Bagnaia: "Aleix is closer, he is the one who has to put pressure on Quartararo"

August 18, 2022

The huge straight between turns 1 and 3 of the Red Bull Ring was a kind of runway for the Ducati, the point of the circuit where they put more pressure on their rivals with their top speed, but the new chicane, located in the old non-existent turn 2, now offers a new nature to the circuit that can lead one to the mistaken thought that it harms Italian bikes.

“For me it’s fine, we have new braking and new acceleration, and that’s fine for us,” Pecco Bagnaia admitted in the run-up to the Austrian Grand Prix.

“The wall on the left is very close, in wet conditions maybe too close, but we have to see it tomorrow when we get on the bike,” he raised some objections to the new chicane.

However, the Austrian track has been the scene of great successes for Ducati, which, on paper, should not change despite the correction at that point.

“Yes, it is a good circuit for us, without a doubt, we have shown it every year here, but in the last few races more than one factory was fighting in front, last year with Marc Márquez and with Fabio Quartararo, and I was losing in sector two and three, and I recovered in sector four. Currently, for me, all the bikes are ahead and we see it in all the races, all the factories have a chance to win. I consider that we are in a good state of form and we can fight to be ahead,” he argued.

Bagnaia has accumulated four victories this year, the most, and two of them in the last consecutive races, in which he has cut 42 points from the leader, Fabio Quartararo. The opportunity for the Red Bull Ring to keep putting pressure on the Frenchman seems obvious.

“I’m going to try my best and, focused on this race, I’m thinking about cutting the maximum points. In the last two my main rivals had problems, but it won’t always be like that. Good races are coming for us, but I have to focus on my job, Aleix is the one who is closest to be able to tighten the pegs on Fabio”, he recalled in reference to Aleix Espargaró, second overall with 22 points.

In addition to Austria, Misano and Aragón are next, two other historically good circuits for the Desmosedici.

“It’s hard to say, year after year things change, it’s true that we talk about three favorable circuits, but last year at Le Mans I had a lot of difficulties and this year I fought for victory. I don’t want to think about the next races, first I want to be competitive at this circuit, as we have been at most this year, and to cut points”.

Finally, Pecco was asked if he could explain what advice Casey Stoner had given him before the Silverstone race, and whether he had applied it successfully, as he himself explained.

“I can’t tell you what advice he gave me, but I tried to apply it in the race. It’s not a secret, everyone knows his driving style getting more traction. Now the tires are different and during the race you have to change style twice. or three times to couple to the fall of the rubber, it is possible that here (in Austria) that same advice can help me”, settled the one from Turin.

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