This Sunday, November 7, 2021, Pecco Bagnaia answered questions from journalists from the Algarve International Autodrome in Portimão, at the end of the second day of the Grande Prémio Brembo do Algarve.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the Italian driver, author of his third success this season, this time in Portugal.
As usual, we report here the words of Pecco Bagnaia without the slightest formatting.
Pecco, you delivered an incredible race today. You drove like a metronome, showing exemplary regularity in your times. From the outside it's very simple: Your performance seemed perfect...
« I'm very happy because I think this is my best weekend in MotoGP, and I had a lot of fun in all the sessions. When you feel this good on your bike, everything becomes easier. I am very happy with the work accomplished, especially compared to our performance in April. »
« Seven months ago, I had already finished in second position, but now I really felt that I was competitive. This is definitely a cause for satisfaction, although this race was perhaps more difficult at the start as I had more problems than usual with the front tire compared to other races. So at the start I tried to attack, but every time I leaned to the left, I felt that the front had a tendency to lock up, but this feeling ended up disappearing lap after lap, and in the end I am very happy to have won this race. Besides, I'm also very happy that we won the constructors' championship, it's really a good thing. »
This new victory also confirms your status as a strong man at the end of the championship. The fact of having managed to recover from your fall during Misano-2 and to win again here confirms your good momentum, which you will certainly try to extend at the start of next season...
« You have to be honest: I didn't lose the championship in Misano. I had actually lost a lot of points before that. I was slow to get my first victories, but at least it's true that this constitutes a very good basis for us for next year. We have worked very hard on our machine, and I think for 2022 we are going to enjoy a very good pace with it. »
How different is the Pecco from the beginning of the season from the current one, the one who wins races? Has it been difficult to change your riding style and approach to racing since you started?
« Frankly I encountered a lot of difficulties, because apart from a few exceptions at the beginning I was in difficulty almost everywhere. When I was fast I was really fast, but the rest of the time I was slow and I fell victim to various falls, without really knowing why. I don't really know what happened in the last two years, but when I came to the factory team I had a different feeling on the bike. »
« The atmosphere in the garage was very good, and that was something I really enjoyed. I also trained a lot this winter on a physical level, and that really allowed me to take a leap forward in terms of performance. So I'm very happy with the step forward we've made, and I think we've done what we need to do to be competitive, and the foundation is there for next year. »
Fabio Quartararo said he was able to ride much more freely this weekend now that the title has been awarded. Did you feel this too?
« Honestly I think I'm in the same mood as when I was in Misano. In Misano I crashed, but that may not have been the case because I didn't have the hard tire at the front [laughs]. But frankly my state of mind has not changed compared to Misano, because there my idea was simply to postpone the deadline for the championship, but I had already made up my mind about my chances of winning the latter. »
« I'm sure that if I had won in Misano, Quartararo would not have crashed today. Everything is good as it is, and all I can say is that I had ridden until then without the pressure of the championship, so nothing has really changed here. »
“I was in the same mood as in Misano”
If you had not crashed at Misano, the situation would still be completely different in the championship, because you would have potentially returned to 13 points behind Quartararo in the standings…
« It didn't happen like that, but we have to be realistic. I am an optimistic person, and I always prefer to see the bright side of things. That’s life, and it’s great that it happened like that. »
Ducati won the manufacturers' title today. What role has the motorcycle played today, as well as in recent years with all the improvements that have been made to it?
« I think we benefited from an extra year to focus on what was more or less the same bike. For me it was beneficial because I really understood how to drive it better. Afterwards, it's certain that if we compare to my bike last year, I have several changes on it, but from the start of the season I had good feelings. »
« I think it's the same for Jack Miller: We worked a lot, and now with more or less the same bike, we achieve very different results. We are indeed stronger in braking as well as in corners, so I think we have done a very good job for this year, and it is also something good for the engineers who will benefit from a very good base to work on for next season. Ultimately I think we have accomplished a huge amount of work this year. »
During the Moto3 race we witnessed a very dangerous maneuver by a rider, who will make his debut next season in MotoGP [Darryn Binder in fact clipped the rear of Dennis Foggia's bike, the latter who was defending his title chances against Pedro Acosta in the quarter liter category]. Do you think this type of accident could call into question safety next year in the category?
« I think that like Formula 1, we should have a Super License system, which determines your ability to move up to the next category. Today what we witnessed is something ultimately very normal, because we have seen a lot of maneuvers of this type from Darryn Binder. It's not particularly good for me to say this about another rider, but next year he will be with us, on much more powerful bikes, and it's a subject that the organizers really need to think about I think. »
“We saw a lot of maneuvers of this type from Darryn Binder »
Don't you think he should be penalized with two rounds of suspension as was the case in Austin for Deniz Öncü? This is indeed not the first time that Darryn Binder has been guilty of such actions…
« There is only one race left to go. I'm not one of the people who decides these kinds of things, and I'm lucky that I don't have to make such decisions. »
