MotoGP, Bagnaia: “The holeshot is dangerous for Marquez? Maybe his isn’t working.”

Pecco Bagnaia already made two mistakes this weekend. The first was yesterday, with a fall in the FP2, which conditioned his turn and didn’t allow him to enter the Q2 directly. The second was today, insisting on the soft rain tire, with the result that he’ll be staring from a 16th place on the grid tomorrow.

“We found strange conditions today,” the Ducati rider stated. “In the FP3, I felt great, I rode well, then everything became more difficult. In the FP4, I struggled a lot, I had little rear grip.”

And in qualifying?
 “I made a mistake in choosing the tires. It would have been better to use the mediums. Sometimes weekends like this can happen, You have to stay focused and motivated and try to get back up front.”

Do you have any regrets?
 “In qualifying, I would’ve had to stop and change tires. I had overheated the rear and struggled in acceleration. In the first sector, I got four tenths on Marini, but I lost them all. I’ll study Luca’s data to understand what he did differently than me. In any case, given the speed I had In the FP3 with the mediums, I should have mounted them immediately. The track was drying but, in certain moments, it’s not easy to decide.”

Tomorrow you’ll start from behind, could the holeshot help you?
 “Using it here isn’t self-evident, because it’s difficult to deactivate in time for the first corner. I’ll decide what to do on the grid.”

Marquez says it’s a dangerous system.
 “Maybe he thinks so because theirs doesn’t work too well. I think  the contrary. It makes the bike safer because ,when you activate it, it’s not only faster at the start, but also more stable and with less tendency to wheelie. When you use it, you’re safer.”

Are you ready for a Portimao-style comeback?
 “The fact is that, in Portugal, I had worked all weekend for the race. Not here. We could only do a few dry laps, and it’s difficult to draw conclusions. I’ll definitely try, but I would prefer to race in complete dry or wet conditions. In case of a flag-to-flag, it’ll be difficult to decipher what the heavens will say.”