Second consecutive victory for Francesco Bagnaia in MotoGP, which considers the victory in the San Marino GP even more difficult than last Sunday in Aragon.
-Go seven days and now winning at home. Great race and great start with a lot of work at the end …
-Yes, I already knew that it was very important to start well and push from the start, because with the soft the initial grip was better and I also knew that Fabio, with the middle rear, would go faster in the last part of the race, like this I basically tried to go fast and steady right from the beginning. I made the best start of my life, because I started immediately, as soon as the traffic light went out, I was training him a lot until I nailed the start, and I succeeded. And when I passed the first lap I saw that I already had a second and I thought it was incredible, and I tried to manage the tires. In the last laps it was very difficult because Fabio was cutting four tenths per lap, but the last lap I tried to nail it and sector three was where I was going the strongest and I managed to do it very well.
-What did you think when you saw at the end all that Quartararo was cutting out for you? I was worried?
-Yes, sure, I was worried at the time, but I was also sure that overtaking a Ducati at Misano was not going to be easy. I knew that Fabio was fast in sector one and four, but in sector two and three we were better off. So I was trying to keep it from getting too close and the last lap I tried to do it perfectly and embroider it, it was not easy, but I was able to get it. This victory here is very special.
-After having been so close to victory before, and specifically in Misano last year, do you already fit your emotions from the last seven days?
-The truth is that the victory in Aragon gave me a lot of motivation and I arrived here much more prepared even to win again. And it tastes even more special to me at this circuit because we are at home, in front of our fans. The truth is that the last lap was impressive, I did the slowest lap in the world on the lap of honor, trying to greet everyone, getting there to the Ducati fans’ stands was a great party, I enjoyed it everything in this race.
-Yesterday he said that if he won again he could change his story. Do you believe in that more now?
-No, let’s see, what I wanted to say is that for me this is a special moment after having so many difficulties, after it was so hard for me to win my first race. He was always very close, but either he made a mistake or something happened or he had a problem and ran away. So getting my first win in Aragon and then this second here is something that makes me trust myself even more, and I am convinced that if we work well and are able to work more in certain areas, I can always be ahead and we can fight. with the pilots in front on any circuit.
-Which has been harder, this race or the one in Aragon?
-For me it is, because this is a shorter circuit, with more laps, and it is more difficult on a physical level, you don’t have time to rest. In Aragon you have more time, on the straight, you can breathe. It’s fast-paced here and I was also seeing the difference and how lap after lap it was going down, which made it difficult to be focused at that moment. And I already knew it was going to be like that, because when you push hard in the first part of the race that means you are going to lose a bit of grip in the last part. That has made it more difficult than in Aragon.
-He was pointed out from the beginning as the favorite for this weekend. Has that given you more pressure or have you felt good in that situation?
-For me in terms of pace I saw myself faster in Aragon than here, because this weekend was very competitive, but I consider that Fabio was one step ahead, because this morning, for example, he set an incredible pace with tires of 16 laps, and it cost me more. I expected to fight for the victory today, but I also thought that the fight would be closer. And when you mark a distance of almost three seconds and you see during the race that each lap is cut by three or four tenths, you start to give your head more and you start to think more about the bike, and there were two or three laps that They cost me every time I saw the distance because it was difficult for me to open this hole more. I took a deep breath and tried to be as consistent as possible to save the tire for last.
-You have spoken that this race has been more difficult than the one in Aragon. Maybe it was because he still had in mind what happened in Misano’s race last year and what happened after he was alone in the lead for so long?
-No, it was more for the physical issue. In the last six laps I was terrified of making the same mistake as last year, telling myself ‘don’t fall at turn 6’. But when there were seven laps to go I was about to crash at 1, because there is a bit of a bump, and I lost the front end, and I was very scared. Despite this, it was not that it was more difficult mentally, but physically demanding.
-Zarco has just said that looking at his data he marked the differences in braking, not so much in acceleration but in how he positioned the bike. How do you get it?
-It is something I have worked a lot on, because in the first year of MotoGP I had many difficulties at the level of braking, so I started to work a lot in this area, especially in the last part of 2019. In 2020 I already took a step forward in this regard, and I was also working a lot with the stock bike here, to feel the front wheel better and to work better under braking. The good thing about the Panigale is that at the level of riding style and tires, because the ones we use are Michelin endurance ones, which have a similar construction, so with this you can understand the front end by working with the series bike and helps you understand how the front end works in MotoGP. And I have also used Jorge Lorenzo’s data a lot and I mark the difference in the entry, I am braking very hard, rushing as late as I can, but I think that where I make the difference is in the entry.
-Last week you said you made four mistakes: how many have you made in this one?
-This time only one, in turn 1, where I tried to brake a little earlier and lost my front end a bit in the pothole and I had a scare. On the next lap I tried to brake a little bit later and it worked better for me.
-He seems to be going super fast in sector three, and that will require a lot of confidence with the sensations of the front end. What makes you have the ability to attack in fast corners?
-The good thing about this bike is its stability, in fast corners we are able to enter with a lot of speed, a lot of cornering, and the bike doesn’t move too much. I feel very good in those types of corners, on all circuits. And then I also have very good feelings with the front end this year. Before it cost me more, but this year the sensations I have with the front end are impressive. We have not changed anything on the bike, the setting is quite similar to last year, but the sensations have improved a lot, and I have improved, especially in how to manage the front tire. So the feeling is fantastic and it helps me get into the fast corners that well.