MISANO – Sunday will be the hundredth race of Bagnaia in MotoGP. And the Ducati could celebrate the hundredth victory in the most prestigious category of the world championship. Everything seems set for a day to remember, and Pecco starts the weekend in the best way: in front of everyone, with the new track record. The world champion had a wonderful time, closing with 2 tenths of advantage over the usual Martinstill leader of the world championship. Behind them, as expected, the third contender: 3 tenths of gap for Marquezwho 2 weeks ago had celebrated a sensational double. The fourth protagonist of the season, Bastianinifollows at only 22 thousandths from the Catalan. Surprise, here comes Yamaha again with Quartararo: the Frenchman on the M1 finds a surprising 5th time, perhaps a sign that the technicians of Iwata are starting to find the right path.
Morbidelli he is a champion, he proved it by recovering from the terrible accident in Portimao last January, when he had even lost his memory for 2 weeks: the sixth position of the Pramac rider is the confirmation of his courage, and his talent. Among the top 10, who go directly to Q2, there is a sixth Ducati in the first 7: Bezzecchi, a talent from the Vr46 team, leads the way (Di Giannantonio, his teammate, fell into the gravel: he doesn’t seem to have been hurt, but his conditions are still to be assessed). Two Aprilias: Vinales is 8th, Aleix Espargarò 10th, and Acosta with the Ktm in the middle. The Australian Miller remains – for the moment – out of Q2 by half a tenth, among others Alex Marquez is also forced to Q1. Marini is 18th for the moment with his Honda, a second and a half behind Bagnaia.
Pecco, record without knowing it: “I felt slow”
“Actually, I felt like I was really slow”: Pecco Bagnaia, unknowingly setting the track record. “The feeling that the track was sending back today was really strange, after the rain of the past few days. There was a lack of grip during acceleration, but then in traction you went fast: you had to be more careful with the brakes and in the middle of the curve. With these conditions, the times that Martin and I did are incredible”. Tomorrow morning there will be more grip. “But the temperature is dropping: we will use the medium tyre, which creates some difficulty for us on the left curves”. The difference was also made by Pecco’s better physical condition, who seems to have finally recovered from the accident in Aragna. “I’m 100%. The bike is the same as the one from the other week, with a few very small changes that gave us more stability”.
Martin: “Bagnaia is in extraordinary form”
“I saw Pecco in extraordinary form, but personally I am very happy,” smiles Martin. “Today we worked well and I improved my time compared to the Misano 1 qualifying. The pace is also excellent. It is true, there was not a lot of grip on the track. And Bagnaia manages to take Turn 11 in an incredible way”.
Marc Marquez was impressed by the performance of his two rivals: “They said that we couldn’t go faster than last week, instead. Today they were very strong, at this moment we can’t keep up with them. But we can try to get closer”.
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– 2024-09-21 10:43:23
