Last year, Pecco Bagnaia took his first MotoGP victory right at Motorland Aragon. Since then, just over a calendar year has passed and the Ducati rider’s roadmap has been nothing short of impressive.
Despite the difficulties of adapting to the new Desmosedici GP experienced at the beginning of the season and the crashes in the central part of the championship, the vice-world champion has in fact won 10 of the last 20 races and is currently in a positive streak of four statements consecutive.
Numbers that have heavily relaunched him even in the title race. After the fall of Sachsenring he had sunk to 91 points behind Fabio Quartararo. Now, however, the gap has narrowed to only 30 lengths. A gap that seems to be bridged in six races, given the tremendous state of form both he and the Red are going through. A level that made it impossible for him not to admit that what he is experiencing is an almost magical period of his career in the premier class.
“This is a great moment for me, because I feel incredible every time I get on the bike, but also because of the work we are doing inside the garage. When we start the weekend, maybe the situation is not the best possible. but then we always manage to prepare the race in the best possible way. Misano is my home Grand Prix and it is a magical place for me, and everything went very well “, said Bagnaia during the press conference that opened the weekend of Motorland Aragon.
“Considering that the start of the season was not the best, because I was struggling to find a good set-up and the feeling with the new bike. Only in Jerez did we start to find an excellent pace, but then I made too many mistakes. Le Mans and Sachsenring were a big problem for me, because it made me lose faith in so many aspects. “
“But then I think we did a great job, even during the summer break, together with my physiotherapist and the team to understand what the problem was and where we went wrong. We learned a very important lesson and I think this is why we found great consistency, “he added.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Ducati Corse
Given the trend and his victory 12 months ago, many point to him as the big favorite again this weekend, but for the moment the Piedmontese prefers to go with his feet of lead and think only of working as he has done in the last few releases.
“In Austria everyone said I should win, because I was riding the Ducati. In Misano because it was my home Grand Prix. So it doesn’t mean much to me, I just try to work as well as we have done in the last few races and to stay ahead. I think there are many riders who can fight for the win this year. The main key will therefore be to be consistent as we have been in the last few races. “
In 2021, the victory came at the end of an exciting duel against Marc Marquez, who casually returns after his fourth operation just this weekend. A triumph that inevitably increased Pecco’s confidence in his own means and which helped him to become a driver capable of winning regularly.
“I came from a very difficult period, because I was always competitive, I had the pace to win races, but then something always happened. Last year’s race with Marc helped me understand that I was capable of winning races. Not. I thought that something would change after the victory, that I would always work the same way, but without a doubt that victory gave me the motivation and strength to keep winning. So it’s definitely a race that helped me to be more competitive. “
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