Bagnaia in deep crisis, only 17th in the Sprint
Francesco Bagnaia finished the Silverstone Sprint in 17th place, after a race spent in anonymity. The Piedmont rider’s weekend is going from bad to worse: to the hand pain and braking problems that re-emerged yesterday, was added the collapse of the rear tire that practically put the two Factory team Ducatis out of the game.
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Bagnaia never managed to find the rhythm to come back up, and despite a good start he returned to the back of the group, then finishing with only six tenths ahead of reserve Pol Espargaró.
Bagnaia’s words
“It was an even more difficult race than expected. It had been a while since I couldn’t touch the knee in right-hand corners. The drop was significant, but in general the weekend’s problems are not having grip, not being able to stop the bike, having to force it a lot in cornering and with the throttle to make it turn; with these problems the consumption is high“, this is Bagnaia’s comment to Sky Sport MotoGP. “I started well, from 16th to 12th, but I had nothing. There were many riders going faster, I was struggling, so we try to work to improve: fortunately in Ducati there is a rider who is making the difference, who managed to finish the race with a good pace, who is Alex Marquez, so we will try to understand better what he did“.
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“On the fourth lap I started to lose entry in right-hand corners, I had to guide it inside, with a lot of slide and spin, and in the end I no longer touched the knee, it was really difficult“, he added. “We definitely have to do a different job, we have to try to understand why we don’t have full grip at the rear. In terms of pain, my arm bothers me, but the painkillers help quite a bit and fortunately do not affect the riding“.
The Sprint therefore left Bagnaia few reasons to smile. The gap accumulated and the difficulties shown during the ten laps require thorough work in the Ducati garage, in search of a more competitive pace and a better feeling with the bike. Tomorrow he needs to raise his head, at least for pride.
