The Ducati champion: “Having this tension is a kind of fuel, otherwise it’s as if you don’t care about the result. Tire pressure? It’s a rule that no one likes, but here you can play for this joker, but not in Qatar”
– Milan
Third to last round of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship with the two contenders at center stage, the pre-event conference of the Malaysian GP, ready to battle. We start again from the +13 of Ducati rider Pecco Bagnaia over Spaniard Jorge Martin of Ducati Pramac, with the Italian who won in Sepang a year ago: “Yes, it’s one of my favorite tracks, I have good memories in all the categories and I’m always always happy to come here – says Pecco -: we will also need to be lucky with the weather, but I think we will be competitive in every situation. I hope to start from the front so as not to find myself in battles like the one with Martin and Binder in Buriram”.
useful pressure
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Bagnaia already knows the road that leads to the World Championship, having followed it successfully last year, but he doesn’t know if it is a useful experience in managing the pressure linked to the current battle with Martin: “I don’t know if the experience of 2022 It helps me, but having this type of pressure is a pleasure: if we didn’t have it it would mean that we don’t care much about the result. Pressure is like a fuel to be used well: we must feel the hunger to be champions again.”
tire pressure
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Another type of pressure, that of the tyres, could give Bagnaia an advantage, given that Martin suffered a warning for values that are not up to standard and is at risk of sanction if the infringement were to occur again: “Running with the pressure below the limit gives advantages in braking, while if you are behind another runner it is more difficult because it can rise – explains Pecco – In Malaysia you can perhaps play this joker, while in Qatar with humidity and cold it helps less, but it is a rule that no one likes: it affects the driving style and also safety, because if you go just over the limit you can lose the front as happened to me and see a success fade away. The point is that it is difficult to predict how the pressure value changes: you start with 1.7 bar, then you find yourself in the race at 2.2 and it is complicated to manage, but my team is doing a great job to deal with this situation as best as possible.”
martin comrade, better gloss over
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Finally, Bagnaia is asked about the possibility of having Martin alongside him in the official team next year, but Pecco glosses over: “I have never had a say in this type of decision and I don’t want to have it, but it doesn’t seem to me which would be right for the type of season that Enea Bastianini had: it is a question that should be asked to others..”.
Gazzetta dello Sport
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