“Lucky” wheelspin saves Pecco Bagnaia from Balaton MotoGP crash
Pecco Bagnaia watched the opening-corner accident unfold ahead before securing a third consecutive MotoGP podium at Balaton Park.
A poor start proved lucky for Pecco Bagnaia at Balaton Park on Sunday.
The factory Ducati rider suffered wheelspin from fifth on the grid and, rather than remaining directly ahead of Jorge Martin, the Aprilia rider was alongside Bagnaia heading into the braking zone for Turn 1.
Martin then lost control, taking out four other riders ahead, while Bagnaia emerged unscathed.
“Luckily, I spun a bit, and I didn’t do a very good start,” Bagnaia said. “When I started to brake, I was a bit behind.
"I saw that Martin was not stopping the bike. Then when he got back to the first corner, he just crashed and everybody went down.”
Bagnaia then swiftly overtook the Hondas of Diogo Moreira and Luca Marini to hold third place.
Soon realising that team-mate Marc Marquez and KTM’s Pedro Acosta were out of reach, Bagnaia settled for a third grand prix podium in a row.
“I tried to follow Marc in the first part of the race, but after five or six laps he started to put some more pace.
“I understood it wasn’t my fight. I was struggling a lot all the weekend.
"My grip wasn’t enough to fight with them, so I just understood it was enough to finish third and maintain the gap to the riders behind.
“I was lucky enough to be able to avoid the crash.”
Bagnaia now holds seventh in the world championship.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
