#IndonesianGP
Suomy and Bagnaia always on the podium!
A positive weekend for our Suomy Rider, Francesco Bagnaia, and his S1-XR GP.
Pecco finished ahead of everyone in the Sprint Race, and on Sunday, despite a technical issue at the start of the race, he still managed to claim the third spot on the podium. Francesco now heads to Japan for the next race, sitting second in the overall standings.
SPRINT RACE
The Sprint Race held at the Mandalika Circuit saw Pecco Bagnaia in outstanding form. Starting from fourth on the grid, our Suomy rider chose the outside line at the first corner, managing to gain two positions.
The reigning world champion then took the lead at the end of the first lap after Jorge Martín crashed at Turn 16. Pecco controlled the race without taking risks, successfully fending off attacks from Bezzecchi and Marc Márquez.
RACE
Twenty-seven laps of the Indonesian Grand Prix weren’t enough for our Pecco to replicate his Sprint Race performance. The reigning champion crossed the finish line in third place with his S1-XR GP and Ducati Desmosedici GP24.
Bagnaia‘s start wasn’t easy, but he still managed to pass through the first corner in fourth. He also made a mistake on the first lap, losing two positions. Despite this, Pecco managed the situation well, staying close to Morbidelli and Bezzecchi until the final stages of the race. After moving up to fifth following his teammate’s crash, Bagnaia overtook Bezzecchi with six laps to go and then passed Morbidelli on the following lap.
At the conclusion of the fifteenth Grand Prix of the season, Bagnaia sits second in the riders’ standings, 21 points behind leader Martín.
“I’m very happy with this win. It wasn’t an easy race, as the track temperature was the highest ever encountered so far at this track. This morning, we managed to make another step forward and in qualifying I understood how to be effective in the first two sectors. I still struggle at turns 15 and 16, but it’s a very tricky point where I almost tucked the front on a couple of occasions. This is why in the race I pushed as hard as I could in the first three sectors, as I knew I wasn’t the fastest rider in the last split. This is a strategy that could have worked only today, so we’ll keep working in the warmup in order to improve some more ahead of the race.”
Francesco Bagnaia – Sprint Race 1th
“Overall it was a positive weekend as we took back some points in the standings. I didn’t have the best of starts as the rear was spinning and the front-end lifted up; I wasn’t too quick on lap one and it cost me a couple of positions. I struggled a bit riding-wise behind Bezzecchi: it took me several laps to overtake the latter, while it was easier with Franco due to the fact that we have the same technical package, so I could predict his moves a bit better. It was a difficult weekend but I’m happy anyway, as we managed to finish on the podium.”
Francesco Bagnaia – Race 3th
World Standings P. 2
Next Round:
Motul Grand Prix of Japan
Mobility Resort Motegi
October 4-6th
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #SuomyCrew during the weekend in Indonesia.