Bagnaia: "I'm very skeptical, I don't think the Yamaha will have speed problems"

The first day of the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix closed with a true display of Borgo Panigale’s bikes, which captured seven of the top eight positions on the time sheet, leaving only the rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio outside the top 10.

Pecco Bagnaia, first sword of the Italian house and fifth this Friday at the end of the day, gave credit to the machinery, but also wanted to highlight the role of the drivers who compete for the brand.

“I think today’s result tells us how many strong riders Ducati has, I think they are all among the best on the grid and there is a balance of performance that is really incredible,” added the third-place finisher.

“It is definitely a bike that works very well right now, especially on a track like this, and all the Ducati riders can aspire to win, because they are really strong,” he added.

An ‘army’ that can help Bagnaia in the mission of hunting down the current leader of the championship, Fabio Quartararo, putting units between the two, but that in the end they can end up becoming rivals that cannibalize the brand’s own interests.

“Without a doubt, having such strong teammates is a great stimulus, because we are always up there, at the front, and I think that ours is the only brand that has all the riders so competitive. It is something that really stimulates the work and it accelerates in some situations. In others it can also be a problem, but it is not my case at the moment”, he valued.

The only rider who managed to sneak into the seven Ducati was, precisely, the great rival and leader of the World Championship, Fabio Quartararo (4th), who finished 40 thousandths behind the first, Johann Zarco. Despite systematically complaining about a lack of speed, the Frenchman gave a positive point to the new Red Bull Ring chicane for the benefit of his bike’s performance, considering that now he doesn’t need as much engine.

“I’m always very skeptical when I hear these things, because last year Fabio was fighting for the victory on this circuit, and the Yamaha is only losing 2km/h on the straight here, so I don’t think they will have any speed problems. I don’t think his problem is the top speed on the track”, the Italian disagreed.

Like most drivers, Bagnaia approved of the changes introduced in the first sector of the circuit, with the implementation of a new chicane.

“The chicane is not bad, they designed it quite well for the space there was. Certainly the wall on the left is not the best, because it is very close. If you go fast in a straight line, it will be difficult for you to avoid it. The barriers that they put in The middle of the track aren’t the best either: today I got into the gravel and it caught me right there, so we’ll talk about that in the Safety Commission, anyway, as a design it’s not too bad”.

Finally, the Italian also valued the news advanced by Motorsport.com about the arrival of sprint races next year in MotoGP.

“I don’t know if I will like it or not. It will be necessary to understand how they are going to do it, if they want to do it in all the circuits, if they want to shorten the main race. There are many things to understand, because mentally it will be difficult to do a season with so many races “, plot.

“If you have a sprint race in Austin and the next day the feature race, it’s not easy at all. It’s a devastating track, both mentally and physically. Doing two races in one weekend would be hard: it’s true that it would be like doing a race long, but that counts more than one in practice, so mentally it’s something totally different to a FP4”, he added.

The main complaint of the pilots is not so much the change of format as that they have not been consulted, something to which the promoter is not obliged. Bagnaia is on the same line.

“It depends on the point of view. We are here because we have to race a motorcycle and there are people who decide for us, like in Formula 1. Let’s say that it is a fairly important decision and I did not know anything about it until today. We will see what others think runners, but in certain situations our voice should count for something”, demanded the one from Turin.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team