At the end of a Misano 2 meeting ended with a fall while he was leader of the race, Pecco Bagnaia saw his star raised to the firmament with the barely veiled favors of Ducati for the position which will be left vacant by Andrea Dovizioso at the end of the year. In Barcelona, however, the Italian has not yet impressed after two days of meetings. On the ropes on Friday, he must resign himself to fourteenth place on the grid this Saturday. In front of him, three other Desmosedici, including a GP19. But the attention of the VR46 academician is only focused on those of his teammate Miller and Johann Zarco. That of Petrucci is not taken into account. It shows that Bagnaia is only thinking about 2021...
Pecco Bagnaia is condemned to a solid comeback this Sunday on the Montmélo route if he wants to leave Catalonia on a good note. The one who embodies the next generation at Ducati indeed got his feet caught in the mat during these Saturday qualifications. And he readily admits that he is guilty of his situation which puts him only 14rd on the starting grid.
« I made a mistake, while I was in Miller's times » admits Pecco. “ I wasn't fast enough in the last sector to get to Q2. This sector is my weak point, so I have to work on it, maybe looking at Jack and Zarco's data, which are much faster ».
Two names that he then repeats but to illustrate his position differently: “ in FP4 I maintained a good pace, which I think will allow me to fight for the first six places. Zarco and Jack are doing a good job but I'm a little faster on race pace ».
“The second part of the race remains a mystery”
« Obviously starting 14th won't help, but it will be an atypical race in my opinion. I think I'll be fine for the first 15 rounds, like many others, while the second part of the race remains a mystery. I hope to recover places at the start, also thanks to the engine. If I can be in the top eight after a few corners, that would be perfect. Last year I finished 4th in Australia from 15th, so I'm not giving up ».
He adds : " on this track the tires wear a lot which makes things difficult. We have the wrong tires for the period, but it's no one's fault, not even Michelin who expected higher temperatures. Tomorrow I will have to push from the start without exaggerating, especially when braking: I am generally good at managing the tires, but tomorrow it will be interesting to see how everyone can do it ».
MotoGP Barcelona J2: qualifying
