Pecco Bagnaia cautious ahead of home MotoGP: “Maybe our problems will be less”

Francesco Bagnaia thinks the higher grip track surface at Misano for the San Marino MotoGP should alleviate some of the problems he faced at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Bagnaia qualified only 21st in Barcelona last weekend (5–7 September), and recovered to seventh in the race.

The Ducati Lenovo Team rider sees the positives and negatives from the Catalunya MotoGP weekend but is clear that the Sunday salvage did not rescue his weekend.

“I consider the race in Barcelona in a positive way, yes, but not happy,” Francesco Bagnaia told MotoGP.com ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix.

“Because it’s true that I gained 15 positions, so I was able to finish in the top-10, but looking at the result I finished 16 seconds behind the leader.

“It’s true that it was a track where we are struggling more than any other track.

“So, I’m looking to riding here [Misano] with a lot of grip and our problems, maybe, will be less; and just focus on doing better things during the weekend, during the sessions to be more competitive.”

Bagnaia added that he has to take extra motivation and confidence at Misano for the fact it is “In Barcelona, it was more or less a nightmare from the start and I wasn’t competitive, I was slow, and I finished P21 in qualifying,” he said.

“So, it was a disaster from my point of view.

“Then, in the race, I tried to take some more confidence, but I was struggling to be competitive the same.

“So, I just try to start this weekend with more motivation, with more confidence on the bike considering this track is my ‘garden’, because I know all the little details from this track, and try to be competitive.”