Bagnaia: Martin’s aggressive moves open ‘interesting situation’
Martin made contact with Bagnaia twice during overtakes in the opening laps, before breaking clear of the reigning champion and fighting his way to the front.
While the Pramac rider went on to win, Bagnaia could only manage fifth place and has seen his points lead cut to just seven.
Asked about Martin’s aggressive early moves, Bagnaia told MotoGP.com: “I think it's great it was him to do it. So he is opening a situation that could be interesting for tomorrow.”
Turning up the heat in the championship battle! @88jorgemartin barged through @PeccoBagnaia early in the #TissotSprint! #PECCOvsMARTIN | #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/ll1jlm5emI
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) November 18, 2023
Quizzed on why he had been unable to fight for victory after a strong pace in practice, the Italian suggested some kind of tyre issue.
“Working in a way all the weekend, having the same feeling all the weekend and then when it was very important to do a good result, my feeling was totally changed,” he said.
“The only thing changed was the tyre and it's quite strange having this feeling. But it's something that can happen. We are just a bit of unlucky to have found this situation in the race.
“Losing 7 points for that reason is a shame, but it's something that we can't manage.
“My pace was great enough to be thinking about a win today. So tomorrow I think and I hope that everything will be OK to fight for the win because we have the speed.”
Although Bagnaia had a slim chance to wrap up his second title in Qatar, the results of the Sprint mean the world champioship battle is now guaranteed to go down to next weekend's Valencia finale.
