Bagnaia has won consecutive MotoGP races in Aragon and Misano in 2021, beating Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo at the San Marino Grand Prix last Sunday.
In his third season in MotoGP, Bagnaia impressed many with his cornering behavior on the GP21 and his braking behavior – Pramac’s Johann Zarco believes that Bagnaia makes the Ducati in the corners and not the bike.
Braking was a weak point for Bagnaia in his rookie campaign in 2019, but the Italian says working on his Panigale V4 street bike on Michelin’s endurance tires in 2020 in Misano and studying the data of the former Ducati rider Lorenzo helped him shape his braking style.
“I worked on that a lot, because in my first year in MotoGP I had big problems with braking,” said Bagnaia after his victory in Misano.
“And I started working a lot in this area in the last part of 2019.
“I already took a step in 2020, but I also worked a lot with a road bike here [at Misano] to better manage the front tire because a good thing about our Panigale in terms of driving style and in terms of the tire because the tires we use are the Michelin long distance tires, the construction is very similar.
“So what the front is doing is close, I think [to the MotoGP bike].
“So I’ve worked a lot with these tires and this bike, and I’ve also worked a lot with Jorge Lorenzo’s data.
“So the difference I make is just the last part of the braking. I brake as hard and as hard as I can, but I think I make the difference when I start. “
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Quartararo noted that he struggled to keep up with Bagnaia in the final stages of the Misano race as the Ducati rider was quick with the quick succession of right turns at corners 11, 12 and 13.
Bagnaia explains how he can corner so well here: “The good thing about this bike is that it’s very stable, so we can enter these fast corners at a lot of speed and our bike doesn’t wobble a lot.
“So I feel very good in fast corners on all the tracks we have.
“I also have a really great feeling with the front, but from this year on.
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“I used to struggle a little more. This year the feeling I have with the front is incredible.
“We haven’t changed anything on the bike, the setting is very similar to last year.
“But the feeling has grown a lot and I’ve improved a lot with the front tire. So the feeling is great and it helps me to get into the fast corners like that. “