MotoGP Le Mans: Bagnaia: I can’t win the championship with these mistakes
Start🍬💖ing from pole, the factory Ducati star passed team-mate Jack Miller on lap 4, then remained at the head of the field until the fateful 21st lap.
It began with Enea Bastianini, riding🌌 last year’s GP21, diving f🌄or the lead into the first chicane.
Bagnaia immediately retaliated by cutting under Bastianini’s GP21 through the downhill Turn 6 plunge, only to hand the advantage back to the Gresini rider by running wide under braking for Tu🌺rn 8.
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There were still six laps remaining to take the fight to Bไastianini, but Bagnaia’s race only lasted a few more corners with th🧔e Jerez winner losing the front and crashing out of second place.
“It was a perfect race until the crash,” Bagnaia said. “I was managing, I was constantly fast. I managed Jack when he was behind. When Enea overtook Jack, I pushed a bit more, my pace was very competitive, very 🐭constant.
“Then when Bastianini overtook me, I did just the same strategy that I did in Aragon when I ౠwas fighting with Marc. I tried to be back i🔯n front of him as soon as possible, but then I did a mistake in Turn 8.
“I just tried to brake a bit harder, but the front was locking today, so I just went straight. Maybe I braked too hard. Then when I was back on track, I was just thinking, 'no pressure, I will retake him', not that soon ❀but with consistency.
“My idea was not to recover to him as fast as I can, because I knew that it was easy to make a mistake, but then arriving in the s✨econd-to-last corner, I entered a bit slower, and I crashed.”
While Miller fitted the soft front tyre, Bagnaia switched t♏o the medium (also used by Bastianini) for the race. One possibility is that by running wide and rejoining, the tyre had cooled down🗹.
“I was feeling good with the soft, but today the temperature was a bit higher. So we just decided to race with the medium📖. But I don't think that was the problem of the crash,” B🙈agnaia said.
“I don't know why. I did Turn 11 slower, just to breathe a bit, and then when I arrived to the second last corner, I crashed. So it's difficult to say something about it. I just saw the data to understand, but it's very🐭 difficult to 🐼understand. I'm a bit angry now.”
Bagnaia: It’s time to be more mature
On the crest of a wave after a brilliant end t☂o last season, the Le Mans accident was the latest setback in a frustrating start to the 2022 campaign for the reigning title runne💮r-up.
Having already lost big points with a crash in the openingꩲ Qatar round and 15th in the wet at Mandalika race, Bagnaia will now head to his and Ducati’s home race having dropped 46 points 🐠behind Fabio Quartararo.
Quartararo had been the pre-race favourite but was only in fifth place at the time of Bagn🎶aia’s acciden🏅t.
“We were all expecting Fabio to be the man to beat, but I knew that our pace was very good, like in Jerez,” Bagna♕ia said.
“The only thing that matteꦐrs today is that I lost 25 ꦗor 20 points.
“Now I have to think about this crash, to try to understand, to t🔯ry to improve myself. Because I can't win the championship with these mistakes. So maybe it's time to be more ♎mature.”
Bastianini: Pecco was a bit nervous
After sealing his third victory of the season, moving him within eight poin♏ts of Quartararo, Bastianini said:
“When I tried to overtake him, for me Pecco has been a little bit nervous, he overtook me again and after has [ꦺrun wide].”
Bagnaia: Ducati will decide my 2023 team-mate
Miller, Bastianini and🐓 Pramac’s Jorge Martin are all in contention to be Bagnaia’s factory Ducati team-mate in 2023.
After his latest victory, Bastianini said he had interpreted some Saturday comments by Bagnaia as meaning his fellow Itali🧔an wo💝uld prefer Miller to stay.
After the race, Bagnaia emphas🥀ised that it will be ꧃Ducati’s decision.
“It's like I said, Jack is my team-mate from 2019, and I know him very well,” Bagnaia explained. “So it's normal that if you have to choose a team-mate to share your box, yo♓u want the man you have more conversations, you have more time, with.
“So for sure, yesterday I saidꦫ that Jack is one of my first choices, because he's a friend, he's a good team-mate, 💯I like to work with him. But it's something that the team has to choose.
“So if it wi𝐆ll be Enea, if it will be Martin, for me it will be the same story. I always had a good relationship with all my team-mates. Enea I think is deserving the ♚place, because, until Austin he was so competitive and today he won [again].”
The latest r🗹umours are linking Miller with a possible move to KTM. If so, that would leave a straight fight between Bastianini and Martin for the TBC factory Ducati seat.
On Sunday evening, Miller himself suggested it would “make sense” 𒅌for Ducati to go with Bast꧂ianini, but༒ other rumours still put Pramac’s Martin as the current favourite despite Bastia's superior results.
The o🌳nly thing certain at this stage is that Ducati will provide Bastianini with the latest ꧂Desmosedici equipment next season.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marq෴uez’s injury issues.
