Francis Bagnaia returned from the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring to regain command of the World Championship MotoGP after having made a full hit.
Francis Bagnaia shares his point of view, and as usual, we report his words here without the slightest formatting, even if it is translated from English.
Hello, welcome to the post-race press conference here at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, at the end of the 28 laps of the Austrian Grand Prix. The race winner is back at the top of the MotoGP World Championship, the reigning world champion, Ducati Lenovo Team rider Pecco Bagnaia. 9th Ducati victory in 11 Grands Prix here at the Red Bull Ring, Pecco 7th victory of the season, and 5 points ahead heading to Aragon in two weeks. From pole position, second place in the Sprint and second place in today's Grand Prix goes to Prima Pramac Racing's Jorge Martin, and Ducati Lenovo Team rider Enea Bastianini completes another all-time podium. Ducati, another all-Ducati GP24 podium.
Pecco, we are going to start the press conference as always with you: a fantastic weekend, a 1'27 lap in qualifying, not quite pole position but you have regained the lead of the world championship with a certain style . Fantastic wins in the Sprint and today in the Grand Prix, it looked from the outside like two perfect races for you…
Francesco Bagnaia: “Yes, absolutely. It was fantastic! It's fantastic. Yesterday was a really good race hopefully with Jorge's penalty, but today I think we had fantastic pace. It was incredible, the speed we had! I was just trying to be a little bit faster every lap than Jorge, just to have that kind of gap in the last part of the race and to be able to control the rear a little bit, because I had a lot of waving at the start on the straights with the rear tire, and it was important to have that kind of gap just to be able to manage it. »
Pecco, you talk about undulations in straight lines. Here we have this special rear tire that gives you slip. How do you control this slippage? How do you keep the bike forward? Do you modulate the throttle or use the rear brake, or what?
“I was just trying to wait with the throttle until I found good traction, because otherwise the rear was sliding, it was spinning a lot. But I think we worked a lot with the electronics this weekend, and we took a step back, taking away a lot of traction control to have more in hand, and it was easier to manage. »
How special was it to have Valentino here today, the day he won his first race in 1996. What did he say to you before and after the race?
“It's always important to have Vale with us, but I talk to him a lot, even when he's not here. We text each other a lot and I think he's super helpful, because I need his perspective. So when he's there, it's true that when he's there he has to be more focused on his team, but in the evening we spoke, yesterday and Friday evening. Before the race he just told me that what I did yesterday was really good, so try to repeat it, and after the race he was just very happy, also because Celestino won his first Grand Season price. He wasn't in a good situation, so we're very happy for him. I think Bezzecchi had a good race too, Frankie didn't have the best race but he managed to come back strongly, so I think it's a very good weekend for the Academy. »
Jorge and Pecco, you are now detached (at the top of the championship), as Jorge said. Your relationship still seems very peaceful. How do you maintain this relationship?
“When there is respect, there is peace, peace outside and war on the track, but also always with respect. So we have known each other for a very long time and I never understand drivers who change relationships during the championship. It is true that when you fight for the same goal you can change a little, but the respect must always be there, and it seems that it remains the same situation as last year or as when we were younger. »
What is the atmosphere at Ducati at the moment? Because you and the factory are so strong. Will the factory continue to push, like in the tests at Misano for example, will you have new things to try on the bike?
“Honestly, we're in one of the best times in our history right now, and the team is fantastic. We are not two teams, we are one big team and we work together. I ask Enea a lot of things every day and the work we do is fantastic, I think. When I have to try something and I don't have time, he tries it, and for both, it's the same thing. Like the hard front tire he tried, I asked him during the session. So I think it's very important, very helpful for us to have that kind of relationship. Then in racing you have to do what you have to do, fight and try to win. But outside and during the session, it is best to continue working together and try to improve together. In Misano we will definitely have something to try, but I don't think it will be new elements. As I said, the bike has been the same since the start of the season, and at the moment we have nothing new. »
With Aragon coming and Misano twice, it's really a fantastic moment, a very strong moment for you in the championship: you must feel very good mentally?
“Yes, but last year we didn't race in Aragon, but two years ago we had a nice fight between Enea and me. He won in the last lap, so I would like to get my revenge this season. And they resurfaced the track, so I think the grip will be fantastic, but also the weather conditions will be completely different from 2022, because right now in Aragon it's 40° during the day , so it could be different. And in Misano last year, Jorge was unbeatable. We'll see. I would also like to take my revenge, but it is certain that these are two circuits that I like, two circuits where I have won in the past, and it will be important to get the most out of them in both cases. »
Pecco, I'm sure after yesterday's Sprint race you were confident and maybe had a plan for this race: what were your biggest fears for today? Was it Jorge? The tires? Was it a combination of these elements?
“I was quite confident about my pace, but this morning I saw that Jorge, with very worn and warmed up tires, had a very, very good pace in the warm-up. So I said to myself “OK, in the last part of the race he will be very strong, for sure”. So I'm still very confident and I always say that Jorge will be there to fight, because right now we are making the difference with the others, and I was sure that it would be a race between us. Then today I had this advantage in terms of pace in the central part of the race, and I knew that in the last part I could have a margin, because by pushing like that in the central part, it also meant that in the last part you would be without tires. And that happened, but being two seconds (late), for him it was difficult to recover two seconds when he was more or less in the same situation. So it was a good strategy, and also when you are in the lead and you have no one in front of you, the tire pressure is normal, the tire temperature is normal, not normal because here the heat was very high , but it's better to manage when you're in the lead. »
I know you already have a lot of experience, but was it difficult to stay focused throughout the entire race, from start to finish?
“Honestly, no. I stayed focused throughout the race, and it's hard for me to lose focus in any situation. I just try to be perfect, I try every time, every lap, to recover or gain time in the sectors, so I'm fully in the rhythm and it's very difficult for me to lose my concentration during a race. Of course, there was a moment during the race where I didn't lose my concentration but I was quite angry with my tear off, because it didn't come, it was difficult to remove it . But other than that, everything was fine. »
Pecco, before the podium, in the small room where you can watch the race, we saw you talking about Marc's front device which was not engaging and you said “on this track, I had the same problem. It was difficult to get it going.” Could you explain to me why, on this particular circuit, it is difficult to engage the front device?
“The front suspensions are harder, so you have to be more aggressive but gentle when releasing the brakes, and so it's very easy to engage and release at the same time. And yesterday, before the Sprint race, I did the gear three times, because I didn't gear three times, today two, and it's a scary moment because you know you don't have not much time. He (Jorge) does it every time in his position on the grid, and I'm scared for him every time (laughs). But for me, this weekend was more difficult. At Silverstone it was much easier because it was different. »
Yesterday you told us that in the last part of the Sprint race you worked with your mapping and other things like that. How important and crucial was it to have a small gap with Jorge, who was so fast on Friday and also on Saturday morning?
“It was very useful and a big help, because I was in a critical situation in the last five laps. First, because the rear tire was worn, then the front tire. So I tried to manage everything as best as possible, I changed the mapping a little during the last laps, because the rear tire was very damaged, so when we got the bike up, the slippage was very significant and it was difficult to manage. But we did a good job with my telemetrist, we did a perfect job. And I knew he (Jorge) was very quick with the medium. So I tried to be more precise, faster, in the middle of the race, just to have that gap in the last part. »
Austria MotoGP Francesco Bagnaia
Austria MotoGP Francesco Bagnaia
Austria MotoGP Francesco Bagnaia
Austria MotoGP Francesco Bagnaia
Austrian Grand Prix results MotoGP 2024 at the Red Bull Ring:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
