MotoGP | Bagnaia: “No one is happy with the stewards, a change is needed”

It’s Saturday and Pecco Bagnaia can smile. This in itself is news. The Ducati rider has finally managed to put an end to an abstinence from success in the Sprints that had lasted since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix. What gives him even more value is that he succeeded in “his” Mugello, where it is the fourth consecutive victory from 2022 to today between short and long races, but above all a week after the cold shower in Barcelona, ​​where on Saturday he crashed last lap when he was firmly in the lead.

Obviously, the reigning world champion can’t help but enjoy it, also because, thanks to Jorge Martin’s contemporary zero, he has returned to 27 points from the top: “In the meantime, I finished it and it’s already good, considering that it’s the first in the last four. Then we won. We were scary, the pace was incredible. I’m really happy because it was needed not only for me, but for everyone. In the end, Saturday brings a lot of points and it was essential to bring them home” said Bagnaia at the end of the day.

A victory that he built with a phenomenal start from the front row, which allowed him to lead from start to finish and which he will have to try to repeat tomorrow, when instead he will drop back to fifth place due to the penalty inflicted on him for impeding the damage to Alex Marquez in yesterday’s afternoon free practice: “It definitely changes a bit, but I have to get another start like today’s, because it could still put me in first position at the first corner, but we’ll see.”

Inevitably, the focus shifted precisely to the penalty and to the fact that the Ducati rider doesn’t consider it fair. But in general it is the inconsistent work of the commissioners that makes him and his colleagues nervous: “Did I expect it? Absolutely not. We clearly demonstrated that there was a bit of a show, but precisely from the telemetry. It’s quite ridiculous , but there are so many ridiculous things happening with penalties. For example, yesterday there was a case identical to mine and last year an identical one was not penalized and nothing, that doesn’t make sense either which happened today with Bastianini (a contact with Martin not punished, ed.). No driver is happy with the situation with the stewards, we’ll see if it comes, but at the moment no one is happy questionable”.

And then he continued to argue his theory: “Marc and I crashed in Portimao and I was told that they hadn’t penalized me because I had crashed too. But today what happened between Martin and Bastianini? Only Bastianini crashed, but the penalty isn’t there. What happened with Oliveira? It’s very fluctuating and there’s no logical thread in what they choose. But especially yesterday, while we were talking and having a logical discussion, that they seemed to be understanding. the statement of the three penalty positions has arrived. There is a lot to talk about, they don’t listen, and they make some truly questionable decisions.”

Returning to today’s Sprint, with three laps to go Marc Marquez tried to come back, recovering half a second, so he was asked what had happened at that moment: “That lap I saw Martin fall on the big screen of turn 3 and I told myself that it was better to slow down a bit, because I didn’t think that Marc was already there, but as soon as I saw that he was getting closer, I pushed back and immediately reopened the gap.”

After last Saturday’s mistake, he also admitted that he was very cautious when it came to tackling the last lap: “I pissed myself”, he joked, smiling. “Turn 10 is a bit similar to turn 5 in Barcelona, ​​because it’s very stinking. I played it the right way this time, because the other time it was enough to take it slowly, but not enough, to knock me out. So today I done quite a bit more slowly”.

What made his victory truly special was the crowd present in the stands and on the lawns of Mugello: “The motivation here is very high, because the crowd is incredible. Honestly, I don’t like it when the crowd boos. It’s something which I can’t stand on myself, like in Barcelona, ​​but not even when it’s done to others here in Italy. I think it’s disrespectful, but I can’t handle this anyway, when you feel heat like that, it’s something incredible. When you get to the grid and see all the people pushing for you, it’s an incredible motivation and you feel it. Then it’s a track that suits my riding style extremely well, with lots of corners and lots of mileage, so I feel very comfortable with it.” .

An audience that also gave him the Italian anthem sung a cappella as he was rewarded on the starting straight: “It was magical, but as I was saying the people here make everything even more special. It excites me a lot and it’s something that makes the difference “.