The Ducati rider and 7th place in the short race in Thailand: “At the start I broke away later than normal and it was hard to recover. The fight with Zarco and Alex Marquez then slowed me down, but I had good grip that gives me hope”
Francesco Bagnaia it doesn’t shine in the Sprint Race MotoGP in Thailand. The pilot of the Ducati he finishes seventh after a complicated start and more than one difficulty in the first laps. Now his advantage in the standings against Jorge Martin, winner of the short race on Saturday, closes to 18 points. Pecco explains what didn’t work: “The start was good, but I couldn’t find the clutch: I braked later than normal and since it’s carbon, based on the temperature it could be that it has a different brake – explains Pecco to Sky -. This made me lose time in terms of reaction and then, once I closed on the outside at the first corner, it became difficult.”
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As if the unexpected incident with the clutch wasn’t enough, Bagnaia had to deal with the duels of those in front of him: “I lost a lot of time after two or three laps, when Zarco and Alex Marquez battled. It was a useless fight , but sometimes it happens.” This was a crucial point for his ambitions in the Sprint Race: “I lost two seconds which prevented me from being in front with the best. Then today I lost a lot in the second sector, where Martin is very strong, but in any case I understood many things.”
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However, the pace shown in the final laps gives Bagnaia hope for tomorrow’s race: “As always happens, the others make more use of the rear tire and run into difficulty at the end, while for me it’s the opposite, even if today I was too far away. In any case the grip has always been good, at least until now.” So in view of the GP, there is a fair amount of optimism, as long as we avoid new setbacks: “The difference lies entirely in the use of the rear tire at the exit: it will certainly be important to find a good start and we will have to be good at avoiding battles of other pilots”.
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