#BritishGP: a demanding weekend for our riders
Francesco Bagnaia and his Suomy S1 XR-GP were unable to reach the podium as we had hoped, due to a continuous lack of feeling between the Piedmontese rider and his Ducati Desmosedici GP25. It was a tough weekend also in Moto2: our Ivàn Ortolà was in fact forced to retire during the 14th lap.
SPRINT RACE
A good start from the third spot on the front row. However, this wasn’t enough for our Suomy rider Pecco Bagnaia to reach the podium, despite the short length of the Sprint Race. A loss of grip significantly penalized him. Remaining third until halfway through the race, he then had to give way. Francesco still managed to hold off many opponents with a hard-fought sixth place in the seventh Sprint Race of the season, but couldn’t do more. Nevertheless, he still scored points!
RACE
Sunday’s race seemed promising for our Pecco despite several twists, including a restart due to a red flag shown during the second lap. The restart, with the original grid, gave hope: Francesco Bagnaia even took the lead for a few corners before being passed by Fabio Quartararo. Our Suomy Rider tried everything to maintain the pace, but his Ducati didn’t seem to support him and after just a few laps, he found himself in 10th position, with a struggling Desmosedici GP25. Pecco’s race didn’t last much longer, and on the fourth lap, he crashed, ending his race across the Channel.
MOTO2
Ivàn Ortolà is a known talent. He first competed in 2016 and just three years later stood out in the European Talent Cup. The year after his Moto3 debut, he achieved two victories, but this year in Moto2 he is struggling to showcase his talent, and this British round is one to forget. Ivàn, who had shown speed during free practice, couldn’t climb higher than twelfth in qualifying and was also forced to retire during the 14th lap of the race.
“Today I got a good start and tried to stay with the leading duo, but after four laps there was a clear drop in rear-end grip, and from then on, I was unable to be competitive. As I couldn’t be effective under braking, I had to use the rear more to make the bike turn, and that led to excessive tyre wear. We’re working on finding the right direction to bridge the gap, while also trying to improve my riding style and get back to the tyre management level I had in previous years.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – Sprint Race 6°
“At the first start I was feeling very good, while at the restart, after changing only the rear tire, the feeling wasn’t the same as before. I struggled and crashed in a very strange way; so, we need to understand what happened. There’s still work to do to solve these problems, which were more evident this weekend compared to the previous ones.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – Race DNF
World Standings P. 3
Next Round:
ARAGON GP
Aragon
June 6-8th
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #SuomyCrew during the weekend in Silverstone.