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Friday at Jerez saw Pecco Bagnaia constantly vying for the top positions in the standings, with the satisfaction of ending the day in second position beaten only by Alex Marquez. Pecco showed great potential in both sessions, worked well on the race pace and in general appeared more comfortable on the bike than seen on other tracks, which can only give him confidence ahead of the rest of the weekend.
In the media debrief at the end of the day he explained the situation very clearly, still pointing out what is the weak point of his Ducati, what we would call a GP24.9. Compared to the previous version, Bagnaia lacks complete confidence in braking, which is the point where he has always made the difference, but at the same time Pecco underlined that the current Team Factory bike has gained in other respects.
"In terms of results I'm happy - were his words - things have come out pretty well with all the tire solutions, new and used, but in terms of confidence I'm not happy to the fullest. I know I have to find a solution for corner entry. Then this is a track I always do well on and that helps. But I need to take a step forward. I can't do what I did last year here. In Turn 5 and Turn 9 I was very strong here last year, now I'm not."
It is, however, a good start to the weekend for you.
"Let's just say it's the second Friday in a row where I can feel good, and I'm happy. In the end, the bike is the same as it was in Qatar as well as in Austin. I'm no longer looking for what the bike was last year, because in the end we're not finding it anymore, so we'll focus on Monday in testing on that aspect, because I'm struggling in corner entry with the brakes to find myself as well as I would like."
Is this the only negative aspect?
"Otherwise I'm quite happy because despite the not 100 percent feeling I can be fast both with used tires, with new tires, with the medium, with the soft. All in all I am satisfied but tomorrow morning we will try to make another small step to help me a little bit, but nothing big because already in general we are going strong."
Do you feel stronger than you were in Qatar?
"I feel the same way I felt on Friday in Qatar, I feel I have the potential to fight for the top three positions but it will be important not to make a mistake tomorrow in qualifying as we did in Lusail, because then it will be possible to aim for victory."
You used a different tail than Marc's, will you continue with it tomorrow?
"Tomorrow we will see whether or not to continue using this tail aerodynamic configuration, we are still in the testing phase. Definitely it is something that makes a difference under braking, however, maybe in the rest it disturbs a little bit. So tomorrow morning we'll try to figure out what to do, but it's not what makes a big difference."
Did you do any more testing today with the bike in Sprint configuration?
"Yes, I continued to test the bike in Sprint configuration, it's something I always do in general. But Sprint remains something different, you're together with other bikes and that's what makes the biggest difference because it's when you're in the slipstream that there are the biggest problems. But this morning we tried an idea they had in the team, and it went a little bit better, so maybe I'll make a step forward tomorrow."
Do you think the reason for these early 2025 difficulties is more the bike or something else?
"The bike is similar to the 2024 bike, but it's not the same. So I think that is affecting it quite a bit. I see Alex Marquez riding and it seems to me that he can do some things in braking and corner entry that are good, I see that in the data as well. Maybe that solution helps him a little bit, but then you lose other advantages. You have to work on the weak points of the new bike, without losing the strong ones."
Today you, Morbidelli and Bezzecchi went out together. Was that a fluke?
"With Franco we came out of the pits together, we found each other by chance. I like to be in front, because I can be more incisive, however in general I am happy because in the first run we were inside the top ten me, Morbidelli and Bezzecchi. After in the last run Marco couldn't find that tenth to be in Q2, however in general it was positive for everyone."
How do you see your rivals, who do you think is the strongest here?
"It seems to me that Alex is risking a lot, he has crashed twice but he is also very fast. Marc right now seems to me the most consistent, even with used tires, along with Quartararo who was very fast today. I think I am more or less with them. Right now I would say Marc remains the man to beat."
