– While Marc Marquez secured P3 in the important afternoon training session at the MotoGP training day at MotorLand Aragon in Spain, easily qualifying directly for Q2 on Saturday, his Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia did not manage to do so.
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Bagnaia finished the afternoon training session in P13. He was 0.189 seconds short of the crucial tenth position, surprisingly taken by Johann Zarco (LCR-Honda) in his comeback.
Last year’s winner and Aragon specialist Marc Marquez is still considered the favorite for the sprint and the Grand Prix despite “only” P3, not least by Aprilia factory rider Marco Bezzecchi, who was the fastest on Friday. “Pecco” Bagnaia, on the other hand, is puzzled by his weak performance.
The TV broadcast of the afternoon training showed Bagnaia stopping on the track after the session. The reason was initially unclear. In his media round, the two-time MotoGP world champion explains the situation.
Bagnaia explains his frustration on the cool-down lap
“In the last lap, I tried everything to get into the top 10. I was close, but in the last corner, I went too wide. After that, I had to stop first,” Bagnaia describes how frustrated he was on the cool-down lap after the training time expired.
“I didn’t stop in the box first. I was just so nervous and frustrated with myself because I couldn’t put together even one decent lap. I had to calm down a bit first.”
“Because when you’re nervous and frustrated, you might say something thoughtless. And when you’re in a difficult situation, you can easily affect the team’s work [with something thoughtless]. That’s why it was better to take a breath first,” Bagnaia explains.
Who could get Bagnaia back on the right track
In his further statements, the Ducati factory rider says something surprising: “When I was back in the box, I talked to many team members to understand things. Fortunately, as always, Alex Marquez was the one who made a difference in many ways. I really hope now that I can orient myself to his work.”
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The Alex Marquez mentioned by Bagnaia rides the third Ducati GP26 in the field for the Gresini team. He has identical equipment to brother Marc Marquez and Bagnaia in the factory team. In Friday’s afternoon training, Alex Marquez finished P2, just 0.010 seconds behind Bezzecchi and 0.028 seconds ahead of brother Marc.
After the start of the season was difficult for “Pecco” Bagnaia, just like for Marc Marquez, the Italian seemed to be returning to his usual form in early summer. He finished third in the consecutive Grands Prix of Catalonia, Italy, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. He won the sprint at the Czech weekend.
Since the recent British weekend in Silverstone, where he crashed out on Sunday, frustration has prevailed again for Bagnaia. After P13 on Aragon Friday, he says: “I did not expect this performance. I expected to be much faster. Unfortunately, it was difficult.”
Bagnaia: Riding feeling not the same since Silverstone
“Since Silverstone, something has changed regarding my feeling. Until Sachsenring, I was still confident that we were making progress. And the results did indeed improve. But since Silverstone, I no longer feel comfortable on the bike. I find it difficult to do the normal things. Even today, I almost crashed several times, and that despite being slow,” Bagnaia puzzles.
When asked in which areas he is specifically struggling, the two-time MotoGP world champion answers: “Braking, corner entry, and rear wheel grip, so actually almost everywhere.”
“When I enter the corners here, the rear wheel slips away. When I then get back on the gas, I have a spinning rear wheel in the first 10 to 15 percent of the acceleration phase. That only gets better when I have completely straightened the bike again.”
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“For some reason, my bike has problems finding the necessary grip,” Bagnaia sums up the question marks in his head. Finally, he says: “It is what it is. Fortunately, the team is working really well. I think we already have an idea for tomorrow. I really hope that it will actually work.”
