After his heavy qualifying crash, Francesco Bagnaia defies the pain, shows a strong catch-up in the MotoGP race in Portimao and collects important points
Suzuki rider Alex Rins was not the only one to show a strong recovery from 23rd on the grid to finish fourth in the Portuguese Grand Prix. Francesco Bagnaia started the race from even one position further back and fought his way up to eighth on his Ducati, despite being in pain.
It was not until Sunday morning that the Italian had been cleared to start after a re-examination by the track doctors. He had crashed heavily in qualifying the day before on a track that was still wet in places and was running on slicks. Afterwards, he had problems with his right shoulder, even though nothing was broken.
After the race, Bagnaia explained: “I feel good, but I am not in my best condition. My shoulder hurts quite a bit. It was difficult to ride accordingly. But the feeling with the bike was incredible. “
Bagnaia: Made the best of the circumstances
“That made it a bit easier. The pace was quite strong and I was able to make up positions. In the first part of the race I waited to see how my shoulder was doing because I had some problems on the brakes and changing direction. But then I started to feel better. “
“Once I overtook the group in front of me, I got into a good rhythm and was quite strong. I made up a lot of time compared to the riders in front of me. So all in all it was a good race”, he sums up his ride in eighth place.
Under normal circumstances, of course, that would not be a result Bagnaia is happy with. But he was able to live with it because: “On Saturday, after the crash, it was not clear whether I would be able to race at all.
Late fight with Pol Espargaro pays off
“But I was able to start, and considering I started from the very back, we managed to put in a decent performance,” judged the 2021 World Championship runner-up. “Even on Sunday morning I said to myself: If we compete, eighth place would be a good result. And we managed to do that. “
He adapted his driving style to suit his physical handicap. “I used the left arm more, also the legs. Because it was difficult to push with the right arm. In the last five laps I was struggling and the bike became a bit unsteady because I was running out of power,” confessed Bagnaia.
We never give up! From last to 8th ❤️ Well done, Pecco! PortugueseGP
8️⃣ @peccobagnaia (+16,511)ForzaDucati DucatiLenovoTeam pic. twitter.com/82Moi23Gxq
– Ducati Corse (@ducaticorse) April 24, 2022
Despite this, he still managed to challenge Honda rival Pol Espargaro at the end, even though he admits: “Passing him wasn’t easy.” For the World Championship, the Italian has collected eight important points and is now in tenth place.
“I will only stop thinking about the World Championship when there is no possibility left. That’s not the case,” he holds. “I am 38 points behind the leader. Last year it was 70 points with only six races left, if I remember correctly. So I never give up and I will keep pushing.”
