Sepang.- Pecco Bagnaia could be proclaimed MotoGP world champion this Sunday at the Malaysian Grand Prix, but the Ducati rider made a mistake when he crashed during Q2 on Saturday, so he will have to start quite late on the grid, with the dangers that this entails.
“The beginning of the course was more difficult. But the only good thing about the day was the third free practice and Q1”, explained the Italian at the end of a difficult day, in which he failed to finish in the top ten after the first three free practices and he had to go through the trance of Q1, which he easily surpassed.
“Afterwards, I’ve done my best to ruin the day. I’m human and I’m starting to feel the pressure,” he admitted.
Bagnaia did not go directly to Q2 as he had the same time as the 10th in FP3, Franco Morbidelli, but the Yamaha rider had a second better lap than the Ducati rider and qualified ahead, after having bothered him on the track, so will receive a double long lap penalty.
“I got too pissed off because of what happened with Fabio and Franco. I pushed too hard at turn 4 and I crashed. I have to learn to read these situations. It wasn’t necessary to force because I easily had third place almost assured,” he reflected.
After completing the comeback in the general championship in Australia, where Pecco once again took advantage of a fall by Fabio Quartararo, the Frenchman went down again this Saturday in FP4, breaking a finger on his left hand.
“Fabio does not deserve the bad luck he has been having in recent races,” he said.
With the World Championship about to be decided, Pecco will start 9th with up to four Ducati ahead, including those of Jorge MartÃn and Enea Bastianini, who have already recognized that their intention is to try to escape and win the race.Â
“I think the other Ducatis will try to escape. Tomorrow may be the day to put the team orders into practice,” he warned.
As a result of the nervousness about what is at stake, Bagnaia could be seen very angry recriminating Morbidelli when he hindered him in FP3, just as he did not like that so many riders followed him, like Marc Márquez, who did it in Q1 and in the Q2.
“About Morbidelli, I didn’t have the chance to talk to him, but my reaction may have been a bit exaggerated. These things can happen, but they start to happen too much. There have been times when seven bikes followed me. The regulations don’t say anything about it, but it’s already a bit too much,” he complained.
Despite having such a busy day and finishing 9th on the grid, Pecco knows he has the pace to fight for victory.
“My feelings on the bike are fantastic. I can brake as I want and I’ve given the tires a lot of laps”, so he knows how to manage them, which will be one of the keys to the race.
