Pecco Bagnaia took a more than decent fifth place in Barcelona on Fridayshows an excellent course between morning and afternoon and I want to be one of the candidates for pole tomorrow. It took the Ducati rider a solid performance after his fall in the Mugello race to regain the confidence it takes to keep up with a truly inspired Quartararo at this stage of the season.
With an eventual victory The Frenchman will stamp his authority on the overall standings and it’s a scenario Ducati riders must avoid at all costs so as not to get into trouble in the upcoming races, perhaps to be forced to relax and to risk even more than necessary.
“Quartararo is certainly the most consistent – said Bagnaia – he has proven to be very quick and has often had no opponents. At Mugello I was strong and fast in pace and could have kept up with him in the race. But I can’t find any excuses because my race was over immediately. This is a very Yamaha circuit but in my opinion we can do very well. It will be important to mark him in the first few rounds. In my opinion he is the strongest, but our bike is very competitive and we are fast. “
Aren’t you afraid that with Zarco and Miller you can create a situation where you will steal points from each other?
“In my opinion, that’s not a problem, the fight is still so open that it doesn’t need a team order or anything like that. Jack, Johann and I are fighting for the title, so I don’t think anyone takes points away. “.
Tell us about your Friday in Barcelona …
“My sensations this morning were good, but today when I started lapping on the soft tires I had some problems because the tire on the right side wasn’t working well. I was having trouble entering and exiting corners, I was in trouble. Then we put on a new soft at the end of the session and the time attack was good, I drove a good time to get into Q2. I think the racing tire can’t be the softest anyway, it slips too much and creates pumps in the front. Tomorrow we will try the Medium and Hard to choose one for the race, maybe in FP4. Last year I was penultimate at the end of the first day, this year I’ve definitely made a good step forward with the bike and I’m happy with it. We’re missing something in the race pace, from that point of view we have to improve, but I think we’ll be successful tomorrow. “
Do you think it will be a very tactical race?
“Yes, and it will be important not to lose too much time in the beginning. The Yamaha makes the tires run very quickly, so they are always very strong on the first few laps. But they are also the ones who struggle the most with grip at the end of the race. We have to find a compromise and the race will certainly take a lot of management. It may not be a lot of fun for the spectators, but this type of race is very interesting because you know how much of a difference you can make with used tires. “
How was your return to the track after the negative emotions of Mugello?
“It’s always nice to get on the bike, so I was happy. We are sure to be on a track where the grip is completely different than in Mugello, here you seem to be on ice. It’s strange in certain situations because it seems like you’re going faster if you don’t accelerate. You have to manage a lot, it’s different from any other track. But I felt good, we know we have to improve and that race pace will be decisive. We’re usually strong with used tires, tomorrow we have to improve the pace a lot, but I’m pretty sure we can do it. “