#SanMarinoGP
Great weekend for Suomy and Francesco Bagnaia: second place both in the Sprint and in the Race
It was a competitive and emotional weekend for our Suomy Rider Francesco Bagnaia at the San Marino Grand Prix. Once again, Pecco demonstrated his talent and tenacity, securing second place in both the Sprint Race and Sunday’s main race.
SPRINT RACE
Bagnaia started the Sprint Race with great determination from the front row. After securing pole position and setting a new lap record at the Misano circuit with a time of 1:30.304 in Q2, Bagnaia was unable to maintain the lead at the start, but stayed close behind the leader Martín.
After the lights went out, he managed to hold the lead for most of the race, but was eventually overtaken by Jorge Martin, who maintained an impressive pace until the finish line. However, Pecco secured a crucial second place, limiting the damage in terms of the championship standings.
RACE
On Sunday, Bagnaia got off to another strong start, staying among the front runners. The reigning world champion managed his small advantage over Martín well, choosing to stay on track with 20 laps remaining despite a sudden rain shower on the circuit. In mixed conditions, Bagnaia was overtaken by Marc Márquez.
In the second half of the race, Pecco focused on managing the pressure from Marc Marquez, who eventually won the race. Bagnaia chose not to take unnecessary risks and finished in second place, earning important points for the world championship standings, remaining firmly in the title race. Pecco stood on the second step of the podium, raising to the sky his Suomy S1-XR with the new ‘Red Cloud’ design, a nickname given to him by an Italian journalist and adopted by his Fan Club! The helmet, in matte color, also features the number 63, which has accompanied Pecco since the beginning of his career.
“I tried to stay in the battle for the win but already from lap four I started struggling with a lack of grip at the front-end, and towards the end it got worse. I almost tucked the front at turn 13 and at Misano 1 and front then on I focused on bringing the bike home, especially in light of the margin I had on Franco (Morbidelli). It’s a pity, because this situation was created at the very beginning as I couldn’t get the best start. We still did our best and after Aragón, it was important to do a good race. We lost three points, but the most important race is tomorrow.”
Francesco Bagnaia – Sprint Race 2th
“In hindsight, a second place under these conditions was the best result we could have aimed at. Once the rain started falling, I saw Franco (Morbidelli) crashing out and I chose to ride in a bit of a safer way, while Marc (Márquez) ended up being the stronger and braver of us all. I did all I could to stay with him and had a shot at the lead on a couple of occasions at the ‘Curvone’ corner, but I was never incisive enough to make it happen. In the final laps, I saw that Enea’s gap went up to more than three seconds and in that moment, I lost some of the concentration, also due to the fact that my fitness condition wasn’t ideal. We did our best, unlike yesterday, so I’m happy.
Francesco Bagnaia – Race 2th
World Standings P. 2
Next Round:
Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
September 20-22th
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #SuomyCrew during the weekend at the San Marino Grand Prix.