Francesco Bagnaia pace analysis after "we've reduced the gap" claim
Francesco Bagnaia finished behind Marc and Alex Marquez for the third consecutive race in Saturday's Argentine MotoGP Sprint, remains confident he’s narrowing the deficit.
Saturday’s Argentine MotoGP Sprint saw Francesco Bagnaia beaten by Marc Marquez and his younger brother Alex for the third race in a row.
The Italian crossed the finish line almost four seconds adrift of new Ducati Lenovo team-mate Marc but insisted he’s closing the gap on the Spanish duo.
While the Marquez brothers have dominated the timesheets this weekend, Bagnaia had to fight his way forward from a tough start, languishing in 16th place during opening practice.
Bagnaia says he knows precisely where he’s losing time. But it remains to be seen if the double MotoGP champion can prevent another Marquez one-two in Sunday’s grand prix.
"This track has always been difficult for me to interpret. I've never been able to express our full potential and have always struggled," Bagnaia wrote on Instagram.
"For this reason the third place today gives me more confidence compared to the Sprint in Thailand, even though the result is the same.
"We've managed to reduce the gap a bit compared to Marc and Alex but we still need something more to be closer to them. I've identified two points on the track where we can improve."
| Argentina MotoGP sprint race pace analysis | |||
| Laps | MM93 | AM73 | PB63 |
| 2 | 37.911 | 37.806 | 38.279 |
| 3 | 37.706 | 37.755 | 38.031 |
| 4 | 37.921 | 37.719 | 37.996 |
| 5 | 37.77 | 37.794 | 37.970 |
| 6 | 37.766 | 37.887 | 38.315 |
| 7 | 37.948 | 37.869 | 38.099 |
| 8 | 37.867 | 38.01 | 37.966 |
| 9 | 37.88 | 37.984 | 38.070 |
| 10 | 37.853 | 38.099 | 38.117 |
| 11 | 38.122 | 38.128 | 38.35 |
| 12 | 38.187 | 38.363 | 38.699 |
| Average pace | 1m37.903s | 1m37.947s | 1m38.172s |
| Pace difference | +0.044s | +0.269s | |
Speaking to the media, Bagnaia identified the corners in question:
“It’s clear where we’re losing time, specifically at turns six and eleven, and now we need to make a step forward ahead of tomorrow, but we remain calm and collected.”
Although Bagnaia feels he's reducing the gap, at a track where he had never previously finished in the top three, his deficit to victory on Saturday was the biggest of the season so far.
The Italian had been +3.423s from winner Marc Marquez in the Thai Sprint, +2.398s in the Thai GP and then +3.859s in Saturday's Sprint.
Bagnaia will start the Argentine Grand Prix 19 points behind Marc and 8 adrift of Alex in the early world championship standings.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
