Bagnaia: “It started to rain, I was scared, when you lead it’s critical”
Ducati rider Bagnaia was sensationally 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, which Espargaro capitalised upon.
Bagnaia reflected: “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 was 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, considering the potential he has and the traction that Aprilia have.
“I tried to respond to his attack but it wasn’t enough. He deserved to win.
“When you are leading when it starts to rain, it is critical. It is harder to understand 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 improve.
“This is the moment this year that I have the most amount of points to second-place [in the MotoGP standings].”
Reigning champion Bagnaia is now 41 points clear of Pramac’s Jorge Martin at the top of the championship.
He profited from Marco Bezzecchi, who entered Sunday second in the standings, crashing out while trailing only Bagnaia in the grand prix.
Ultimately Bagnaia finishing the race without an error - which 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 choice. In MotoGP you start to crash 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 easy in MotoGP. You can’t do aggressive manoeuvres. I needed more time compared to Fabio Quartararo 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 perfectly what I can do, what Ducati can do.
“We try to prepare so we don’t have surprises in the race. This is something we’ve changed from last year. You see in practice that I’m not at the front, 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 sports, to football, to F1.
