We have rarely seen Pecco Bagnaia get nervous as he does today in Termas de Rio Hondo. After collecting just one point in the first two races of the season, the Ducati rider had indicated the Argentine Grand Prix as the one that needed to make a difference. But for the moment it hasn’t arrived. Indeed, for the first time in this 2022 he was not even able to enter Q2.
The vice-world champion was very honest in admitting that he was unable to be fast when he mounted the new tires, also struggling a lot on the depressions of the Argentine track and thus finding himself 12th at the end of FP2 and even 14th after the qualifying, even if the penalty imposed on his teammate Jack Miller will earn him a position. The positive thing, however, was to find him smiling in the meeting with the media despite a decidedly bad day.
“I don’t have much to say. I was slow, this is the truth. Especially in qualifying conditions, so at the end of FP1 and in Q1, I wasn’t able to be fast with the new tire, while with the used one I manage to be consistent and fast, “admitted Bagnaia.
And he went on to explain that last year he had similar difficult moments, which could be useful for him to try to improve the situation: “This is not the first time this has happened to me, we already know a bit how to react to this thing, because Sachsenring last year was a lesson from this point of view “.
“Among other things, I’m struggling a bit with the dips on the track and we know what to do there too, since what we did in Austin in 2021 had led me to be a little more comfortable on the bike. For tomorrow we have some good ideas, which will help me, but the reality today is that I have been quite slow, “he added.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Davide Tardozzi, Ducati Team Team Manager
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Even knowing that Friday is a fundamental day for his working method, Pecco did not hide behind the program upset by the delay of the cargo with the material of different teams, which forced the cancellation of yesterday’s two shifts and compressed the program. of Saturday. From the point of view of the race, he does not think he is in too bad a position.
“The situation is the same for everyone, the others were better than me at adapting before. Maybe it always takes me that little bit longer to get to feel good. On Fridays I need a lot for this too, so today we had to do a bit of a compressed job and I tried to do it in the best possible way. And in my opinion we managed to be fast in terms of the race “.
“The problem was for qualifying, because I wasn’t able to exploit the extra grip of the new tire at all. That was a problem. It won’t be easy for the race, because Aleix Espargaro and Vinales are very strong. Our pace. it’s good enough, but tomorrow there will certainly be another step forward. “
Finally, when asked about the nervousness shown today, especially at the end of FP2, when he railed against some colleagues who were waiting for him to take advantage of the wake, he revealed that he had already apologized to those directly involved. He also assured him that he was actually less nervous today than at other times.
“Also on other occasions I have had difficult days. The difference is that I did not have cameras in the garage. Generally, however, when I am nervous, the situation is almost always the same. I am sorry to have given this impression, even if in the end we are all human, so when you are nervous you also do wrong things. I apologized to the other pilots, but last year there were situations where I was even more nervous. Today it was quite normal. It was more disappointment with myself , for having gone slowly, “he concluded.
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