning that Bagnaia had crashed in front of him. Yet he managed to deflect his bike just enough that he merely clipped Bagnaia's leg, rather than hit the Italian. Amazingly, though Bagnaia was removed to the medical center by ambulance and examined both there and in a local hospital, he came away with no fractures, just a lot of bruising.

On Friday it was clear that the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was an Aprilia track. Aleix Espargaro smashed the pole record on Friday afternoon, and he and factory Aprilia teammate Maverick Viñales ended the day first and second, with Espargaro well clear of the rest.

Come qualifying, and Miguel Oliveira got himself into the mix. First with a blistering lap in Q1 to get through to Q2, then an impressive lap in Q2 to put himself on the front row, his first since taking pole at Portimão in 2020. Aleix Espargaro looked to be on course for pole position, and Maverick Viñales was close to making it a clean sweep of the front row for Aprilia.

Aleix Espargaro may have had his sights set on pole, but Pecco Bagnaia had other ideas. "This morning was a bit bitter because I finished second, which is great for the two races, but I felt a little bit like I lost," the Aprilia rider said after the sprint race. "I gave everything, but Pecco was better. It was an amazing lap record. I was a bit angry." Bagnaia had added insult to injury by slicing five hundredths of a second off Espargaro's lap record from Friday to take the pole record for Ducati.