MotoGP Assen J2, Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati Q5/S7) is frustrated by his penalty: "I had to avoid hitting Jorge Martin"

He might be on edge. In Assen, Pecco Bagnaia He came very close to fifth place, but ran wide on the green section exiting the final corner, just as he was about to overtake Jorge Martin on the acceleration. The rule is simple: if a driver runs wide on the last lap, he automatically loses a position; Bagnaia isn't the first to have this happen to him. Aside from that, he was quite satisfied with his performance, even if his repeated successes from 2022 to 2024 are a distant memory.

Bagnaia explained what had happened at the exit of the last corner. "Yes, a small mistake." I was about to hit Martín. He exited the last chicane very slowly.I was very close, I tried to go around the inside, but he closed his line and to avoid him I had to accelerate a little more. In my opinion, however, I didn't really bite: more than half of the tire was still on the rumble strip.The sensor is very close at that point and it triggered. It's a shame; for me, it's a bit of a harsh penalty. I'd like to review the video and perhaps discuss it with Simon Crafar, to fully understand the situation. I ended up there because I was avoiding hitting him from behind, so it was a safety maneuver. And I repeat, in my opinion, I wasn't completely on the right track.In cases like this, the judgment might need to be reviewed. he declared on GP One.

 

 

He crossed the finish line before Marc Marquez, which is no small feat. "It's a circuit where I clearly feel better than him. From behind, I could see he wasn't riding as cleanly as usual. The problem is, here, if you can overtake right away, it's fine. But if you find yourself behind someone, it becomes really difficult. Today, I lost too many laps. When I pulled away from Marc, there were only a few laps left, six I think. Then it took me two or three laps to catch Martín, and I stayed far behind because I was losing too much time in turns 7 and 15. With those vibrations, I couldn't really get close to him," he added.

 

 

According to him, the Aprilias are still beatable at Assen, even though they occupied the top four positions after Q2. "They are faster in a flying lap, they have better grip. However, for the time being at least, over the race distance, I don't think they have a particular advantage.I think they have the potential to fight for the win. Today, without that departure, I would have been battling with Raul and Ogura. Absolutely. he concluded.

Can you imagine Pecco Bagnaia doing better tomorrow in Assen? Tell us in the comments!

MotoGP Sprint Result at the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix:

 

 

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport