Bagnaia: I have to say we are working perfectly, ready to fight tomorrow

Francesco Bagnaia is aiming to take a maiden MotoGP win at Silverstone after qualifying P2 behind Pol Espargaro. 

The Italian was second to Fabio Quartararo after the opening Q2 run - a position he managed to regain in the final stages, while getting ahead of his championship rival in the process. 

While Bagnaia has been supremely strong in qualifying throughout the year, it’s the ‘great step’ in FP4’ race simulation that has made the Ducati rider confident of fighting at the front in tomorrow’s race. 

"I’m happy! I have to say this weekend we are working perfectly. The job we are doing is very good," added Bagnaia. 

"Also in FP4 we have done a great step in front but the qualifying was not easy. In this track we are suffering a bit more with new tyres. 

"But when I see that I was pushing and everything was coming to me, everything was okay. 

"I’m very happy to be standing here (parc ferme), the front row is the best place to start and we are ready to fight tomorrow." 

Silverstone has often been more favourable to the likes of Yamaha and Suzuki due to large parts of the layout being reliant on corner speed and changes of direction (sectors 1&3). 

But with that said, the Ducati has been working well in those above-mentioned sectors following improvements with the chassis, which in turn has made the bike better when ‘closing well the lines’.

When asked about where the bike has improved compared to his lone 2019 appearance, Bagnaia added: "The straights! [laughs] No, for sure we did a good, good step, a great step in front in terms of chassis because in sector one we are now competitive. 

"I remember that in 2019 I was struggling a lot. It was very, very heavy to move our bike, but now it’s not. 

"Now it’s very nice to ride, it’s closing well the lines, so I think that we did an enormous step in front with our bike."