Pecco Bagnaia: Crashing out of fourth in Portugal MotoGP “better” than from last

Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia says it is “better” to crash while pushing in fourth than from further down, as in recent races, following his early exit from the MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix.

The factory Ducati star suffered a disappointing weekend at Portimao, as he slumped to eighth in the sprint, before being quickly dropped out of the podium battle in Sunday’s grand prix.

While running in fourth, some three seconds from the podium, Pecco Bagnaia crashed on lap 11 of 25 to register his fourth successive grand prix DNF.

Bagnaia says the crash came as a result of him pushing to close the gap to third-placed Pedro Acosta, though he believes it was “a better weekend” overall in terms of his feeling on the GP25.

“I was pushing hard to secure the fourth position,” he said.

“It was a bit too soon to be comfortable, so I was pushing hard, trying to catch back Pedro.

“I knew it was tough because they were much faster than me.

“So, I was just trying to do the maximum, and I just crashed because I was pushing. It’s something that can happen.

“So, surely it was a better weekend. The result, more or less, is the same.

“We just need to be focused for the last race. And I really want to do a very good weekend there, having a good result.”

Asked if it was good to crash while pushing for a top result, he noted that it was “better” than his falls from outside of the top 10 in Australia and Indonesia: “Honestly, I wasn’t in the podium fight.

“But surely it’s better like this than in Phillip Island or Indonesia.

“So, we try to continue working like that. I think we are doing a good job, even if the speed is not there. But we just need to remain calm and work well.”

Bagnaia’s crash proved to be costly in the battle for third in the standings, as Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi won the grand prix.

Taking just two points from the Portimao weekend, Bagnaia is now 35 points behind Bezzecchi and only three ahead of Acosta.