Set-up experiment fails for Pecco Bagnaia in Thailand practice
But MotoGP champion insists Buriram among his best Fridays of 2024
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia says Friday at the MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix was one of his best of 2024 despite set-up experiments in the afternoon not working out.
The reigning double world champion has a 20-point deficit to close down on Jorge Martin in the championship coming to Buriram, and didn’t appear to be comfortable in the hour-long Practice session on Friday.
Despite this, Bagnaia was able to safely secure a spot in Q2 in fourth, but trailed Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini, Martin and Marc Marquez in the standings.
He later told the media - including Crash.net - that the reason for his scrappy second practice was due to him struggling to “adapt” to set-up tweaks.
“For me, yes, in terms of feeling when we finished with, because just had a little problem with one of the two bikes during the sessions,” he said when asked if this was a better Friday.
“But this morning I felt good, this afternoon as soon as I had to try different set-up the bike wasn’t working well.
“So, I had to stop, I had to adapt a bit the set-up of the other bike but wasn’t possible.
“So, I struggled a bit with the adaptation and it wasn’t working well.
“So, we just changed again before the time attack and I felt better again going in the other direction.
“I was ready for the time attack, without doing a very precise lap time I was able to be fast. So, a good Friday.”
Several riders have been struggling with braking at Buriram on Friday, but Bagnaia says he hasn’t faced any issues in this area.
“For me it’s not an issue,” he added.
“I’m able to brake very hard, we just saw already the lap time in the data that I’m braking very hard.
“So, this is not a problem for me. I’m just missing a bit in corner four, quite a lot, and I didn’t do a very good sector three, corner six, seven.
“But apart from that, braking is not a problem right now.”
With more on the line in every session now as the championship nears its conclusion, Bagnaia insists his approach to practices has not changed all season.
“For me it’s the same as the rest of the season,” he said.
“During the race weekend I just want to work, to be perfect for the race.
“Right now I don’t feel anything different compared to before. Maybe it will change a bit, but right now no.”
