“Pecco” Bagnaia on Mandalika Saturday: beaten in quali and sprint by returning teammate Bastianini, World Championship lead gone, fined for rule violation
In the fight for the World Championship title in the 2023 MotoGP season, there was a – at least temporary – changing of the guard on Saturday at the Mandalika International Circuit on Lombok in Indonesia. Ducati factory rider Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia lost the world championship lead he had held since the end of April to Pramac-Ducati rider Jorge Martin.
While Martin claimed his fourth consecutive sprint win on Saturday to take the World Championship lead for the first time in his MotoGP career, Bagnaia only finished in P8. Just ahead of him in seventh was Ducati teammate Enea Bastianini, for whom this weekend marks his comeback after missing three race weekends.
Bagnaia, who had only started from 13th on the grid, was a tough nut to crack for Bastianini for many laps. Ducati did not issue a stable order, which is why Bagnaia’s points gap to Martin before Sunday’s Grand Prix is seven points. On Sunday, Martin will again start from P6 on the grid, while Bagnaia will again start from 13th.
In the Ducati factory team duel, Bagnaia had already lost out to Bastianini in qualifying, namely in the Q1 segment in which both dueled for the subsequent Q2 entry. While the returning Bastianini managed to make it into Q2 with the second fastest time behind Luca Marini, Bagnaia was 0.099 seconds slower. So the championship leader had to tackle the sprint from the fifth row of the grid. 13 laps later he was rid of the World Championship lead.
No Ducati stable order: Bagnaia “accepted it from the beginning “
Summarising Saturday as a whole, in which he was fined to make matters worse, Bagnaia said: “With fresh soft tyres [in Q1] I had a few problems. My bike is very nervous with these tyres and it’s difficult for me to open the throttle. From 13th on the grid, of course, it wasn’t easy. Overtaking is only possible when you aggressively push other riders off the line. But that has never been my driving style. That’s why I had a hard time today.”
Regarding the Ducati team duel with Enea Bastianini, in which there was no stable order, Bagnaia notes that he had not expected one. “There will never be a team order with us. It’s just normal with eight riders who don’t all have the same package but have the same possibilities for top results. That’s just Ducati’s strategy and I accepted it from the beginning,” said the reigning MotoGP World Champion.
“The only way to get past Enea today would have been to push him off the line. But that’s not the way I like to race,” Bagnaia underlined what he had already stated in general terms shortly before, also in relation to the team duel.
And the same view, namely not demanding a stable order, is also held by Bagnaia with regard to qualifying. “Why would you give an order to a rider who is just coming back from an injury not to improve his lap time?” he asks, referring to teammate Bastianini and the duel between the two in Q1. “For the outside world, maybe it’s hard to understand. But for us it is normal,” Bagnaia said.
Bastianini, who finished P7 in the sprint with a slim half-second advantage over Bagnaia, also says he had no thoughts of a stable order. “I didn’t think about that. It was the race of my return and my only job was to enjoy it and finish. I’ve sat at home long enough now and watched the races furiously in front of the TV. “
Bagnaia relaxed about new world championship standings
On the new situation in the 2023 MotoGP standings, which for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of April no longer shows him as the World Championship leader, “Pecco” Bagnaia says: “The season is still very long. Seven points behind with six races to go. That definitely makes me believe in the title. I will continue to give everything.”
Incidentally, a fine of 500 euros was imposed on Bagnaia on Saturday for leaving the pit lane at red lights in Q1.
