RiderTua.com – After winning the season-opening MotoGP race in Qatar, Pecco Bagnaia re-established himself as the rider to beat when the Ducati Lenovo rider led every lap ahead of Brad Binder and his strong rival in last season’s title race Jorge Martin. Along with his two wins last season, Pecco also picked up a win at Portimao in 2021. This suggests he should be very strong this weekend.
Talking about the Algarve Portimao circuit, the rider from Turin, Italy, said, “I like this track. This is one of my favorite tracks and I like the ups and downs. It’s a combination of Mugello and Sachsenring and I like racing here. Last year was a perfect start to the season like in Qatar. So I’m quite confident because I think we can be more competitive with the GP24 bike on some parts of the track. I can’t wait to start racing this weekend.”
Pecco Bagnaia : Every rider needs a different amount of time to adapt
In the 2023 season, on several occasions Pecco Bagnaia appeared to have difficulty in Friday training. Something similar happened again on Friday in the inaugural series in Qatar. However, the Ducati Lenovo rider admitted that the problem was not the same.
Francesco Bagnaia explained, “I think in Qatar the situation is not the same as last year where I struggled on Friday and looked for a good set-up. In Qatar we only had problems on the first day.”
“I think on this track the setting of the bike can make a difference, but this track is one of the places where the bike can’t make a difference compared to other tracks. It’s more about the feeling the rider has on the track. I hope tomorrow everything will be fine and have good working day,” added the student rider of Valentino Rossi.
Although the majority of the MotoGP grid has not been in action at Portimao since the 2023 season opener, all Ducati riders took part in a private test in the Algarve, giving them an edge over their competitors. One of the riders taking part was newcomer Franco Morbidelli, who suffered a serious crash and was injured as a result.
When Pecco was asked, can testing with a road bike make a difference in preparation for the MotoGP race and what is Morbidelli’s potential? The two-time consecutive MotoGP World Champion answered, “I think training with the Panigale is good, not to understand the track but just to practice. I took advantage of this test to be better prepared for the test in Malaysia and more adapted to the speed. But the test with the Panigale is something without recording lap times.”
“We get used to MotoGP bikes after 10 laps. But for sure, there is help there and Franky is fast here. Unfortunately he crashed but we already know the potential of every rider in MotoGP. Franky is fast but the Panigale is one thing and MotoGP is another “The level of adaptation for each rider is different. Each rider needs a different amount of time to adapt. I needed 2 years and Jorge needed 2 races,” concluded Pecco Bagnaia.
