MotoGP | Bagnaia: “An error that turns the p…”

Pecco Bagnaia, last year's dominator, was replicating Portimao's show of strength in the Sprint, when a “slap” of his Ducati forced him to go wide at Turn 1, losing the advantage he was managing and, consequently, the victory , finishing fourth. It appeared to be a problem with his GP24, but the reigning world champion revealed he had made a mistake.

In current MotoGP, where a small detail makes the difference, the margin for error is practically nil, therefore a flaw can compromise the result. In this case it was a victory, which Bagnaia was conquering by force, after a great start and a Sprint dominated from the first corner.

“Unfortunately I didn't take into account the fact that the first corner is still very particular, it goes down a lot,” explained the Ducati rider in the usual meeting with the media, including Motorsport.com, at the end of the Sprint. “I continued to brake in the same way even though the fuel was getting lower and lower, I felt the rear rising a little more and, braking in the same way, I had this error. But in any case, we need to take the positive for tomorrow and try to take another step.”

The first position he was managing in the Sprint was the result of a great start from the second row, after a complicated qualifying: “It's been two qualifyings in a row that I've been trying to ask something from the bike which in the end I struggle to have, because both in Qatar and here , forcing the front I lost it a bit. Twice now I've started from the second row when I could have taken pole. It could have been 12 points, so 6 more, in a championship still 39 races long it makes the difference. So it gets the ball rolling.”

Even though the victory and the podium are gone, Bagnaia wants to look at the glass half full and gathers everything positive that this Sprint has been able to offer him: “I'm happy with the fact that finally in a Sprint I managed to start well, attack, be in front , manage. The feeling was very good, I always feel a little more this explosiveness that I was missing.

Watch: MotoGP: What we learned on Friday! | 2024 #PortugueseGP

“I have to say that with this bike I feel the rear is looser than I would like, but we already know where to improve to make the step up. Above all, tomorrow we will race with the medium, which is a tire that I like much more. All pretty good, but there's another step to take. However, we improved in the feeling for the race, then anyway I was first in the Sprint, I attacked and that's positive”, declared Bagnaia, who feels ready for tomorrow's race.

Speaking of Sunday, Vinales surprised everyone by winning the Sprint, but Bagnaia thinks he won't be the only rival in the long race: “It's very difficult to say who the favorite is, definitely Maverick, Enea who will start better. Marquez, Martin… The list is long. There are too many, there are only three places on the podium and one to win, so we'll try to do our best.”