Francesco Bagnaia: ‘The potential was to go faster, the perfect start...’
Francesco Bagnaia says he had the potential to go even faster but that he managed the gap throughout the Qatar MotoGP.
The two-time MotoGP champion led every lap of the Qatar grand prix as he got the better of Brad Binder and Jorge Martin.
Bagnaia’s strategy was clear, to get ahead of Martin on the opening lap before setting a pace strong enough to create a small gap, but one that wouldn’t destroy his tyres.
Asked if it was the best start to the year he could have imagined, Bagnaia said: “Absolutely. It was very important after yesterday to change the strategy a bit in the first laps.
“I just tried to be a bit more aggressive and I knew if I was leading in the first laps that my potential was good enough to manage a gap.
“The sprint yesterday was a good lesson to change a bit the approach to have performance with the new bike.
“I have to say thanks to my team because from yesterday evening to this morning we worked a lot to improve a bit the setting for the race. Overall, it was the perfect start to the season.”
After suffering with vibration issues in the sprint, Bagnaia took upon himself to ride in a different way.
The Italian said: “I rode in a different way. I found the performance in a different way which worked with the vibration. Today I just had a bit in the last two laps; in just one corner so it worked well.
“Maybe in Portimao we will not have this problem because in Portimao the track has grip that is completely different. But I think we know perfectly where to go in case of vibration.”
Bagnaia’a pace throughout the race was enough to keep Binder and Martin just about at arm's length.
Binder was at times able to reduce the gap to just under a second, but when he did, Bagnaia upped the pace once again.
Bagnaia said: “The potential was to go faster. The bike was able to do 52.2/1 but it wasn;t useful because a lap like this could compromise everything.
“I just tried to be as constant as possible. Every time I saw Brad gain two or three tenths I did another lap where I dropped [my pace] by two or three tenths.
“I was trying to manage perfectly the rear tyre on the exit of the corners because this way it was easier to control the gap.”
