Francesco Bagnaia could do nothing to defeat Marc Marquez (1st) and Jorge Martin (2nd) at Phillip Island. The Italian leaves the Australian Grand Prix 20 points behind the championship leader but is trying to be satisfied with that, because it was difficult for him to do better this weekend.
Third in the race instead of fourth in the sprint, but difficult to do better: “Unfortunately, we got a little lost yesterday. In warm-up I tried a different setting which worked better, but we got it a little late. It was better than in the sprint but I continued to have difficulty turning the bike. We have made progress, but not enough. Trying to match the pace of Martin and Marquez, I pushed the front and he was done after 15 laps. So I started using the rear, which I also wore out. I was really struggling in the last laps. »
A good result despite everything: “I did my best. I was able to stick with the first two until I ran into problems. They had incredible rhythm. Jorge was very strong and Marc too. It’s not frustration, it’s an opportunity where we could have done better but we made a mistake yesterday. When things go wrong, finishing third is a good result. »
The Grands Prix of Thailand and Malaysia on the horizon: “These are two circuits on which I am fast. Buriram and Sepang suit my riding style better and I think I will be better. Coming here I knew I had a chance of losing points and I didn’t do enough to avoid it, while Jorge had a perfect weekend. »
