Pecco Bagnaia and his Ducati teammate Jack Miller were the only two riders to fit the hard front tire in this Sunday’s race at Misano .
While the Australian crashed on lap four, the Italian led the race for the first 22 of the 27 laps, keeping eventual winner Marc Márquez at bay, trying to keep his champion hopes alive. , since Fabio Quartararo was running fifth at the time.
But Bagnaia crashed on lap 23 when he lost the front end of his Ducati at Turn 15 left-hander, at the same point as Miller earlier in the race, handing the title to Quartararo.
Rossi attempted to influence Bagnaia’s tire choice before the race, and believes the Ducati rider should have raced the mid-front. However, the Turin player later admitted that he did not feel comfortable with that compound.
“Pecco had a fantastic season,” Rossi said after the race. “I’m a bit angry with him because I think if he had put the middle forward he could have won as he was the fastest.”
“I had a great opportunity to keep the championship alive. It was difficult anyway, but extending it to Portugal was important. But it is like that. I think Pecco, Franco [Morbidelli], also Luca [Marini] will be very strong next year.” .
(Click on this link or on the photos to see Valentino Rossi saying goodbye to his fans at the Emilia Romagna GP)
Rossi made his last MotoGP race in Italy on Sunday, where he rallied from bottom of the grid to a final 10th position. The nine-time world champion thinks it was the best way to say goodbye to his home fans.
“Today I’m happy because I had a good race and it was the best way to say goodbye. I didn’t want to have a bad race and stay behind, so I tried to stay focused, because starting from the back of the grid is always difficult. I felt Well with the bike and the tyres, in the dry my potential could be better. I was able to have a bit of a battle and some overtaking, so in the end I finished in the top 10.”
“This is the best way to say ciao to all the fans, because there was a really great atmosphere on the circuit. So many people, a nice sunny day: it was really exciting,” the #46 clinched.
