From the first turn until there were nine corners to go, Bagnaia led the entire Sprint race in Austin. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t enough to win. Martin, with his gamble on the medium rear tyre, left him with no chance. Even though he doesn’t have the gold medal around his neck, the Ducati rider knows he can’t complain. This GP is going in the right direction—a whole different story compared to the last two.
“I’m happy, but… I lost the race with 9 laps to go,” he admits with a sigh. “We made the right tyre choice, or rather, everyone did, considering that Martin was the only one to start on the medium. I gave it my all in the early laps—maybe too much—but I doubt I could have ended up in better condition with the tyre at the end. I’m happy; so far, everything has gone well.”
Did the tyre give out?
“With four laps to go, I started feeling vibrations coming from the rear tyre because I’d pushed hard. Maybe it was also due to today’s lower temperatures.”
Was it impossible to defend against Martin’s pass?
“He was unstoppable; otherwise, I would have done it. On the last lap, I crossed the finish line with an 8-tenths lead; I tried to go as hard as I could on the first part of the circuit to defend myself in the final stretch, but I didn’t think Jorge would dive in at Turn 12. I braked hard; maybe if I’d braked a little earlier I could have crossed paths, but I don’t have eyes in the back of my head (laughs).”
Any complaints about the move?
“It was completely fair. That’s how we race and how we pass; Jorge deserved the win.”
You know him well—what do you think of his comeback?
“We all know Jorge; we know how strong he is. I can’t add much else, except that I battled with him for two seasons for the World Championship, and when he won it, he was more consistent than me. He deserves these kinds of results; he’s worked incredibly hard, and I can only congratulate him.”
Only the final wheelie didn’t go well for him…
“It’s been a long time since I’ve wheelied. My team doesn’t let the bike do that, so I don’t know what that feels like ( laughs).”
Let’s get back to you—how do you feel after a race like that?
“In my opinion, this is part of a process that began during winter testing, where I felt pretty good. Unfortunately, in the first two races I messed up the time attack; this bike pushes a bit on entry, and it’s not easy to stop it. Here we took a small step forward, but I don’t think I could have fought for pole position. Also, the rear tyre works better for us, even though we need to figure out how to go faster when we have the harder compound. I was fast in Brazil too, but those were two tough races starting from the back; here, being up front on the grid made all the difference.”
Is this the fresh start you were looking for?
“I hope so. The weekend ends tomorrow, and I hope I can say the same thing.”
How much confidence does a result like this give you?
“A lot; finishing at the front feels incredible. It’s worth noting that two strong riders, Diggia and Marc, were missing, but I think I could have made the podium anyway. I’m optimistic about tomorrow, but it’ll be a tough race; it’ll be very hot, and tyre management will be crucial. It looks like it’ll be very hot, and I struggled with those temperatures in the first two races—we’ll see.”
What can you tell us about the new tail fairing?
“It provides more stability in fast corners, and I feel more comfortable coming out of them.”