In the top quartet of the championship, there are three who are looking gloomy this evening. Jorge Martín suffering from bad sensations, Marc Márquez who had a problem during this first day of testing for the Japanese GP, and Enea Bastianini who crumpled her neck in a big fall. Pecco Bagnaia, for his part, displays a smile and serenity after feeling comfortable and efficient as soon as he began these tests.
“It was a very positive Friday,” welcomes the Ducati rider. “We started well this morning. As soon as I started, I felt good with my bike and everything we did on the bike was good. We improved my sensations and braking, and I think that we can be satisfied. The conditions were much better this afternoon and we were able to concentrate even more on braking. Our pace was fantastic, I think.
Author of the best time this morning then leader during most of the second session, Bagnaia ended up dropping to seventh place, three tenths from the best time. However, he has no worries, certain of what positive things this ranking hides about him.
“For the first [time attack]I didn’t use the rear that much, I went calmly, so I didn’t take full advantage of the grip. In the second one I was very fast but I widened in turn 11. It was my last lap and I was quite fast at that point.” he explains.
“I’m happy overall, especially since even without my time attack, I would have been in Q2 anyway because I did 1’44″0 on my first outing”, asserts Bagnaia, who would actually have been in ninth final place thanks to his time at the start of the session.
Pecco Bagnaia
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Forgotten, therefore, the questions of last week. “It was better as soon as I started. It must be said that on Friday, in Mandalika, something didn’t work in the afternoon and it was hard to understand the direction to follow with our bike. Today Today, it’s a different story.” he promises.
Rain-proof confidence on Saturday
If the best time of the day went to Brad Binder, with a KTM whose competitiveness on this circuit does not surprise him, the Italian rider is now waiting to see what the scenario will be for the weekend, because rain is expected in much larger quantity for qualifications, or potentially even longer.
“Tomorrow, it will rain and it will be essential to immediately understand the situation well, to be reactive straight away to try to position ourselves as high as possible, especially in qualifying. In the afternoon, it should not rain but here you can never know what the weather will be like”, he warns. “We’ll see tomorrow. I think we still need a little step forward and we already know what to do. We also need to be ready in case of rain.”
“Anyway, what is important is to continue doing what we did today. We were very competitive from start to finish and that is important,” adds Bagnaia, today 21 points behind Martín in the championship, with five Grands Prix still to go. “It is very important not to make any mistakes but it is also fundamental to recover points, so in any case I have to do the maximum to leave here with less delay on Martín.”
