The company was just a step away, but Pecco Bagnaia saw it escape right on the most beautiful spot, in the gravel of the Misano escape routes. Almost out of a mocking fate, last year it was the Romagna track that denied him the joy of his first MotoGP victory when he was on the run alone. Today, however, the crash at turn 15 cost him the hope of continuing to believe in winning the title.
With 52 points to recover from Fabio Quartararo, the Ducati rider knew he could only attack, even if the opportunity was tempting, as his rival started from the fifth row. And up to five laps from the end Pecco had been perfect: starting well from pole, he had commanded the whole race despite a rather aggressive Marc Marquez behind him. Then came the mistake and the great disappointment, which the Piedmontese seems to have absorbed quite well anyway, with the awareness of having grown a lot in the second half of the year and now having the potential to immediately fight for the championship in 2022.
“I would analyze the championship by dividing it into two phases. The first was learning, until the summer break, where every time there was something that limited me and did not allow me to be the fastest or in any case to stay ahead. Then, after the summer break, we arrived in Austria and everything was easier for me. This is because we worked a lot and found a base to work on that has always worked perfectly “, explained Bagnaia.
“Unfortunately there were two races in which we didn’t have a great level, because some things didn’t work, which are the first in Austria and Silverstone. Unfortunately in those two cases we only took home 5 points even though we were among the most Fast. Then at Aragon we were perfect, like at Misano 1. In Austin we couldn’t have done more than this. Here too we were having a perfect weekend and it’s a shame about the crash, but today I had to win by force, so I tried and in the end it did not go well. But we can only say that we are happy. Surely frustrated, but happy “, he added.
He and Jack Miller were the only ones to mount the hard front tire and, curiously, they both crashed at Turn 15. Pecco knew he should have pushed from start to finish with that, but then he could only attack today.
“We knew from the start of the race that I couldn’t afford to slow down, because the hard front tire needed me to push from start to finish so as not to cool down. We took a risk, but today was a day where we could only do that. We knew that with the medium would not have been as good as with the hard one and therefore we mounted it even if the conditions were not too suitable. But used in the right way it would have paid off and it was giving it. Unfortunately he betrayed me, but today we had to risk everything and I tried until I fell. “
Looking to 2022, Bagnaia sees himself among the protagonists, because he is convinced that the work he has done in these last races, and the awareness that has derived from it, will prove to be fundamental next year.
“We have laid a very good foundation for next year. Our goal for this year was to learn and grow, because last year I was nowhere near the top positions. Our goal this year was not to win the title,” so what came more was just positive. I think I learned a lot in the last four races, because we have always been among the fastest and on different tracks. “
“This is fundamental for next year. Then I think that the awareness reached at this moment will give me a great desire to try to make sure that next year the championship can go in our direction. We will have to see why Quartararo, Marquez, Mir anyway. , but also many other riders will be very fast. But we will try to do our best. “
Keeping the games open up to Portimao was the goal and would have been very nice, but realistically the Ducati rider acknowledged that, regardless of the crash, it would not be easy to break it down in the Algarve as well, given how the results were today.
“I knew it would be a very difficult undertaking, but until it is mathematically finished you must always believe in it. Today I tried and I knew that I could only win. With the victory we would have reopened everything a bit, even if, with 37 points to two races from the end, for him it would have been enough just to get a fourth place in Portimao. It would have been very difficult anyway, but we tried and proved to be really strong. It’s a shame, but we must also be aware of the fact that the World Cup was more in Quartararo’s hands than ours “.
A Quartararo to whom he gave credit for winning the title, adding however that what made the difference was perhaps the privileged position from which he started, given that he had already played the World Cup in 2020. For this reason Pecco hopes to be able to follow in his footsteps next year.
“Quartararo was stronger than me because he had the experience of last year. He had already lost him a championship, because he was first up to four races to go. He was already fighting for the World Championship last year. He already had won some races and therefore had more experience than me: we arrived together in MotoGP, but he was fast from the first year, the second he fought for the title and lost it, then this year he managed to win it “.
“He is the rider that I know deserved the most, but we did everything we had to do, that is to learn and grow. Mine was a bit like Fabio’s last year’s championship. good season, we were very strong, but we also made some mistakes that allowed us to grow even more. I don’t regret anything this year, because the last 4-5 races have been really good. the fastest and this is very important “, he concluded.
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