Pecco Bagnaia is convinced he has made a breakthrough. He has put behind him those races that he feared might be complicated for him and is now tackling tracks that on paper are more congenial to his characteristics. If we consider that, despite some difficulties, in the last two races he managed to increase his advantage over his rival Jorge Martin to 27 points, taking advantage of the mistakes of the Madrid native, it is easy to understand why the Ducati rider is looking with confidence to the last four rounds of the World.
“I’m happy to be here, because it’s one of the circuits on which I’ve always managed to be strong. Between Japan, Indonesia and Australia we come from a series of races in which I wasn’t able to be very strong on a single lap, so I’ve always had a bit of difficulty, while now we’re moving on to a circuit that I really like. There are a lot of braking points and a lot of fast corners, then last year I was competitive, so I’m excited”, said Bagnaia in the press conference which opened the weekend of the Thai Grand Prix.
However, he immediately clarified that the difficulties remain, given that the comparison is with another Desmosedici GP identical to his: “It’s a track that’s positive for me, but the other Ducatis usually do very well here too. Jorge the Last year was very competitive both here and in Malaysia, so we’ll see. We need to understand if we can have some advantage in terms of feeling on the bike. Certainly the characteristics of the track should help me compared to Phillip Island, even if it’s always difficult to make any improvements. forecasts. The first important step will be not having to go through Q1.”
This weekend there will be the high temperature rear carcass, which is stiffer, and it could be a help compared to the difficulties he has encountered in recent weekends: “I think for me it goes a little better with a stiffer carcass compared to having a bike that moves a lot. It’s true that on Friday we found ourselves in a bit more difficulty, but at Phillip Island we also took some small risks, because we didn’t try with the soft, concentrating on the medium to be competitive for the race, and it went well as a strategy, even if we had to go through Q1. This weekend however I think we can be competitive from the start.”
With four races to go, it is not yet the time to start making calculations thinking about the championship, but it is better to still think from race to race: “Clearly I have to push, because there are 37 points up for grabs every weekend. I want to continue to to do what I have done up to this point, therefore to push all weekend and every weekend, to build the race and try to do my best in it. It is certainly not the time to start making calculations for the championship, those we will only be able to do them after Qatar.”
Many predict a title decided again at the last race, like last year, and even the reigning world champion does not rule it out: “It’s possible that we’ll get to Valencia. I lost a lot of points because I made some mistakes , but I also had bad luck. In the last two weekends, however, I managed to do an excellent job in the race and to reopen the gap a little. A 27 point margin over Jorge, however, is not enough to stay calm and relaxed. It won’t be easy from here in Valencia, but it could also go well before.”
When he was then asked if at this point in the World Championship he feels more or less strong compared to a year ago, he said: “It’s a good question. I don’t know, I definitely felt strong in the last few races. The speed is an important thing, but I think that in general we are in a better condition than last year. In 2022 I was trying to recover points from time to time: here we gained 16 on Fabio in a very difficult race, but I think that this year we are stronger. I feel great, both with the team and on the bike and in the last two races we managed to regain a lot of confidence.”
Finally, on his relationship with Martin, who he has known very well since they were kids and shared the garage on the Mahindras of Team Aspar in Moto3, he concluded: “For me it is always very important to distinguish what happens on the track from the relationship you have off it On the track you have to be respectful, but you shouldn’t think that you’re fighting against a friend. If I have to overtake you, I’ll overtake you, but always being very respectful. I think we’re mature enough to understand that.”
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