RiderTua.com – Pecco Bagnaia is languishing on the COTA circuit. After only finishing 8th in the sprint race, the factory Ducati rider had to admit defeat to his teammate Enea Bastianini who took the podium (finished 3rd) in the main race. The 27 year old rider crossed the finish line in 5th position 7.4 seconds behind winner Maverick Vinales (Aprilia). Now Pecco is ranked 5th in the standings, a difference of 30 points from the leader Jorge Martin (Pramac).
The rider from Turin, Italy, explained, “I used the soft rear tire from the sprint during warm-up in the morning, to understand whether the soft tire would last throughout the race. I think it was the right choice. Maverick (Vinales) and Pedro (Acosta) chose medium. And they were at a good pace even after a few laps. But if Enea makes fewer mistakes, then she could also struggle to get to the podium because she is also on soft tires.”
Pecco Bagnaia: Strong Vibrating Left Side
Regarding his performance, Francesco Bagnaia explained that his race actually started well. Until the sixth lap, he thought he could fight for victory or the podium. Then he got a strong vibration on the left side. Then he finished the tire on the right side. It’s also very difficult to negotiate the right corner. It was very difficult, Pecco tried to organize everything. He only lasted from around the seventh lap onwards.
The Valentino Rossi pupil added, “We have to understand the situation and then solve it. For me the situation is similar to 2022, where I also had to race in ‘defensive’ mode at the start of the year. But I really believe in my team that we can control it again with don’t worry, we will fight to be at the top again.”
“It’s strange because Enea didn’t feel any vibrations at all this weekend. I feel good. So far Martin has been super fast but in Sunday’s race he had problems. The situation on these three bikes, it’s difficult. Franco (Morbidelli) is still learning, so it’s difficult to let him “racing with the same package, Enea had problems with the brakes and cornering but then suddenly she was able to drive to victory on Sunday. In this case, we only had to fight for victory for 6 laps,” said Carola Bagnaia’s younger brother.
After the race, Pecco Bagnaia praised the intelligence of sensational rookie Pedro Acosta. Pecco said that Acosta impressed him more than expected. He’s very, very fast. He doesn’t care about anything, not even tires. He wasn’t worried. Fighting without having any experience like that was incredible.
According to Pecco, Acosta and KTM are a very good combination. But Pecco wants to be in front of them again, that’s his target. The only area where the VR46 pupil was really strong this time was on the brakes, but it wasn’t enough to take the win or even the podium.
