Pecco Bagnaia was undoubtedly hoping for much better than the commands of the second row of the starting grid for the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez at the end of qualifying. But he had to be content with it, beaten in particular by a teammate Jack Miller who knew how to take his breath. That being said, what he fears now is traction, of the kind displayed by the Yamahas over the distance of a race...
Pecco Bagnaia was beaten this Saturday, qualifying day of the Spanish Grand Prix MotoGP. And not only by Yamaha . He also had to leave his supremacy at Ducati to his Australian teammate. “ It would certainly have been better to start from the first line. I pushed myself to do this because when I saw that Jack was behind me. It was then clear to me that there could be a better time in my wake. He also knew how to use it well. Anyway, fourth on the grid isn't so bad and my pace on worn tires wasn't so bad either », summarizes the Italian from 24 years.
« We need to reduce the gap a little, because the Yamahas of Fabio and Franco have better pace at the moment. I think they are two or three tenths faster. But I'm really happy at the moment." adds the current second to the championship. How does he see Sunday's race? “If you are fast, like I was in Portimão, you are certainly a little more relaxed. A fourth place on a very difficult track for us is not bad either. The rhythm is good ».
However… " to be honest, I expected a little more than yesterday. But I didn't get along very well with the wind and especially with the grip in qualifying. I couldn't get it adjusted and almost fell several times because my back wheel slipped. At turn 7, I almost did a highside, the grip conditions were a bit special ". He talks about the turn where Marc Marquez fell heavily during FP3.
Bagnaia: “the Yamahas have better traction than us”
Pecco Bagnaia definitely fears Yamaha and he explains why: “ they can better use the tire's first grip. Because they generally have better traction than us. We have a lot of problems with that on this track. The grip conditions are worse than last year, even if it is cooler. It's strange. But we work hard. I improved my pace by almost half a second compared to Friday, which is very good. But the Yamaha took a step that cost us a little more. I am still satisfied with our work and Sunday morning we have another opportunity to improve our configuration ».
The factory driver Ducati did not want to make predictions for the race. “ Because FP4 was also very special “, he stressed. “ Normally almost all FP4 drivers are on the track with worn tires, but today almost all had new tires. Apart from Franco Morbidelli, me and a few otherss ”.
MotoGP Spain J2: qualifying
Credit classification motogp.com
