MotoGP | Bagnaia: “Last year’s accident won’t affect me”

The weekend in Barcelona was the watershed of the 2023 season for Pecco Bagnaia. Up until that moment, the Ducati rider seemed to be heading almost unchallenged towards his second crown as MotoGP world champion, given that with the second place obtained in Saturday’s Sprint he had increased the margin over his direct pursuer Jorge to over 60 points. Martin.

In Sunday’s race, however, the first two corners were enough to complicate everything: the Piedmontese was the victim of a very violent highside when he was leading the group and, after a heavy impact on the ground, Brad Binder’s KTM also passed over him a leg. Despite the very bloody dynamics, the two-time world champion miraculously escaped with only some serious bruises and a week later he was back on his Desmosedici GP at Misano, where he climbed onto the podium twice.

The memories in Catalonia are certainly not the best, because even in 2022 his race ended at the first corner, when he was hit and thrown by Takaaki Nakagami’s Honda. Despite this, expectations for the weekend are quite high, because Bagnaia recalled that last year he was particularly competitive, as well as being convinced that in the long race he could try to counter the dominance of the Aprilias, which he also sees as favourites. this year.

“I would like to be able to get to at least the third corner (he smiles). Last year I actually did well, because I was very fast, but on Sunday we didn’t manage to get to the end of the race. But I was strong, competitive, I felt really good. well and I believed I could fight with the Aprilias”, said Bagnaia in the press conference that opened the sixth round of the season, at which he will arrive second in the World Championship, with 38 points to make up on Martin.

“In the long race, with the medium tire on the rear, I think the potential would have been there, but it didn’t happen. Let’s see how it goes this season, but I think the GP24 can help us: maybe we’ll have a little less grip, but a little more mileage and it could be a good compromise. The Aprilias will certainly be the bikes to beat”, he added.

When he was then asked if an accident like the one last year could leave consequences on a mental level, he concluded: “It was certainly one of the worst falls of my career. A violent, unexpected accident that hit my leg. It wasn’t easy, but it’s a battle I already fought last year. Now I’m focused on the present and I know exactly why I crashed. I believe, or rather I’m 100% sure, that it won’t affect this weekend.”