Pecco Bagnaia’s options in his comeback for trying to challenge Fabio Quartararo for the world champion title were to achieve a victory this Sunday in Austin, and for the Frenchman to puncture. But neither one thing nor the other were possible and the championship, although mathematically still open, is practically finished.
“I’m happy, I’ve done my best, today we couldn’t do more. Fabio has had a great race and Marc [Márquez] has been incredible. We know that he is untouchable here”, argued Bagnaia for his third position at the end of the race.
“I tried everything, I needed two or three laps at the beginning to save the tires to try to push and I lost some positions there. When I was able to push hard I saw that the others were slower, so I tried to come back and get on the podium, which was the best I could hope for today”, he said.
After two consecutive victories from pole, the Italian was unable to take advantage of this time starting first, and both Marc and Fabio arrived ahead of him at the first corner.
“We took pole in a circuit where it is very difficult for us, and we have to be happy because we have achieved the best result that was within our reach. More than this was not possible, we have to be satisfied, and in no way can we be sad to finish third in such a difficult circuit for us”, he explained.
During the race and when he was coming back, his Ducati teammate Jack Miller gave him the place, in what is understood as team orders.
“He has clearly let me through, I have to thank him. At first Jack was going very, very fast and I thought he was going to pass Fabio, but then I saw that he had problems. Jack has risked putting the hard rubber behind, but that bet has not gone well for him. At first it went well, but then not. In the end, it was difficult for us to decide on a rubber, none was good, the soft one was a little better, but in the end nothing. It was impossible,” he insisted.
With Fabio second and Pecco third, the Frenchman can already be champion in the next race, in Misano.
“We have lost points today with Fabio, but it is not here where we have lost the chances of fighting for the title. Here is just a race in which we have shown that we have grown a lot and we have learned a lot”, he pointed out.
“The title is not yet closed, we will try until the end, but today Fabio has taken a very big step forward to secure the World Cup”, settled the Turin player.
(Click on this link or on the image to see the photos of the 2021 MotoGP Americas GP race)
