Francesco Bagnaia on 2024 bike: “Sometimes it has reactions you don’t expect”

Francesco Bagnaia enjoyed one of his best Friday’s of the season at the French MotoGP, finishing well inside the top ten during second practice.

Bagnaia was fast whether it was race simulations or time attack performance, as Jerez winner looks to make it two grand prix wins in succession, which would also clinch his first at Le Mans and Ducati’s fifth in a row at the French round if he achieves it on Sunday. 

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But first is today’s qualifying and sprint race, which Bagnaia should be competitive in given his level in Friday’s double session.

“We can say it was a good day,” Bagnaia was quoted by GPOne. “In the last two Friday’s I had good feelings and we got off to a good start and we seem to have been able to find a base that helps me.

“We used the morning and also the afternoon as if it was a test which really helped us a lot.

“I’m very happy because the team and I did a perfect job and we were able to slowly improve the situation.

“I had a very good pace with used tyres and in the time attacks, even if I made a mistake in the second-to-last corner.

“It’s nice to be able to start like that because you can focus on the work and the performance instead of having to chase and think about fixing the bike.”

While the GP24 has been fast at Le Mans thus far, the newest of Ducati's bikes is still not the perfect machine, according to Bagnaia.

Vibrations have been an issue so far in 2024, however, Jerez was the first sign that the Italian brand had got control over the problems.

In Le Mans, Bagnaia is again unable to feel such issues although he did admit that it typically happens in race situations.

Bagnaia added: “Usually bikes are finished developing at the last race because you always try to do a little better until the last race and then you leave everything to start from scratch. 

“In my opinion, this bike is very good and it started off well right away although you still have to understand it in certain aspects, like the vibrations or the fact that sometimes it has reactions you don’t expect.

“We have to figure out how to improve, however, yes, we have taken a step forward.

“At the moment I have not had vibrations here, but they usually come out in the race. In Jerez it didn’t happen so we’ll see.”