Pecco Bagnaia blasts “clown” grid penalty at Italian MotoGP
Pecco Bagnaia delivers scathing condemnation of decision to penalise him
Francesco Bagnaia has criticised the decision to hit him with a grid penalty at the Italian MotoGP.
The MotoGP champion was punished for obstructing Alex Marquez during Friday practice, and his appeal was rejected.
Bagnaia qualified in second but a three-place grid penalty means he will start the grand prix from fifth (his penalty does not apply in Saturday’s sprint).
He insisted a strong qualifying may have rescued his weekend: “Absolutely. It’s one of the greatest things I could do today, starting on the front row.
“These clown penalties are something useless.
“But, in any case, today it is important to start well, to do the maximum.
“We know our pace is very fast.
“If we can lead on the first lap, we have an advantage.”
Bagnaia had previously called Marquez “a great showman” for his on-track gesture, after their incident on Friday.
Bagnaia said before the stewards’ decision: “[It was] Nothing… I was braking out of the [racing] line.
“He’s a great showman, for sure. It’s useless to do some [gestures] like this. But it makes a good show.
“In case, I receive a penalty for that… [it would] be ridiculous.”
Championship leader Jorge Martin will begin the sprint race and the grand prix from pole position.
“It feels good,” Martin said.
“We worked a lot yesterday evening, not on the setup, but on the electronics.
“I was struggled to find the grip. The tyre was a bit better, also the electronics.
“The lap time was amazing. Marc crashed, I lost concentration but it was also a good lap.
“Tomorrow we will be strong. Today? It will be a tough race. Let’s see what we can achieve.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
