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MotoGP, Bagnaia: "I would have had to go over the limit to do better than 6th place"

"I wasn't happy with the bike, but we know where to work and in the classic race it will be different. I haven't changed my mind about the sprint race, we have to accept contacts and I enjoyed it"

MotoGP: Bagnaia: "I would have had to go over the limit to do better than 6th place"

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Beggars can’t be choosers, or at least that's what happened today to Bagnaia. 6th place in the sprint race is well below his standards, but his main rival in the standings at the moment (Vinales) finished behind him and even with 2nd place Bezzecchi only made up 6 points on him. In the short race the important thing is not to make mistakes and despite being in the wild bunch at Termas de Rio Hondo, Pecco did it.

"It wasn’t easy today. I was struggling with the front feeling from the beginning of the race explains the world champion - I lost a little bit of time in the battle with Alex. That put us a bit behind but we can be happy that we finished the race. Already the start I lost some positions but we managed to be there and have a good pace. The pace of Bezzecchi was unbeatable, even Binder was incredible. But I saw where I am struggling and I'm confident that tomorrow will be different".

You are rarely not in shape on your Ducati.

“Today I was not too much. We were a bit afraid of the low temperatures and we heated the front tire too much, so instead of being at 75° it was 105°, but these things can happen. For tomorrow I have to improve acceleration in some parts of the track, perhaps by reducing the electronic controls a bit, I'm fine under braking, but I was losing in the middle of the corner due to the tire pressure. We know where to work."

Would the podium have still been within your reach?

“Perhaps, as I said, we lost time with Alex in a scrap, both of us, he was aggressive, but it has to be like this in the race. I wasn't completely okay and would have had to go over the limit."

Morbidelli said it was a bit like being at the Ranch fighting with you, Bezzecchi and Marini.

“He is right and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately I wasn't able to be as competitive as them, but tomorrow we'll have another chance, maybe the 4 of us will fight again."

You were ahead in Portimao, today in the middle of the group: did you change your mind about the sprint race?

"For sure, sometimes you win and sometimes you have to be behind but we are racing and we accept battles, accept contact, this is our world and our sport and we love it. So I didn’t change anything. For 12 laps you have to push like hell and we are more close and it’s easier to have this contact. But last year we were complaining about no overtakes and it’s quite clear it wasn’t the problem of last year. These races are nice to watch.”

 

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