During qualifying for this Valencia Grand Prix, Pecco Bagnaia and Valentino Rossi were the exception to the rule that drivers do not like to be followed by opponents who thus take advantage of their skills and their wake to achieve a better performance. Rather, they organized the track meet and exercise. But as the Ducati official points out, it almost ended badly... And the Italian reveals at the same time the aerodynamic effects of modern MotoGP.
Pecco Bagnaia was deprived of his sixth consecutive pole position by a Jorge Martin who achieved his fourth peak position of the season. The rookie remained on his wheels unlike the two official drivers Ducati who were hunting. Miller fell, but also bagnaia, who has a score to settle with this Valencia route… “ I am very happy with the qualifying result » explains Pecco. “ First of all because I was never good at Valencia. The only thing that stays the same is the fact that I crash at turn two : this track has a strange grip, it always seems that the tires don't grip, and in this corner, it always seems to happen that the wheel is locked there ". Then he adds, fair play: “ apart from that, starting second is good, Jorge Martin deserved pole, also because I certainly would not have improved my time in the last lap ».
The 2021 world vice-champion also recalls this: “ From the Assen race to the Valencia race I always started from the front row, which is important and means we have fixed qualifying, while we work on the race. The problem is tire management: at Ducati we all ride differently, but in the end everyone has to work hard. During the sessions, I try to do as many laps as possible at the limit, which helps me ».
Pecco Bagnaia: “ he probably entered my air tunnel »
bagnaia is already on his Sunday errand: “ I have clear ideas about tires » he assures. “ Tire wear is very high on the left, probably because they slide a lot, so I figured I would work on the soft and get good responses, better than the hard. But then I put the medium on and I immediately improved, so I think I have clear ideas now on what to use in the race: hard at the front and medium at the back. Like I think many others ».
But back to the episode Valentino Rossi during Q2… “ I almost got hit " smiles bagnaia. “ I don't know what happened but Vale may have had the same problem as me in Qatar: he probably entered my air tunnel, and when he braked the motorcycle, he accelerated. It's something that happens a lot, but I'll ask him later. In any case, helping Vale is the least I can do ". This is called being grateful.
MotoGP Valencia J2: qualifying
Credit classification motogp.com
