Bagnaia explains why lap records are being broken, ‘grip means safety’

Official MotoGP race lap records have been broken at all three events so far this season; held at Qatar, Portimao and COTA.

That trend is expected to continue at Jerez this weekend, weather permitting.

It also raises safety questions, with the Spanish track among many historic European venues struggling to expand run-off areas to match increasing speeds.

But reigning double world champion Francesco Bagnaia, who attributed much of the 2024 gains to the new Michelin tyre compounds, feels circuits are doing a good job at keeping up and believes more grip is ultimately safer.

“The bikes are improving a lot every year,” Bagnaia said. “Small details can make more difference. Also with the new aero. And then the new tyres.

“The new tyres are bringing to us much more performance. We saw it in the pre-season test that already in Malaysia we did ‘56. That is something incredible, like [the lap records] in Qatar or in Austin.

“And I think that more grip also means more safety. It's true that the speeds are increasing, but all the tracks are doing a really good job of improving all the run-off area and more grip gives to us more feeling. So I think it [provides] more safety.”

A double Jerez MotoGP winner, Bagnaia hailed the Spanish circuit as “one of the greatest to race on”.

“You can have nice battles. Last year I overtook many riders and it was great. So I think it's one of those kind of tracks where the rider can make more of the difference, like in Portimao, and it’s always fun to race here.”

“It was one of the first tracks where I raced when I arrived in the Spanish championship,” he added. “It was always one of my dream tracks, I was wondering what it’d be like [to ride here].

“So it's one of my favourites for that, and also because it has some really huge braking as well as fast corners.”

Winner of last year’s Spanish MotoGP, Bagnaia returns just fifth in the world championship having been off the podium since victory in the Qatar season opener.