Pecco Bagnaia ‘never heard of a puncture’ in MotoGP before Sepang issue

Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia admits he’d “never heard of” a puncture affecting a MotoGP tyre prior to his Malaysian Grand Prix retirement, but comes to Portugal with “the same strength” as Sepang.

The double world champion was dominant on Saturday at the Malaysian Grand Prix, as he came from Q1 to qualify on pole and then eased to victory in the sprint.

He was on course for a podium in the main race, but had to retire late on when he suffered a puncture to his rear tyre.

While he is wary of making predictions on what he can aim for this weekend at the Portuguese Grand Prix, Pecco Bagnaia believes he has the “same strength” as he showed at Sepang.

“We were coming off two pretty difficult weekends, especially Indonesia,” he told Sky Italy.

“And in Australia, there were still some big difficulties: in Sunday's race at Phillip Island, we managed to understand something and we managed to do better, even if I still crashed.

“However, I was coming up well, and I could aspire to get into the top seven, which was still a good result starting from the back.

“In Malaysia, we restarted from the same point as Australia, I had a better feeling, and I was able to push.

“Saturday in Sepang was a very positive day, we went through Q1, we took pole and won the sprint with an excellent pace, leaving everyone behind: a very dominant day.

“Then, unfortunately, Sunday wasn't such a great day for many reasons: seeing the accident in Moto3 and then starting… It wasn't all very positive.

“What happened afterwards certainly went unnoticed, but puncturing is something I've never heard of, and that happened too.

“It went a bit like that, but the race was going well and I was managing the gap to Alex Marquez well: I waited for the last five laps to try to get back up, even though it would have been tough anyway.

“But the opportunity was there, and it went the way it went. However, it remains the positive of the weekend, so we arrive here with the same strength.”

Bagnaia has enjoyed strong form at Portimao over the years, with victories in 2023 and 2021.

Ahead of the Portuguese Grand Prix, he is five points down on Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi in the fight for third in the standings.