Jakarta –
Francesco Bagnaia won the Mandalika MotoGP after starting the race from 13th position, Sunday (15/10). Thanks to this achievement, the Ducati racer from Italy succeeded in breaking a prestigious record that had stood for more than 17 years.
According to the official MotoGP website, Bagnaia became the first rider to win from a starting position above four rows since 2006. The last rider to do that was Marco Melandri when he raced in the Turkish MotoGP 17 years ago.
Bagnaia couldn’t believe he was able to overtake 12 riders in the 26 laps of the race. He admitted that he had struggled very hard to realize this difficult mission.
“This is of course an extraordinary experience. Today (during the race) I have experienced a lot of improvement (in terms of speed). During the warm-up, I felt there was progress. Then during the race I tried hard to achieve the best results from the start,” said Bagnaia after the race.
Francesco Bagnaia wins MotoGP Mandalika 2023. Photo: ANTARA FOTO/WAHYU PUTRO A
Thanks to this victory, Bagnaia returned to leading the standings with a collection of 346 points. He is 18 points ahead of his main competitor, Jorge Martin in second place.
It is known that Bagnaia actually did not start the race perfectly at the Mandalika MotoGP. In fact, when the starting light came on, he was unable to push his way to the front of the line. He was in 10th place after turning the first corner.
However, his speed continued to increase in the following laps. One by one he overtook the racers until they entered the top five positions. The 26 year old racer fought fiercely against Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro before finally finishing in the top three when the race entered the fourth lap.
Bagnaia was behind Jorge Martin in first place and Maverick Vinales in second place. Even though initially his gap with Vinales was large, even almost two seconds, Bagnaia was able to cut it to under one second.
s Italian rider Francesco Bagnaia rides during the free practice session of the Indonesian MotoGP at the Mandalika International Circuit in Kuta Mandalika, Central Lombok, on October 13, 2023. (Photo by Sonny TUMBELAKA / AFP)” title=”Francesco Bagnaia” class= “p_img_zoomin” />Francesco Bagnaia Photo: AFP/SONNY TUMBELAKA
Luck was on Bagnaia’s side after Martin, who was far ahead, crashed when he entered the 12th lap. The positions then changed, Vinales was first and Bagnaia was second.
Bagnaia looked patient as he followed Vinales from behind. The momentum to overtake finally arrived with 8 laps remaining in the race. Bagnaia, who took over the race, immediately shot away from Vinales.
The racer who is familiarly called Pecco finally finished first in the Mandalika MotoGP. He beat Vinales in second place and Quartararo in third. The Ducati crew celebrated the victory lively.
Watch the video “Martin has only been leading the MotoGP standings for one day, now Bagnaia has taken it again”
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2023-10-17 00:06:03
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