MotoGP Portugal D3: Bagnaia (Ducati/2) begins to make Dovizioso forget

Pecco Bagnaia left his mark even more at Ducati in a Portuguese Grand Prix which could have been his if two yellow flags had not crucified him during Q2. We will indeed recall that his best time was taken away from him, a performance which gave him not only pole position but also the Portimao track record with three tenths better than Quartararo's time. The Italian started eleventh to finish in second. This is also now his place in the championship. But at Ducati, he is the first…

Pecco Bagnaia scored points at Portugal, and not just for the general ranking of the championnat of the MotoGP world. Its coast, already solid at Ducati, further increased in value at the end of a choice performance on the selective Portimao route. He is also the only one of the brand's tenors to have seen the finish since his teammate Miller and the ally zarco have falled.

At the finish, the eminent member of the VR46 Academy still regretted the bad scenario of Q2: “ we lost our chance of victory on Saturday ", declared Sunday Pecco Bagnaia. " I think this second place was the maximum possible. Quartararo was too far ahead. I might still have finished second without my Q2 downgrade, but at least I would have had a fighting chance ».

« Fabio set a very fast pace, I don't think anyone expected such a pace. The grip was much better and the tires worked well. I think we all did a great job ", declared the Italian from 24 years, looking at the results. “ And I'm very happy because maybe I wouldn't have gone to the podium in a situation like this last year. I improved my riding style a bit and overtook a lot of riders in the corners where I actually thought the maneuvers were difficult. So I'm happy. It wasn't easy because it's easy to get out of the ideal line. We worked very well and achieved the best possible result ».

Joan mir did not make the factory driver's job any easier Ducati in arrival. The pilot Suzuki was literally hanging on Pecco's rear wheel. “ I thought I had Joan as a passenger, I heard it so close “, remembers the Ducati official. “ But I knew that if I held on until the last corner, it would be impossible for him to overtake me. Because our acceleration is very strong. My last lap was good too ».

Bagnaia: “we are now arriving on the slopes that I love”

The 2 Moto2018 World Champion is now the challenger to the provisional championship leader… “ I think it's too early to talk about the title race now. I'm second for the first time. I have to wait. My goal this year will be to be competitive anywhere, anytime. Even on the tracks where I struggled last year. Here in Portugal I was almost last in 2020. So we took a big step forward. But it is too early to talk about the championship. For now I'm just happy to be second, and now we have to continue like this ».

He finishes : " We are now arriving at the tracks that I like: Jerez, Le Mans, Mugello… We will try to be fast there. Maybe then the first victory will come. But now I only think about continuing to work like this ».

MotoGP Portugal J3: classification

Credit classification motogp.com