In qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, Bagnaia stormed to his third pole in a row and fourth overall in 2021 with a lap 0.348 seconds ahead of the field.
The Ducati rider has turned his last two poles at Misano and Aragon into victories and has carved out an underdog position in the championship after reducing Fabio Quartararo’s lead to 48 points with four races remaining this season.
Rossi – who helped develop Bagnaia in his VR46 Academy – says the Ducati rider’s lap was “stunning” and that it is “a great pleasure” to watch him ride the Desmosedici.
“At Pecco, Pecco is impressive,” said Rossi, who qualified 20th after a fall. “It is his third pole position in a row with a breathtaking lap. He’s in great, great shape.
“It’s great fun to watch him drive, it’s a great pleasure because he drives the Ducati at the front. I haven’t seen a Ducati like this for a long time. So I’m very happy for Pecco. “
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Bagnaia’s qualifying result at COTA makes him the first Italian in MotoGP since Rossi in 2009 to take three consecutive poles and is the first Ducati rider since Casey Stoner in 2008 to achieve this feat.
When asked by Motorsport.com about Rossi’s praise and what it meant for him to achieve his 2009 pole statistic, Bagnaia replied: “That means I have finished three poles in a row!
“Well, I’m happy, but I think it won’t change that much. We’re only here to try to open the championship and the best starting position is pole position and we’ve got it back there. But it doesn’t change too much, I think. “
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Bagnaia went on to explain that he was able to ride the Ducati so well this year due to a change in mentality in 2021, while also adapting the bike better to his cornering style.
“When I started on the Ducati I always fell, my feeling was never very good and I tried to push but my riding style didn’t adapt to the Ducati,” he added. “Well, in Moto2 I was always going with a lot of cornering speed and in Moto2 you can’t brake so hard because the rear always slips.
“So when I got to MotoGP for the first test, I was fast, but only because I was timing attacks. And I learned that later, because in MotoGP the top riders never make a time attack [in testing] apart from perhaps the first test of the season.
“But from Qatar [in 2019], we started to work with [the] used tire, I was in trouble and not feeling well. And up until this year I was always without a good feeling.
“I did some good races last year, but this year I think I’ve changed my mentality on the bike a bit. I have the feeling that I know this bike very well and that I can adjust very well when braking because I can now stop the bike very well and I feel great.
“I also adjust the setting of my Ducati to the cornering speed because our bike is not that fast in the middle of the corner. But this year we did a good job and now the bike [is] more suitable for it. “