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Just 7 Grands Prix (12 races, counting Sprints) have been run and the championship is just a third of the way through, but despite this the balance is already shaping up. After a 3-week break, thanks to the postponement of the GP in Kazakhstan, it's back to serious racing this weekend, at Assen, then without interruption it's off to Sachsenring, before stopping again for the summer vacations.
In the Netherlands, it will be Jorge Martin who will arrive as leader of the standings, although his lead has shrunk a lot after Mugello. His small lead (after his crash in the Sprint and 3rd place on Sunday in Italy, with Pecco dominating the weekend) amounts to 18 points, better than nothing but not enough to sleep soundly. Pramac's Spanish rider has been the protagonist of an excellent start to the season, 'soiled only' by the aforementioned misstep at Mugello and the one in the Sepang GP.
From this point of view, Bagnaia has thrown away a lot more points. In his ranking, the 3 consecutive zeros in the short races in Jerez, Le Mans and Barcelona immediately stand out.The world champion, on the other hand, has made up for it on Sunday. Out of 7 GPs, he's won 4 and made the podium 5 times: his worst result was a 5th place in Austin, while in Portimao he crashed after a contact with Marquez. Martin responded with good results in the Sprint - 3 wins and 5 podiums - but in the long race he has half as many wins as his opponent (2) and 4 podiums.
To think that it will be a two-man fight for the title like last year, however, is naive, as well as premature. Indeed, one cannot take Marc Marquez out of the equation. The Spaniard has had to pay for his apprenticeship on the Ducati, but since Jerez he has definitely changed pace. One figure is enough to realize this: in the last 4 GPs Martin has scored 91 points, Bagnaia 103 and Marquez 100. Marc is therefore perfectly in line with the world champion.
Moreover, like Jorge, he has wasted very little, coming up short on only two occasions (Portimao and Austin). Unlike his rivals, however, he has yet to score any wins and 'only' 3 podiums on Sunday. The 35 points behind Martin are still not too many, however.
Perhaps, however, Bastianini's 57 are. Enea has not had the pace of the best so far and his 3 podiums have not been enough to keep in their wake. Also because the Rimini rider still cannot make a difference in the Sprint and the points lost on Saturday weigh heavily on the ranking.
What is surprising, however, is Acosta's roadmap. Not so much for the points obtained (70 less than Martin), but for his consistency. Although sometimes it would be easy to forget, Pedro is making his MotoGP debut and logically he is paying the price. Despite this, of the top 5 riders in the standings he is the one who has made the fewest mistakes: in 14 races he has gone down only once, on Sunday at Le Mans. A sign that the GasGas rider has the right approach to a category that is by no means simple. Add to this the two podiums won in Portimao and Austin, for the moment the highest points of his season.
