Francesco Bagnaia had a disappointing Saturday at the MotoGP in Qatar: crash in Q2 and P8 in the sprint – the search for the reasons is puzzling.
Before the MotoGP weekend in Lusail (Qatar), Ducati factory rider Francesco Bagnaia was one of the big favorites. The layout of the track suited Bagnaia in the past. In addition, the Italian arrived with a lot of self-confidence, because his victory in Austin (USA) polished the previously somewhat tarnished self-confidence of the vice-champion. On Saturday, however, not much went right for Bagnaia.
After a poor qualifying – Bagnaia crashed on his second attempt and only made it into eleventh place in Q2 – Bagnaia planned a big comeback. But Bagnaia only made limited progress in the sprint race.
The first lap was still quite positive, Bagnaia made up three positions and came in P8 from the first of eleven laps. But instead of collecting more drivers, Bagnaia himself was the victim and lost positions again on lap two. He only came in P10 from lap two and was thus out of the points. On lap three, he even dropped back to P12. In the meantime, returnee Jorge Martin (Aprilia) was ahead of Bagnaia.
The KTM riders’ declining performance and the retirement of LCR rider Johann Zarco finally brought Bagnaia back into the points. However, the runner-up in the world championship was unable to make any headway on his own.
Self-critical statements after Saturday’s crash
A meager eighth place was the result of the sprint. In the championship, he lost further points to the Marquez brothers, who finished in P1 and P2. “I messed up,” Bagnaia said self-critically.
“I really messed up – this morning in qualifying,” Bagnaia is annoyed about his crash in the Qatar qualifying session. ‘To be honest, I was super fast on used tires, the feeling was fantastic, I was able to do exactly what I wanted. But unfortunately in qualifying, I wasn’t happy with the feeling on my first attempt.’
“On the second attempt, everything was actually fine. I was able to push and was already under my previous best time in the first sector. Then I overdid it in turn 4 – I was too fast, wanted to get the bike into the turn and first lost the rear slightly, then the front wheel,” Bagnaia describes the scene.
“My mistake, clearly,” he leaves little room for interpretation. ‘In situations like this, when the first attempt doesn’t go well, you have to stay calm and position yourself better. But I tried – it was the moment for it – and I just crashed.’
Why is Francesco Bagnaia too weak in the sprints?
MotoGP sprints have not been one of Bagnaia’s strengths in the recent past. “These sprints have been around for three years now, and I always have trouble overtaking others. When I start at the back, I can’t brake the way I want to,” Bagnaia wonders. “Why this is so, I don’t quite understand yet – the only difference is the tank. But I’m the only one for whom it has this effect.“
”I have to improve, I have to learn how to deal with this sprint situation,” Bagnaia clarifies. ‘It can’t be that I can’t start an overtaking maneuver just because I’m stuck. I will work on it.’
Although P8 and a meager two championship points are not what Bagnaia had planned, he still sees a positive aspect: “Last year I learned: It’s more important to finish than to crash.”
“Today I got two points. Not much, sure – I could have got maybe twelve. But better than zero,” the third-placed rider in the championship compared. ‘You have to be realistic and always try to finish the race,’ said Bagnaia, who was the rider with the most victories last year but still lost the championship because he had significantly more zeroes than champion Jorge Martin.
