The reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia remains optimistic about the points he lost to Jorge Martin, as the action heads to two of his favorite tracks in the remaining part of the season.

Over the weekend at Phillip Island, Bagnaia saw his gap to Martin increase from 10 points to 20 points. Bagnaia finished fourth in the sprint and third in the race, while Martin secured a win and a second place.

Although Bagnaia acknowledged Martin’s edge in Australia, he stayed positive with three rounds remaining in a title fight that has been full of ups and downs. The points gap is the same as it was two weeks ago, when Bagnaia was 21 points behind.

"It’s like Indonesia all over again—we recover, we lose, then we recover again," Bagnaia said. "We’re going into the next rounds with confidence, knowing these are tracks where I’m very fast. Buriram [Thailand GP] and Malaysia suit my riding style better, and I believe I can be stronger there."

Bagnaia admitted that they had expected a tough race in Australia and tried to do their best to minimize the points loss, but it wasn’t enough. "I've always had decent results here, but never the pace I had at places like Motegi," he added. "At Buriram, we have a good chance to fight again. Last year, Jorge won, but let's see how it goes this year!"

In 2023, Bagnaia finished second behind Martin in Thailand but managed to beat him to fourth place in Malaysia.

While Bagnaia pointed out the gap is similar to what it was a few rounds ago, Martin now holds the lead more comfortably, knowing only a few races remain. For Bagnaia, a crash or any non-score could hurt his title chances. The 20-point deficit also brings to mind the costly crash with Alex Marquez at Aragon, which Bagnaia admitted "carries more weight now."