Pecco Bagnaia: “I struggle to do normal things” since Silverstone MotoGP
Pecco Bagnaia needed time to calm down before his Ducati MotoGP debrief after another difficult Friday at Aragon.
A “frustrated and nervous” Pecco Bagnaia took time to calm down and “breathe a bit” before conducting his debrief with the Ducati Lenovo team after a difficult Friday at the Aragon MotoGP.
While team-mate Marc Marquez was back at the sharp end of the field, Bagnaia suffered a continuation of the grip issues that left him off the pace throughout the Silverstone weekend.
On an afternoon when four Ducati riders finished inside the top five, the Italian could manage only 13th place, sending him into Saturday’s Qualifying 1.
“I wasn’t expecting this performance, I was expecting to be much faster,” Bagnaia began. “But unluckily, difficult.
“Something in terms of feeling changed from Silverstone.
“At Sachsenring I was quite confident we were improving and the results were better, but since Silverstone I don’t feel good on the bike and I struggle to do normal things.
“Today I risked crashing many times going very slow. Also, in the last lap I tried everything to get into the top ten, I was close, but in the last corner I went wide.
“I didn’t stop in the garage because I was very nervous and frustrated with myself that I didn’t manage to finish a single [clean] lap and I needed to calm down a bit.
“Because in that situation when you’re frustrated and nervous you can say many things you are not thinking. And when you’re working in a difficult situation it’s easy to compromise the work of the team.
“So it was better to breathe a bit, then when I went back to the garage, I spoke a lot with the team to understand things.
“Luckily, like always, Alex Marquez is making the difference in many aspects. I really hope to find a way to follow what he’s doing.”
Bagnaia outlined his issues as braking, corner entry and rear grip: “So, mostly everything.”
He added: “Honestly, the grip of the track looks better because it’s more constant than others.
"But for myself, when I enter the corners, I lose the rear without doing anything.
“As soon as I touch the gas, the first 10-15% I lose it. And until the bike is completely straight, I still spin and have a lot of movement.
“My bike is still struggling to find some grip, but it is what it is.
"Luckily, the team is working well and they have a good idea on the table which I really hope will work.”
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.
