Francesco Bagnaia after British MotoGP: “It started to rain, I was scared, when you lead it’s critical”
Ducati rider Bagnaia was sensa❀tionally overtaken by last-gasp Aleix Espargaro who claimed a dramatic victory.
The changing weather conditions in the final eight laps of the race added an extra element of risk, ꦕwhich Espargaro capitalised upon.
Bagnaia refle🦩cted: “I’m happy with the results. [On Saturday] we lost a lot of points. I’m happy with the summary of the weekend.
“I pushed at🗹 the start🐬. We started with soft front tyres for the conditions but maybe it wasn’t a good choice.
“It started to rain, I w꧒as scared in the last sector! It was very slippery at Turn 15, I didn’t understand the limit, if I was able to push on the tyres and the track.
“Aleix was very close to me. I understood he was trying to overtake, consideri൩ng the potential he has and the traction that Aprꦕilia have.
“I tried to respond to his attack but it wa😼sn’t enough. He deserved to win.
“When you are leading when it star꧋ts to rain, it is critical. It is harder to understan🌄d how to push.
“I didn’t push in the best way, considering Miguel Oliveira was 1.5s faster every lap. He understood the limit better. Maybe this is something I have to i🏅mprove.
“This is the moment thi🃏s year that I have the most amo🎐unt of points to second-place [in the MotoGP standings].”
Rei༺gning champion Bagnaia is now 41 points clear of Pramac’s Jorge Martin at the﷽ top of the championship.
He profited from Marco Bezzecchi, who enter🌳ed Sunday second in the standings, crashꦺing out while trailing only Bagnaia in the grand prix.
Ultimately Bagnaia finishing💫 the race without an error - which꧑ he concedes has been a weak point in the past - strengthened his grip on the 2023 title.
“It takes time to learn how to be consistent,” he said. “In Moto2 the tyres are different, just one choi🌟ce. In MotoGP you start to c♛rash a lot, in the first part of this season I crashed three times, twice through my mistakes.
“I tried to understand, to push in the correct way, which isn’t 𒅌easy in MotoGP. You can’t do aggressive manoeuvres. I needed more time compared to Fabio Quartar♛aro who started in MotoGP and was immediately competitive.
“🦋When everything is okay we can fight for the top positions which is the only goal.
“I know perfectl💮y what I can do, what Ducati can do.
“We try to prepare so we don’t have surprises in the race. Thi✨s is something we’ve changed from last year. You see in practice that I’m not at the front,ဣ but I’m working to be at the front in the race. It’s something I prefer.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American spor꧋ts, to football, t෴o F1.
