2023-05-12 20:01:45
Positive day for Pecco Bagnaia at Le Mans. The position of the Italian driver (9th) does not reflect the good feelings that the current MotoGP world champion has had at the close of the first two practice sessions of the French Grand Prix, led by his former Ducati teammate and now a member of KTM, Jack Miller.
Bagnaia recognized that his feelings with the bike in terms of pace have been positive, and he only needed to finish off the day with a good fast lap; unfortunately, his sensations with the soft rubber were not the best, that is why he is happy with his ninth position that tomorrow will allow him to avoid the Q1 toll.
After Friday’s day at Le Mans, Pecco spoke to the press about what happened today on the track.
Valentino said in Jerez that Bagnaia does better races if he starts regularly at the weekend: “I tried to follow Valentino’s strategy, although it was not in my plans (laughs). The situation in Jerez was different, it was difficult for me to ride there, but here both in the morning and in my last session of the afternoon, the sensations have “It was excellent, I was able to push. I just lacked a bit of grip at the rear because the (soft) tire didn’t work well. But I think P2 was a good session.”
Good pace in the morning, not so much in the afternoon: “In the morning everything was fine except for the fastest lap. I thought maybe the soft tire hadn’t warmed up well and that’s why it wasn’t ready, but in the afternoon I put the same rubber on and the problem was identical. Everything that worked in the morning It was bad in the afternoon so we decided to put a medium tire even though it wasn’t the right time but it didn’t work either, the only time it worked again was when my time-attack went and we put the new tire on even though it had lost some confidence and I couldn’t push as much as I would have liked”.
Marc Márquez tried to take advantage of Pecco’s wheel again at Le Mans, but the Italian cut the gas and went into the pits: “Today I risked not entering the top 10 and I decided not to push with him behind, also because at that moment he was ahead of me in the time sheets. Marc has been following this type of strategy in free practice for a long time.” .
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He’s a little upset about being targeted by Marc every time he needs a trailer.: “In Malaysia he did the same thing to me last year, then I fell and he ended up in the front row riding alone. He’s Marc Márquez, we all know how fast he is, he doesn’t need anyone to pull him. It’s a strategy that I don’t share, I He likes to ride alone, and he is taking it to another level, he is evolving it. If I had stood on the side of the track, he would have done the same. Why? I don’t know, he gets behind the drivers who they are bound to set a good time, like me today, who was outside the top 10, and I exploited it. If I had been in first position, I would not have done a single lap.
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