Marc Marquez praised Francesco Bagna’s defensive strategy to fend off his Ducati team-mate I Ogura and win the Sprint at the Czech Grand Prix.
Seven-time MotoGP champion Marquez The two-time title winner on the Sprint Bruno watched his Ducati team-mate’s approach closely as he came home in third place on Saturday. Bagnaya He held off Ogura by just 0.241 seconds, while Marquez finished 0.553 seconds back.
Saturday’s results at Czech GP It is the first time Bagnaia has won a Sprint race in eight months. It was the 29-year-old’s first victory in any race since last season’s Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position in October.
Francesco Bagnaia won the Brno Sprint 🏆 But who was the sprinter and why?
Marc Marquez hailed Francesco Bagnaia’s defensive ride to win the Brno Sprint.
Ogura scored a pole position for the Czech GP Earlier on Saturday, however, Trackhouse AC didn’t roll its satellite Aprilia RS-GP off the line, as Bagnaya did with the Ducati GP26. Bagnaia made the difference when he won the Sprint at the Czech GP with his best start.
Read more: Francesco Bagnaia wins Czech Grand Prix sprint ahead of Ai Ogura
The Bagnaia with its softer rear Michelin tire may outshine the Ogura, which opted to use the medium rear tire in the first place. And with Ogura chasing down the Turin native at the end of the race, the Japanese racer was unable to find a way to claim his first victory in Brno.
Bagnaia’s defensive riding style caught Marquez’s eye to block any way Ogura might have tried in the sprint at the Czech GP. Spaniard Bagnaya was impressed with how Oguran’s threat was dealt with, but said it was “definitely impossible” to beat the heat in Brno.
Marquez said on DAZN, via quotes Motosan: “I pushed hard in the race. I gave more than I tried and tried to get closer to the leader, which is the benchmark.
“I[had opportunities to pass.]That’s why I made it this far. But when you get there, you’ve got a lot to give or you can’t pass. It’s impossible.”
“Peco rode well today and defended his position very well. It was almost impossible to pass in this heat.”
Pecco Bagnaia kept his form for Ducati without changing the formation after the test in Jerez
What needs to change after Marco Bezecic’s Czech Grand Prix sprint crash?
It is the fourth accident in nine Sprints for an Aprilia rider in Brno in 2026.
Bagnaia’s sprint victory at the Czech GP this Saturday is the latest purple patch crowning him. The Ducati rider has claimed a podium finish in each of the past three Grands Prix in Catalonia, Italy and Hungary, but his P3 was his only one at Mugello.
Read more: How to watch the 2026 Czech Grand Prix, including the Brno weather forecast
Gresini star Alex Marquez’s big accident with Pedro Acosta in Barcelona paved the way for Bagnaia to reach the final stage. Meanwhile, Bagnaia had a solitary race as Jorge Martin’s massive Turn 1 crash at Balaton Park took out several rostrum rivals.
Balaton Park is also a small outdoor track. But Bagnaia believes his recent form is thanks to the preparations he and Ducati put in place at the post-Spanish Grand Prix test at Jerez in April, as he has not changed since. Bagnaia tested Ducati’s new aero and electronics at Jerez. And he revealed at the time that he felt the Bologna Bullet’s latest aero package helped him in the corners.
Bagnaia explained, through Motorsport.comAfter the Sprint in Brno: “By working calmly and not adjusting the setup too much, we took a big step in the Jerez test. We continued in this direction and in Mugello, we took another step.
“Since then, nothing has affected us. Hungary is a bit of a mix, because they are the districts where you struggle the most, but everything is going in the right direction.”
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