MotoGP | Bagnaia: “Today it was dangerous to push, but I have a good pace”

After three weekends of total or almost total domination (the crash on the last lap in the Barcelona Sprint weighed heavily), Pecco Bagnaia had a slightly more muted start in the German Grand Prix. The world champion ended Friday with the fifth fastest time, but he also admitted that he didn’t overdo it in the time attack, because the conditions were very critical due to the wind, as confirmed by the 9 crashes we witnessed.

Satisfied with his race pace, but not having yet found an optimal set-up, the Ducati rider preferred to stay out of trouble and take home direct qualification for Q2, which in the end is always the primary objective for Friday.

“It was a very positive day. Usually I struggle a bit here at the Sachsenring, especially with the pace. Today, however, we are very happy with the race pace: I think that Martin and I are the two fastest at the moment together with Marc,” said Bagnaia at the end of the day.

“I’m not too happy with the feeling with the bike to be honest, because I don’t feel 100%, but we’re working on it and we already know what direction to take for tomorrow. In the time attack I wasn’t able to use the tyres, because I felt that the front wasn’t at its best on the right side: it was cold, there was a lot of wind and it was better to finish the session, because the important thing today was to be able to stay in the top ten”, he added.

Regarding today’s conditions, he was very clear about why it was better not to take risks, but he also praised Maverick Vinales, who still managed to set a new Sachsenring record on his Aprilia.

“Today it was dangerous to push freely, because the wind was really strong and cold, so you only had to take two slow corners and the front tyre was already at risk. The same goes for the rear, so the limit was very small to be able to exploit everything 100% and Maverick was very good at doing it, because every time you leaned over the feeling was that the front was closing”.

There were also several impressive falls at the “Waterfall”, the infamous downhill turn 11 and the first right after a long sequence to the left. Those who paid the price were Marco Bezzecchi, Enea Bastianini, but above all Marc Marquez, who then had to give up the second part of the afternoon session due to pain in his side.

“The rear grip is really high with the tyres introduced this year and this pushes on the front. That corner was already critical in the past and now it is even more so. All those who crashed there did so on the first flying lap, when in these conditions you still have to be very cautious, because with the wind the right side of the front tyre is not yet warm”.

In addition to Vinales, Miguel Oliveira was also seen in the top positions, third with the Trackhouse Racing RS-GP, so the Piedmontese was asked if he expected to see the Noale bikes so incisive: “Here the Aprilia and Maverick have always been very strong. It’s a track where you spend a lot of time bent over and the Aprilia, due to its characteristics, is suited to go fast on these circuits. But we’ll see tomorrow, because I think that tomorrow the conditions will change quite a bit and on Sunday they will be halfway between today and tomorrow”, he concluded.