Bagnaia ‘sure we can fight’ for second MotoGP win at Misano

After securing his first ever MotoGP win last weekend in Aragon, Francesco Bagnaia is ‘sure we can fight’ again at Misano, the scene of his first premier class podium in 2020.
Francesco Bagnaia, MotoGP race , Aragon MotoGP 12 September 2021
Francesco Bagnaia, MotoGP race , Aragon MotoGP 12 September 2021
© Gold and Goose

After claiming a sensational maiden MotoGP victory at Aragon four days ago, this weekend’s Misano round sees Francesco Bagnaia return to the scene of his first premier class podium. 

Bagnaia took third place in the first of two consecutive Misano races last season, before crashing out from the lead in what could and probably should have been his maiden win. 

But even though Bagnaia had to wait nearly a year since then for his first win, it was a victory certainly worth the wait after bettering Aragon specialist Marc Marquez. 

The 2018 Moto2 world champion said: "I was not expecting a first win like this. I never fought a lot like this in MotoGP and to win my first race was very nice. 

"For this weekend I’m really happy to be in front of our fans in the crowd. It will be very nice to race like this. 

"It’s a track that I was strong at last year. I did a mistake in the second one, but the first one I did my first podium and I’m just very happy and motivated to race here after the win last week. 

"I know that it will not be easy because this year the level is very, very high and last year I was feeling great, but it’s very difficult to predict what you can do in a weekend. But I'm sure that we can fight."

Asked about what he could learn from last week’s win, Bagnaia alluded to just doing ‘everything well’, but that it’s more about the preparation over the course of a weekend.  

"I don’t know. Just I try to do everything well during the race. When you work a lot on your pace during the weekend and the sessions, you arrive more prepared in the race," added Bagnaia. 

"But, you can’t predict what your rival will do in the race. When Marc [Marquez] started to overtake I just tried not to let him do any corners in front. This was the key."

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