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Bagnaia ‘risked crashing’ following MotoGP title rival Martin in British GP

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Francesco Bagnaia says he risked suffering a crash if he had tried to stay in touch with MotoGP title rival Jorge Martin during their battle for the lead of the British Grand Prix.

Winner of the previous four rounds, Bagnaia couldn’t put up a fight to the victorious Enea Bastianini or runner-up Pramac’s Martin, finishing more than six seconds off the lead in third at Silverstone on Sunday.

It concluded a tricky weekend for the defending champion, who crashed out of Saturday’s sprint while running in a podium position.

With Martin finishing second in both the sprint and the grand prix, the Italian lost the lead in the title fight to his Pramac rival — although only three points separate them with 10 of the 20 rounds in the 2024 season remaining.

Speaking afterwards, Bagnaia admitted he was left with no option but to drop back from the leading duo in order to bag the points for third place and limit the damage in the championship fight with Martin.

“I tried, but after the crash of yesterday, it was better to finish the race,” he said. “Also today I risked to crash. On corner 6-7, I lost the front and Enea overtook me.

“But in that moment, I was already struggling a bit, I was trying to follow Jorge and to follow Jorge I was taking too much risk.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“So it was better to just manage the gap from the guys behind and finish the race, third position is okay.”

Bagnaia grabbed the lead at the start from polesitter Aleix Espargaro and controlled the pace in the first half of the race, but was passed by Martin into Village corner on lap 10 of 20.

Two laps later he ran wide at Vale, allowing team-mate Bastianini through into second. Bastianini went on to overtake Martin on the penultimate tour to score his maiden grand prix win of 2024 and his second as a factory Ducati rider.

The 27-year-old said he will carefully analyse the data from his bike to understand why he couldn’t keep up with the pace of Bastianini and Martin, who were equipped with the same GP24 bike as him.

“First thing that I want to do this afternoon is to check everything on the data because I want to know what I did wrong,” he said in the post-race press conference.

“I was thinking I was managing everything well in terms of pace and tyre, but when Jorge overtook me I see that he was in a better shape than me and I lost the front [and] Enea overtook me.

“I just decided to slow down a bit and just finish the race. Honestly today that was better than try to fight for a better position. I tried to the maximum and the maximum was a third place.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The big talking point before Sunday’s race at Silverstone was the tyre choice, with questions over whether the medium tyre would be good enough to last the full distance.

Eventually, the cooler conditions meant all but two riders opted for medium front, with Bagnaia also going with the majority of the field.

However, the two-time champion felt that the front tyre didn’t behave to his liking, putting extra stress on the rear tyre and leaving him heavily worn rubber.

“Every time I’m not happy with the front tyre, I finish the rear because I can’t force the bike to turn with the front,” he explained.

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“It’s not the first time that it is happening. I’m not fully happy with the front tyre, today we chose the medium.

“I finished the rear more because I can’t force the front tyre to let the bike turn and I struggled a bit with the rear tyre consumption.

“I was having a lot of movement, I was locking. And when I was wide it was because as I entered it and when I touched the gas I lost it. So the tyre was having less support than what I was expecting and it was difficult for me to turn the bike.”



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The other rider cast aside by Ducati in its Marquez dilemma

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


When Ducati announced that it was signing Marc Marquez for 2025 it was a tantalising prospect that piqued the interest of motorsport fans across the world.

Who wouldn’t get on board the hype-train of seeing one of the greatest ever MotoGP riders joining the iconic team to win a seventh premier class world title?

It would be one of the great sporting comebacks, given Marquez’s injuries, his battles with diplopia, time on the sidelines and an understandable loss of form.

However, in making way for Marquez’s much-anticipated arrival, Ducati has been forced to turn away Jorge Martin, despite initially favouring him to partner Francesco Bagnaia, with Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali previously admitting that its decision was not universally supported given Martin’s popularity.

The focus was all on turning down Martin. However, after seeing Enea Bastianini take the maximum 37 points after winning both the British Grand Prix and Saturday’s sprint, has Ducati made the wrong decision with another rider?

Bastianini’s haul of points has seen him move to within 49 points of Martin, who goes back to the top of the standings owing to his second-place finish.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

There is an argument to say that Ducati had a nice problem to face, given the talent at its disposal. And it is fair to assume that had it been any other rider but for Marquez, things would be different.

But as the title race was blown open it can no longer be assured of having the defending champion in 2025, with both Martin and Bastianini now in the title race against reigning champion Bagnaia.

Having been turned down by Ducati, Martin has since agreed to switch to Aprilia while Bastianini will join Tech3 KTM after only two seasons with the factory Ducati squad.

However, when asked by Motorsport.com as to whether Ducati has made a mistake in letting him go — and pointing out that his form has been impressive since he was axed — Bastianini explained that he is only just getting back up to speed on the Ducati.

He missed the opening five rounds in 2023 due to injury and also sat out of races at Misano, India and Japan rounds due to injuries and feels he has not had chance to show his full potential.

He said: «I haven’t understood the decision by Ducati because they have lost riders like me and Jorge, but I respect the decision.

Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«Last year, I missed so many races. I won in Malaysia but in my physical condition it wasn’t good. This year it is better from when I started with the 24 bike and my results are getting better race by race. I have tried to resolve some problems because in the first half of the championship I was no confident and now I am confident.

«I have the opportunity to do a great championship this year, for the next one, let’s see. I will not be with Ducati but it is like this.»

Time of course will tell if Ducati’s gamble to sign Marquez pays off in the dream scenario it envisages, rather than rue the ones it let go.



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Bastianini wins, Martin snatches points lead from Bagnaia

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Enea Bastianini claimed only his second MotoGP victory as a factory Ducati rider in the British Grand Prix, as Jorge Martin finished second to snatch the points lead away from Francesco Bagnaia.

Bastianini, who had already shown glimpses of his rapid pace by winning Saturday’s sprint, took advantage of a mistake for Martin with just two laps to score his fifth career win in MotoGP and mark himself as an outsider contender for the championship.

Despite the late error, Martin finished the race ahead of title rival Bagnaia to regain the championship lead that he had lost with a crash in the German Grand Prix just before the summer break.

At the start of the race, Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro made a poor getaway having opted for a hard front tyre as opposed to the medium used by nearly the entire field, as Bagnaia, Bastianini and Martin sprinted clear to make it a Ducati 1-2-3 at the front.

On the second lap, Bastianini ran wide at Brooklands and allowed Martin through into second, before the Italian also dropped behind Espargaro on the following tour.

The frontrunners spent the next phase of the 20-lap contest in tyre conservation mode, before Martin picked up the pace on lap 10 and brought the race back into life.

After spending a number of laps close on the tail of Bagnaia, the Pramac rider finally threw his bike up the inside on lap 13 at Village, making the move stick to snatch the lead over his title rival.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia kept up with Martin over the next two laps but then ran wide at Vale, with team-mate Bastianini — who had repassed Espargaro earlier — seizing the opportunity to demote him to third.

At this point, Bastianini faced a six-tenths of a second deficit to Martin out front, but he was able to rapidly bridge the gap as the race drew to a finish.

On lap 19, Martin made an error at the same Village turn where he had run wide earlier, with Bastianini wasting no time in passing him for the lead.

The 23-year-old was then able to cruise to the finish line, clinching his first victory of the season by 1.931s over Martin.

Bagnaia didn’t have the pace of his Ducati stablemates but was able to take the final spot of the podium in third to limit the loss to Martin, who now leads the championship by three points.

Espargaro continued to fade on the hard front tyre in the second half of the race and slumped to seventh, as both Gresini’s Marc Marquez and VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio passed him in the final five laps.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Di Giannantonio had previously come out on top in a long duel with Gresini’s Alex Marquez in the middle phase of the race that saw nearly make contact a number of time.

Di Giannantonio’s team-mate Marco Bezzecchi took eighth behind Espargaro after passing Tech3 GasGas rider Pedro Acosta late on.

Factory KTM rider Jack Miller looked set to complete top 10 before dropping to 12th in the final laps behind the Pramac Ducati of Franco Morbidelli and the lead Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo.

With and the struggling second Aprilia of Maverick Vinales in 13th, LCR’s Johann Zarco and factory HRC rider Luca Marini bagged a double points finish for Honda in 14th and 15th respectively.

Marini’s team-mate Joan Mir retired on lap 13, joining Brad Binder (KTM) and Trackhouse duo Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira in the list of retirees.

Binder suffered a technical problem at the start while the Trackhouse riders were involved in an opening-lap incident that sent both of them out of the race.

MotoGP British GP — Race results



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British GP shifted to May in 2025 MotoGP calendar tweak

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The British Grand Prix at Silverstone will move to a late May calendar slot in the 2025 MotoGP schedule.

Announced at this year’s British GP, the 2025 event will take place on 23-25 May at Silverstone as the latest part of a “new-look” race calendar for MotoGP.

The British GP has been held in early August since 2022, having previously taken a late August slot at Silverstone since 2013, with the change aimed to take the event outside of the British summer holidays period in a bid to attract more fans.

Between 2010-12 the British GP at Silverstone – and before that at Donington Park between 2006-10 – it took a late June calendar slot.
 
“As part of what will be a new-look 2025 calendar for us in some ways, we’re excited to celebrate the British GP at a different time of year outside the holiday period giving even more British fans the opportunity to come to Silverstone,” Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, said.
 
“As everyone knows, MotoGP is enjoying a strong trend of positive growth for audiences and crowds around the world. We want to ensure this event, in a key market, gets the platform and exposure to enable it to play an even bigger role in that.”

The fixture switch sees the British MotoGP round now clash with next year’s Formula 1 Monaco GP and the Indianapolis 500.

Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Racing Team

Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Silverstone CEO Stuart Pringle added: “Our fans won’t have to wait so long for their next British GP fix and we’re already working on putting together another great weekend of MotoGP action, live music, jaw-dropping stunt shows and much more.”

Last month MotoGP announced a fresh contract with the Uttar Pradesh state government to see the return of the Indian GP from 2025, which is set to host the second round of the season after the Qatar GP, and duly moves from its September slot to mid-March.

The change will ease concerns about harsh weather conditions that impacted numerous riders during the 2023 race at the Buddh International Circuit.

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Espargaro, Marquez join Bagnaia in slamming «dangerous» towing in MotoGP qualifying

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MotoGP stars Aleix Espargaro and Marc Marquez have criticised riders slowing down in qualifying to position themselves behind faster bikes, saying it could lead to “dangerous” situations.

The debate over towing in MotoGP was reignited on Saturday at Silverstone as a number of riders ran in a group on their second runs in order to gain an aerodynamic advantage on the circuit’s three long straights.

While slipstreaming in itself does not necessarily pose a safety issue, qualifying for the British Grand Prix saw many riders get down to crawling speeds to allow their rivals to get through, before picking up the speed and latching behind them.

This led to some bizarre scenes as the clock ticked down to zero, with Aprilia’s Espargaro taking advantage of the situation to claim his first pole of the year, having managed to get a clean lap without anyone running close to him.

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia was the first to express his frustration with the way the grid-deciding session was held at Silverstone, saying nothing will change until the rulemakers intervene.

Despite benefitting from Bagnaia’s troubles, Espargaro joined the Italian in slamming riders for creating a “ridiculous” problem in qualifying, while warning about the dangers associated with slowing down unnecessarily on track.

The poleman said: “In qualifying you can take two risks. The first one is to go out [as the] first one [on track] because everybody is going to follow you, you are in the mix with everybody.

“Or the second one is to wait [and] go last, but then if there is a yellow flag you ruin your lap.

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“I took the second one. I don’t like to go behind others. I like to go by myself.

“I agree with Pecco. For me it is ridiculous that riders are waiting in the garage all the time for a tow.

“It’s ridiculous to see five, six riders — and it’s always the same riders — in the middle of the track that are waiting for the others [while being] completely stopped.

“You put also [your rivals] in danger because the others don’t want to push or the tyres get cold and it’s dangerous.

“But they can do it, the rules allow them to do it. So this is racing, but like Pecco for me it’s ridiculous.”

Six-time champion Marquez followed Bagnaia on his first run in qualifying and set a lap that provisionally put him fifth on the grid after a tough Friday at Silverstone.

However, on his final flying attempt, the Gresini rider got stuck behind the slower VR46 bikes of Fabio di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi and failed to improve on his previous effort, dropping to seventh on the grid.

Despite trying to gain an advantage himself, Marquez also wasn’t too pleased with the way qualifying panned out. But he also believes that switching to the superpole format — where all riders take turns in setting their fastest laps — will adversely affect the show.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“Racing was and will be like this if they don’t change the qualifying practice and they put [something] like a superpole,” he said.

“But as we have seen in the past, the superpole is boring. I don’t have anything against it but [World] Superbikes was like one-by-one [in qualifying] and the show was not there.

“But in the end, when you follow some bike, you gain some things and [lose] other things.

“As we saw today in the second run, everybody in Q2 was waiting for the fastest guys.”

One idea that has been pitched involves setting a maximum time limit for each sector, which would prevent riders from slowing down too much on track in qualifying.

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However, Marquez doesn’t think it would entirely solve the problem, as riders will simply sit in the pits and wait for faster bikes to go out on track.

“You can change but then the strategy will be in the pitlane, like in Moto3 right now,” he said.

“You can change the sectors, but then the strategy will be in the pitlane. In the end you have different strategies to do it.

“This GP is the first one that I’m looking for a slipstream. I would like to not do it, like I did in the past races, but the rules are the rules and I’m not the guy to decide.”



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Grippier rear tyre causing MotoGP riders to crash more often in 2024

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Francesco Bagnaia believes the extra grip offered by Michelin’s new rear tyre is contributing to MotoGP riders crashing more often than usual in 2024.

Championship leader Bagnaia suffered another crash out of a leading position in Saturday’s sprint for the British Grand Prix, losing the front of his factory Ducati going into Turn 4 (The Loop) while running fourth on lap five.

It brought an early end to the half-distance race for the Italian rider, slashing his advantage to just one point over Pramac rival Jorge Martin ahead of Sunday’s grand prix at Silverstone.

Unforced accidents have become a common theme in MotoGP this year, with Bagnaia’s title challenger Martin also having three notable falls in the first part of the year — including in the preceding race in Germany when he was leading.

While Bagnaia praised the grippier rear tyre introduced by Michelin this year, which has led to long-held lap records falling at a number of venues, he also feels the increased speed might be causing more crashes.

“First of all the new rear tyre are fantastic, but are making us crash more because the rear is pushing a lot the front [of the bike],” he said,

“Today, the first three guys finished the race with eight seconds to the fourth. So in this moment, the speed that some guys are having is incredible.

“I think we never saw something like that, it’s super impressive, I love it.

“But the risk of crash is always there.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia, however, did hold his hand up and concede that it was his error that forced him out of the race, as he was simply carrying too much speed into the left-hander after setting a new fastest lap on the previous tour.

“I did a mistake, honestly,” he admitted. “All the weekend, in corner four I’ve been very fast.

“In this lap, I just exaggerated a bit the line, I was more close to the apex before. I anticipated entering and I lost the front.”

He added: “I did a very good start, but the rear-height device didn’t engage so I did corner one and two with the bike in lower position, so I was fourth. And then I struggled with rear grip for first lap and a half.

“Then everything went perfect again, I closed the gap, I was super-fast, but as soon as I arrived at corner four, I crashed.

“So [it was] my mistake, I already said sorry to my team because they, like always, are doing a perfect job.”

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Tyre choice is integral for riders around the long and winding Silverstone circuit, which takes heavy toll on the Michelin rubber.

Bagnaia went for the safer medium option, like the majority of the field, but felt that it was going to be a compromise no matter which tyre he picked.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“We don’t have the correct front tyre, because the temperature is not allowing us to race with the hard,” he said.

“But the medium is strange and the soft after two laps is finished [so there are no good options].

“I think the medium was the correct choice, but at this moment I was exiting too fast from corner three, and when I just entered corner four I was 3km/h faster.

“That is like nothing but more close to the apex that I lost.”



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Marquez lost the front «without warning» on penultimate lap of Silverstone MotoGP sprint

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Marc Marquez says he had no “warning” before he crashed out of MotoGP’s British Grand Prix sprint at Silverstone with a little more than a lap to go.

The Gresini rider was running in fourth place in the final stages of Saturday’s half-distance race, having recovered from a difficult qualifying that had left him seventh on the grid.

But on the penultimate tour, the Spaniard slightly wide and lost the front end before hitting the deck and skidding on to the gravel trap at the edge of the track.

Although he was able to remount his battered GP23, the six-time champion was forced to bring the bike back into the pits — and was visibly frustrated as he took his spot in the garage.

Marquez was one of the few riders to opt for the hard front tyre, which offers more durability at the end of the race, but it came to be his undoing as he suffered a loss of tyre pressure after dropping behind the leading trio.

However, the late accident still came as a surprise to him.

“I was super happy about my race because my target was to try to be in that fifth position and I was there,” he said. “I don’t count the crash of [Francesco] Bagnaia.

“I felt better and better with the bike, but it was a combination of things. To be able to ride like this, we put the hard front tyre.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“It was very on the limit on the left side. Especially on the last lap when I started to lose the front group a lot, the front tyre temperature started to drop and on that left corner was more critical.

“When you put the hard tyre, it means that maybe the grip is okay, but the warming is less because it’s not moving.

“There just I touched a little bit the white line and I tried to come back and without a warning I lose the front — but it’s like this.

“We are riding super fast, they are riding super fast. And as we see every race, somebody is gonna make a mistake.”

Factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini scored his first victory of 2024 in the Silverstone sprint, beating Pramac’s Jorge Martin and polesitter Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia).

The result allowed Bastianini to close within 11 points of third-placed Marquez in the championship, but the Spaniard remains 56 points behind leader Francesco Bagnaia after he also retired from the race.

Marquez reiterated that he doesn’t see himself as a realistic contender for the title, while admitting that his life is being made tougher by the resurgence of Bastianini.

“Of course we have a chance, we are on the points, but I already say in Assen we are not in the position to fight for the championship,” he said.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“From the French GP, from Le Mans, we are saving Sundays at the last-minute,” he added, referring to salvaging decent results after qualifying poorly.

“In the end you can save one, two, three, but [there will be some] that you will not save, will be another one [where] you will make a mistake.

“In the end, [there are] three riders [Bagnaia, Martin and Bastianini], especially now Bastianini is coming very strong, that are constantly faster than us.

“So we cannot do anything. We just try to survive, try to not lose a lot of points, and try to be on that top position.”



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Bastianini wins sprint from Martin, Bagnaia crashes

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Enea Bastianini won MotoGP’s British Grand Prix sprint for the factory Ducati team, but a crash for his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia allowed Jorge Martin to close in the title race.

Bastianini passed long-time leader Martin on lap seven of 10, claiming a first victory of any kind in MotoGP since Malaysia 2023, while Aleix Espargaro recovered from a slow start to complete the podium for Aprilia.

At the start, Bagnaia got the holeshot from second on the grid as he jumped polesitter Espargaro, but both were passed by Pramac rider Martin.

Bastianini also managed to get through on Espargaro and Bagnaia, putting himself right behind new race leader Martin.

For the next phase of the race, Martin and Bastianini ran in close formation, with both Bagnaia and Espargaro circulating slightly adrift of the leading duo in third and fourth positions.

Just after Bagnaia had picked up his speed and set the fastest lap on the fourth tour, the factory Ducati rider lost the front end of his GP24 into Turn 4 and fell on the ground, retiring immediately from the race.

With Bagnaia out of the picture, Bastianini upped the pressure on Martin, attempting a move into Copse on the following lap before running wide and allowing the Spaniard back through.

But a lap later he sealed the pass on the Pramac rider into Stowe, before streaking clear of his rival to win by 1.094s.

Martin couldn’t keep pace with Bastianini, but managed to pull away from Espargaro to secure second position and cut the deficit to Bagnaia in the championship to just one point.

Gresini’s Marc Marquez seemed set to take fourth place after climbing up from seventh on the grid, but the six-time champion lost control of his GP23 going into Vale on the penultimate lap and ended up in the gravel.

This elevated KTM’s Brad Binder up to fourth ahead of Tech3 GasGas rider Pedro Acosta, the duo surviving contact on lap two that threw pieces of bodywork into the air.

Alex Marquez took sixth on the sole-surviving Gresini bike, while KTM’s Jack Miller recovered from a poor qualifying to finish seventh.

Maverick Vinales couldn’t replicate the pace of his team-mate Espargaro and was classified a distant eighth, while the top 10 was rounded out by VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio and Trackhouse rider Miguel Oliveira.

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo was the highest-placed rider on a Japanese bike in 11th, three places clear of the LCR Honda of Johann Zarco.

There was a massive crash at the start of the race when Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli fell going into Turn 1, taking VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi with him.

Although Bezzecchi had to be put on a stretcher and Morbidelli also struggled to get up on his feet, both were reported to be conscious and taken to medical centre for check-ups.

MotoGP British GP — Sprint results:



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Bagnaia slams «ridiculous» towing problem in Silverstone MotoGP qualifying

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Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia has hit out at other MotoGP riders for deliberately slowing down in British GP qualifying in order to get a tow from him, describing the situation as “ridiculous”.

Bagnaia was followed by Gresini’s Marc Marquez on their first runs in Saturday’s pole-deciding session at Silverstone, with the added aerodynamic benefit allowing the Spaniard to take a provisional fifth on the grid.

After the double champion returned to the track in the final part of qualifying on fresh rubber, a whole group of riders positioned himself behind him — some even waiting for him to pass them on the Wellington Straight in order to get into his slipstream.

A loose sponsorship sticker on his visor thwarted his flying lap attempt and demoted him to second on the grid, as Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro took a surprise pole position by running alone on track.

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Bagnaia, who had looked set to start the race from the front after smashing the lap record on his first run, didn’t hide his frustration over the tactics employed by some of his rivals on Saturday.

Asked if he was frustrated to miss out on pole, the 27-year-old said: “A bit because the potential was there to do pole position.

“We have to say Aleix did an amazing sector 4 and all the weekend has been really fast. We know that the Aprilia on this track is fantastic.

“I also have to say that the situation in qualifying right now is quite ridiculous considering that 10 MotoGP riders can go slow like this to follow other riders. We are at the top of our sport.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team, Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team, Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“If we are here because we can do things alone. It’s quite ridiculous, the situation.

“’Till anyone says anything, it will continue like.”

Bagnaia was just starting the first flying lap of his second in qualifying when he was forced to pull over to the side of the track and remove a sticker that had come partially undone just above the visor.

 

A late yellow flag for a crash involving the second factory Aprilia of Maverick Vinales put paid to any chances of the Italian reclaiming pole position from Espargaro.

Bagnaia was “very angry” that a poorly-glued sticker had potentially denied him pole.

“I lost the sponsor banner on the helmet and it goes in front of the eyes,” he explained.

“I’m very angry for that because it’s something that who had to manage these kind of things has to be more precise.

“Losing the possibility of a better result in qualifying for things like this is not good.”

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