'Couldn't get my knee down' - Pecco Bagnaia details shocking Silverstone MotoGP sprint
Pecco Bagnaia and factory Ducati team-mate Marc Marquez were among the slowest riders on track late in the Silverstone Sprint after suffering severe rear-grip loss.
Despite starting from a season-worst 16th on the grid, Pecco Bagnaia ended up going backwards in Saturday’s Silverstone MotoGP Sprint.
Like factory Ducati team-mate Marc Marquez, Bagnaia initially made-up ground, only to suffer a “huge” loss of rear grip by the midway stage.
Both red machines were left fighting a rearguard battle and were among the slowest riders on track in the closing stages.
Marquez faded from fourth to ninth, while Bagnaia dropped from 14th to 17th, 23.7s behind the race-winning Aprilia of Jorge Martin.
“I cannot imagine something more today - no performance, no speed. The lack of rear grip was huge, and after four laps I started going backwards, not forwards,” Bagnaia said.
“In the last two laps I [rode] without touching the knee on the right side! So it's very difficult for me to be competitive.
“The target at the start of the weekend was to be in the top 10, but looking at my performance, it's difficult to imagine something better than 15th.”
"Me and Marc were the slowest"
Not for the first time this season, Bagnaia highlighted the performance of Gresini’s Alex Marquez, who again bucked the Desmosedici trend by climbing to fourth place.
“The factory team today struggled a lot. Me and Marc were the slowest riders in the last laps, so difficult to imagine what to do,” Bagnaia said.
“I was expecting the drop, but not that much, and luckily in the satellite team we have Alex Marquez who is doing a fantastic job, super strong, super fast, and is the one that making the difference compared to other Ducatis.
“So I really hope that tonight we will solve our problem.”
That problem, Bagnaia confirmed, was tyre wear.
“The right side was completely finished, but it's not a problem of the tyre, it's our bike that is not finding the grip.”
Worryingly, Bagnaia estimates that switching from the soft to medium rear would only give him “four laps more”.
Sunday’s grand prix is double the Sprint distance, at 20 laps.
“[It was the] same feeling as Thailand,” Bagnaia said. “Very difficult to manage because you cannot brake… because if you start to put the weight more on the front the rear starts to slide.
“So you need to just let the bike [flow] like in the wet. And touching the gas is the smoothest thing you need to do, because if not, you lose the rear. Like Marc did, he exploded the airbag for that.”
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.
