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The goal for Pecco Bagnaia on the eve of the Barcelona GP was clear: to make up points from Quartararo. It did not go as he hoped and 7th place is a very paltry haul, at the end of a race that never saw him among the protagonists.
“We tried it by mounting the medium rear, but we made a mistake - the Ducati rider immediately made things clear - It was a decision made by mutual agreement between me and the team, so there is nothing to complain about. I thought I could manage the tyres, but in the last few laps I didn't have any anymore, I was losing the rear when entering the corner. It was easy to crash and throw more points away ”.
With the hard would it have gone any differently?
“It would have been a better choice but let's face it, it would have been difficult to fight for the podium even with that. Maybe we were wrong not to take the hard one into consideration from the start of the weekend, but Michelin told us it only worked well in very high temperatures and I didn't do many laps on it. Anyway, I was more confident with the medium, but I couldn't ride the way I like”.
What do you mean?
“I am very strong under braking and when entering corners, but I had to change my style because I was losing the rear. After the zero at Mugello, the important thing today was to finish ".
You have lost more points in the championship...
“I don't want to look at Quartararo, but at myself. The season is still long and I have to improve. This start to the season was good, I made podiums and was fast on circuits where I struggled last year, like Portimao. At Mugello I made a banal mistake and probably threw away a podium, today I chose the wrong tyre. Apart from Sachsenring, there will be other tracks that I really like, but I can't be happy with the last results”.
Now Zarco seems to be the Ducati rider most in form, are you surprised?
“Not at all, he has been racing in MotoGP for many years and has a factory bike. Johann is doing very well and is definitely a rival for the championship, it is normal for him to be in front. Let's not forget that there were a lot of people who bet more on Zarco than on me at the beginning of the year ”.
Tomorrow there will be a test day in Barcelona, how useful will it be for you?
“I think I will be the first to enter the track to start my work. I hope to find a solution to our problems that will help me in the next races, if I remember correctly there is also little grip at Sachsenring. "
Do you think Quartararo should have been stopped with his leathers open?
“He was probably hot (laughs). Seriously, I'm a rider, I'm not in the Race Direction and I don't want to intervene in these discussions ”.
Even in Moto3 there was some controversy over the manoeuvres of Alcoba, who intentionally slowed down in the last two corners of the penultimate lap to regroup the group.
"Once in Moto3 it was different, those who had the pace managed to get away, there were rarely group races. I find it ridiculous what happened today, that no one has said anything to Alcoba. He came off the gas to regroup everyone, at the last corner there were three rows of four riders, I hope the Race Direction takes action, we riders will certainly talk about it in the next Safety Commission. It is not sporting behaviour, you do not show that you are the strongest, and Alcoba did it throughout the race. His manoeuvre caused the incident of Foggia, Artigas and Sasaki, it seems really strange to me that no one has said anything ".
There are those observers who argue that the current Moto3s are going too fast…
“That's not the real problem, the Yamaha R3s go slower but in their races everything happens. In my opinion the Race Direction should talk seriously to the Moto3 riders, because you can see everything: blocking, unnecessary blows on the straight, so it is becoming dangerous ”.
