Jerez winner Francesco Bagnaia on his biggest worry before the start and his progress on the Ducati GP22 – Fabio Quartararo has learned more than in Portimao
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) put their stamp on the MotoGP race at the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. Starting from P1 and P2, the pair spent the entire race distance in those two positions.
There was no change in the lead during the 25 laps. Nevertheless, it was an exciting duel. In the end, Bagnaia took his first win of the season by 0.285 seconds over Quartararo after a commanding ride.
Not only for Bagnaia, but also for the Ducati factory team it is the first victory with the Desmosedici GP22, which had caused some difficulties at the beginning of the season. One of the decisive factors for the first victory was that Bagnaia adapted his riding style. But “Pecco” laid the foundation for victory directly on the first metres.
LIGHTS OUT FOR MotoGP @PeccoBagnaia leads into Turn 1! SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/0hGzqNJkWp
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“Today was one of my best starts with this bike,” said Bagnaia. “Before, I often had problems with the tendency to wheelie. But today everything went well. In turn 2 I had to hold the line because I knew Fabio was right behind me. “
Bagnaia’s biggest worries: shoulder and last corner
“My worry was the last corner,” said Bagnaia, referring to turn 13 and recalling Quartararo last year, “He was always really strong coming out of turn 12. It was clear to me that Fabio would be the one to beat today as well. But I had a good feeling about the pace.”
Bagnaia’s biggest concern before the race was not Quartararo or his strength in the final sector of the track. Rather, it was his right shoulder, damaged in a crash at Portimao eight days ago.
“In the morning I was very worried about the race,” admitted the winner, revealing, “In the warm-up I rode without painkillers and I was really struggling. But luckily Clinica Mobile always has something good they can give you. That was a big help.”
“Only the last part of the race was difficult, because on this track all the hard braking zones are before right turns, except for the last turn. Especially in turn 6 it was difficult to decelerate the bike. It felt like someone was putting pressure on my shoulder. It really hurt,” said Bagnaia.
Quartararo’s planned final attack fails
Quartararo, who finished a close second this time a week after his first win of the season, has no problem with the result. “I had a really good start. But braking into the first two corners, ‘Pecco’ was just incredible. It was clear to me that it would be difficult if I didn’t get past him in the first two or three laps. That’s exactly what happened,” the Yamaha rider reported.
For a long time, Quartararo could not ride directly in Bagnaia’s slipstream, because “whenever I tried to do that, my front tyre slid around like chewing gum and whenever ‘Pecco’ missed the apex a bit, I felt the same way”.
As a result, Quartararo left a gap of just under a second for a long time. “On the last lap I attacked again. I wanted to get through turn 11 really fast to maybe have a chance in the last corner. But unfortunately my front wheel slipped a bit in turn 11,” he recalls and confesses that “overtaking was out of the question. “
Competitors, rivals, ambassadors for the sport! @PeccoBagnaia and @FabioQ20, world class SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/B7IpqeRlIf
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Not mourning a possible second win in a row, Quartararo said. “I’m happy because I’ve improved when it comes to dealing with a difficult feeling for the front wheel,” said the reigning world champion, who also continues to lead the 2022 MotoGP standings.
Bagnaia and the GP22: Riding style change has helped
Bagnaia has moved up to fifth in the standings with his first win of the season. He is happy too. Because almost more than the victory, he is happy that he has now adjusted to the Ducati GP22. “I think we did one thing right. We stopped trying to adapt this bike to my riding style,” he says, confessing that instead he is the one who adapted.
“It was very important to understand how to ride this bike. Because it is a bit different to ride [than the GP21]. In Portimao I found out how to ride this bike. The difference is not big, but when we talk about tenths of a second, even small things can make a big difference,” said Bagnaia. In the meantime he knows: “It’s obvious that this bike needed a different riding style. Because now I’m faster in the corners. “
When asked what exactly he does differently since Portimao, last year’s runner-up answers: “I worked a lot during these two weekends to enter the corners with more speed and to understand how to do it. It’s not easy to change your riding style like that. But the biggest difference is that now I’m faster on corner entry. “
Will the 2021 World Championship battle be repeated?
There are currently 33 points separating Quartararo and Bagnaia in the World Championship standings. Given “Pecco’s” now found confidence in his Ducati, the duel from Jerez could be repeated at some of the upcoming races. Do the two protagonists of the Spanish Grand Prix even expect to settle the World Championship title between themselves this year, as they did in 2021?
“I hope so,” Bagnaia replied with a grin. “I still have some catching up to do, but the season is still long. Let’s wait and see. But I hope I can fight against these two.” By that, apart from Quartararo, he also means Aleix Espargaro. The Aprilia rider sat alongside Bagnaia and Quartararo in the press conference in Jerez, third in the race. And in the World Championship standings he is Quartararo’s first pursuer, just seven points behind him.
And what does Quartararo think about a possible rematch of the 2021 title fight against Bagnaia? “At least to be in a position to compete for the World Championship title, that would be good,” says the Yamaha rider and praises his opponent from the Ducati camp: “The great thing about the duels with ‘Pecco’ is that I always learn something, even if I finish second. Honestly, I learned more today than I did in Portugal.”
Just like Bagnaia, however, Quartararo has the current World Championship runner-up on his mind. “I am sure Aleix will also have something to say. Because his consistency this year is really impressive. He’s in the race [for the title], no question,” the defending champion says of the Aprilia rider, who apart from himself is the only one to have scored in all six races of the season.
