#CatalanGP
An incredible weekend full of twists and emotions. Our Suomy Rider, Francesco Bagnaia was the favorite for both races, the Sprint Race and the one on Sunday. Always among the fastest, since practice, he started from second position on the grid but on the last lap of the Sprint Race he crashed. Absolute dominator in the Sunday race instead.
SPRINT RACE
Bagnaia‘s start from the second spot on the grid was perfect. Having dropped to fourth place in the central part of the race, Pecco returned to the lead with six laps to go, trying to best manage the small advantage . During the last lap, however, Bagnaia unfortunately slipped, saying goodbye to the victory that seemed certain.
RACE
On Sunday, Bagnaia‘s performance was incredible. Pecco was once again the author of a perfect start. After dropping to third position with twelve laps to go, Pecco keep in touch with the duo fighting for first position. After Acosta’s crash, the world champion began his inexorable comeback on Martín, overtaking him at turn five with less than six laps to go and crossing the finish line 1.7 seconds ahead of his rival.
“We spent some time after the race in the pit-box to analyse the crash: I hit the brakes at the same spot and I was a little slower, but two degrees more in the leaning angle led me to the crash. It wasn’t anything big, but this is the reason behind the tumble. It’s a shame, because I was fast and I was controlling the margin at the front; I knew I had the pace and I was trying to keep everything in check, and I started to push once I saw that the others were starting to struggle. Obviously I’m very disappointed, especially because this is the third weekend in a row coming out of the sprint race empty-handed. It’s clearly a missed opportunity as the 12 points were well within reach, so I’m a little bit angry about it. I’ll need to be more careful tomorrow, especially at turn five.”
Francesco Bagnaia – Sprint Race DNF
“Today’s win was a very important one, both for how things panned out yesterday and also for last year’s results at this track. I tried to set the pace at the beginning and I thought it was the right one. As soon as Jorge (Martín) and Acosta got past me, I tried to stay with them, but I thought their pace was a bit too quick especially with regards to the tyre wear on the full-race distance. Then I saw that their pace got back to a rhythm that was similar to mine. Once I overtook Jorge, I noticed I had already pulled a 0.4secs margin on him in one lap, so the only thing I had to do was to make it to the finish line. I rode the final lap almost with the feet on the ground, to avoid surprises. Now the Mugello awaits, and I hope fans will turn up at the circuit as many as they did here.”
Francesco Bagnaia – Race 1th
World Standings P. 2
Prossima Gara:
Italian Grand Prix
Mugello Circuit
May 31th – June 2th
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #SuomyCrew during the weekend in Catalunya.