MotoGP / Bagnaia: “Beautiful ‘war of the times’ with Fabio” | FormulaPassion.it

Pecco Bagnaia smiles at the end of the PL2 in Portimao. The Piedmontese rider from the Ducati home finished in second place the afternoon session on the spectacular Portuguese track, preceded only by the ‘usual’ Fabio Quartararo. The duel between the two is now a constant this season – even more so with the absence of Marquez – and the curiosity of all the fans is to see the challenge recur again in 2022. Meanwhile, for the moment, also Bagnaia seems to enjoy the heads up.

Speaking to the microphones of Sky Sport MotoGP at the end of the session, Pecco joked about the constant challenge with the Frenchman from Yamaha, which was also repeated in free practice. “Today was a fun day – commented Bagnaia – every time I entered the track I improved my time. We had a kind of ‘war of the times’ with Fabio. We were first and second each other for the whole session. This track is spectacular. I was expecting more grip in the afternoon, but with the wind picking up it was more difficult. But tomorrow it will be better. We don’t have to touch anything on the bike, everything works fine ”.

The Italian then also looked to the future. The immediate one, with the Valencia race – a traditionally difficult track for him – and the long-term one, with the wait for the 2022 title hunt, which will see him among the favorites. “Valencia? I’ve never been strong there. But even in Aragon I had never been strong before this year – warned Bagnaia – we must try to win the constructors’ title, so it will be essential to be strong on that track as well. Change of approach for 2022? I hope not. This year’s work has made a difference compared to the past, when it was more frequent for me to go slow than to go fast. But this year I found such serenity, which was what I needed. We also made mistakes, but they taught me something. We are fast and competitive everywhere and we don’t touch anything on the bike. This says a lot about the competitiveness of the package. This year we didn’t win because Fabio was stronger. Unlucky races? Yes, too. It was Austria-1 and Silverstone. We will need them for the next few years ”.