Pecco Bagnaia no longer really knew what to do at the finish of a Styrian Grand Prix where everything radically changed in two starts. After the first, he played in the lead and built his place as favorite for victory. Then there was the red flag, and tire changes, but of the same type, a hard front and soft rear. Once the new takeoff was complete, the Ducati official noticed that his GP21 was no longer the same…
Pecco Bagnaia lost big in this Styrian Grand Prix where he hoped to win and make up points on Quarterly. However, he finished ninth, was classified eleventh after a three-second penalty at the finish and found himself further behind by 11 points on French Yamaha on the podium. Of 47 units, its liabilities increased to 58 at the end of an event contested on terrain favorable to Ducati. Moreover, it is that of George Martin who won, an achievement the 2 Moto2018 World Champion is still chasing. Another observation that hurts… “ Of course it doesn't make me happy " Pecco said frankly.
« But I'm happy for Jorge and I'm happy for Pramac because they were my team for the first two years and they're doing a good job. Jorge was very fast all weekend. We were as fast as him. But there's always something that doesn't help me... Unfortunately, it makes it seem like I'm making excuses. Ultimately, however, I am not responsible to anyone, these are just facts »
And the facts are these: “ At the first start everything was working perfectly, I had an incredibly good feeling, as I had throughout the weekend. Only the front tire got a little too hot. That's why we traded him. In any case, everything worked well, I was able to be quick and control everything ". A happiness that lasted three turns, moment when Pedrosa fell, leaving his KTM full track which was hit by Savadori on his Aprilia. The red flag could only be waved… “ We started again. So we changed both tires: the hard compound at the front, which was only an advantage, and still the same soft compound at the rear. But unfortunately, I noticed very quickly that the rear tire did not work like the first ", said bagnaia.
Bagnaia: “I just know that I had the opportunity to fight for victory in the first race and not in the second”
« I don't want to blame the tire because otherwise it would seem like I'm making excuses, but it was pretty clear that something was wrong in the second race », underlined the Italian from 24 years. “ But that's how it happened. I tried to limit the damage ". He adds, as if he wanted to make himself understood: “ I just know that I had the opportunity to fight for victory in the first race and not in the second. The only thing that changed drastically was the tire changing grip. So I think there is something wrong ».
And now ? “ 47 points was a lot. Now there are more than 50, which makes it even more difficult ", explains Pecco about the championnat and its gap on Quarterly. " You have to make the most of it and try to catch up. It will certainly be difficult, even if we always arrive before him... But still, we must try ". And he will try again in the same place next weekend.
MotoGP Styria J3: classification
Credit classification motogp.com
