Pecco Bagnaia took a risk, he bet on his speed, but in the end his gamble paid off. Tomorrow the Ducati rider will start the Australian Grand Prix from the front row, but in both runs of Q2 he found himself having to deal with two real trains behind him, with many riders who had chosen him as the ” hook “just to try to earn one or more grid positions.
Despite this, the vice-champion of the world preferred to look after himself and continued to push, offering his trail to the pursuers. In the end, only Marc Marquez was able to take advantage of it, blowing him the second position, but the Piedmontese seemed satisfied anyway, because the rivals in the race for the title are all behind him, with Aleix Espargaro who will field his Aprilia in fourth place and the leader Fabio Quartararo who is fifth with his Yamaha.
Once he got to the microphones of Sky Sport MotoGP, Pecco did not hide his satisfaction, but he also stressed that he did not have too much choice with all those bikes that followed him, because it would not have been easy to implement counter moves.
“If I had slowed down to make them pass, they would not have passed me and they would have closed the gas, even coming to a stop on the track. We know that it is, so I made a virtue of necessity. I always prefer to have the road open in front of me and I did my best. that I could, so I am happy with the result we have achieved, because the front row is essential anyway. I am satisfied “, said Bagnaia.
Even more important than the grid position is the step he managed to find today with the fine-tuning of his Desmosedici GP, which also makes him confident in his potential for the race, even if tomorrow’s race will certainly not be an easy one. .
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“During FP4 we made a good step forward. We started with a feeling similar to the rest of the weekend, but in the second run we solved many of the problems I felt, so it was also fundamental for qualifying.”
“Here it is very easy for there to be a group race, because you have to manage the tires a lot and at the beginning maybe someone will try to stay hooked by going a little too far with consumption. You have to be smart enough and I think our pace is good enough to try to win or at least make the podium. I think I have good potential. “
Teased on the subject, Bagnaia then returned to the tow that he offered to Marquez, reiterating that he had no great alternatives.
“From the moment I am not fighting for the title with Marc, it made no sense not to push. Also because, if I didn’t, they would have surpassed me others. In the future we will have to find a different strategy, but today, despite having different bike behind, I managed to make it to the front row, which is the most important thing “.
Finally, he talked about the feelings of returning to a very fast track like Phillip Island after three years of absence. Also because in the meantime there has been an important technical evolution and the bikes are much more competitive today.
“It’s always a shock like three years ago. Now I’m a little more used to the speed of MotoGP than in 2019, even if you never expect to have that much. The corners that are most frightening are the 3 and 8. Especially at 3, which I am doing really strong, it gives me great pleasure to make some nice traverses. In general, however, this track is very cool “, he concluded.
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