Francesco Bagnaia: “A bitter taste in my mouth”

Francesco Bagnaia admits that his Malaysian MotoGP puncture left “a bitter taste in my mouth,” despite a return to form at Sepang.

Pointless in the two events after his Motegi double, Bagnaia’s form flipped 180 degrees once again in Malaysia, where he blasted to pole position and a Sprint victory.

Despite picking the wrong (medium) front tyre for the grand prix, the factory Ducati rider was firmly on course for a Sunday podium until the puncture struck.

“I came back from Malaysia with a bitter taste in my mouth, but also some positive feelings,” he said ahead of this weekend’s Portimao MotoGP round.

“Sunday's race certainly didn't end in the best way, even though we were competitive all weekend.

“This was something we'd been missing in the last few GPs, and we need to continue in this direction.

“Portimao is certainly a unique track with particular characteristics. We're working to find the same riding confidence we found in Sepang.”

A poor weekend for Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi meant that Bagnaia’s DNF wasn’t punished as heavily as it could have been.

The double title runner-up starts the penultimate round just five points from the Aprilia rider for third in the world championship.

Bagnaia will have a new Ducati team-mate this weekend with WorldSBK title runner-up Nicolo Bulega standing in for the injured Marc Marquez at Portimao and Valencia.