Pramac Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia says he has been making "good progression" in his debut MotoGP season, following a maiden top 10 result in the Americas Grand Prix.
The reigning Moto2 world champion joined the Pramac team for the 2019 season, after penning a deal directly with Ducati at the beginning of last year to pilot a year-old GP18.
Having been forced to retire from the Qatar race owing to a damaged winglet, Bagnaia finished 14th in Argentina for his first points, before cracking the top 10 in Texas with a ninth-place.
Bagnaia says he is “understanding a lot of things”, and admits it is “very important” just to get to the end of every race in the early part of his rookie season.
“I'm not expecting nothing, but I want to continue my progression like this weekend, with the team and the [way we] work,” the Valentino Rossi protege said to motogp.com after the race at the Circuit of the Americas.
“We are understanding a lot of things, this is the important thing. It's very important to finish the races at the moment.
“P9 in this race, last race P14. So the progression is good and we have to continue in this direction.”
Quartararo 'learning from the best in the world'
Bagnaia's fellow Moto2 graduate Fabio Quartararo says he is “learning” from the “best riders in the world” every time he is on track.
The Petronas Sepang Racing Yamaha rider sits as top rookie so far in 10th in the standings – four places ahead of Bagnaia – after securing top 10 results in Argentina and Austin.
Finishing a season-best of seventh in Texas, more could have been on offer had KTM's Pol Espargaro, Ducati's Danilo Petrucci and Quartararo not “got in each other's way” in the early laps.
“It was a very positive race, I managed to make a good start and put in some good opening laps, staying with the top 10,” he said.
“Pol Espargaro, Petrucci and I got in each other's way and we lost ground ahead of us that contained [Andrea] Dovizioso and [SRT team-mate Franco] Morbidelli.
“However, the pace was very good, and although on the last five laps I had to slow down, I'm very happy with the result.
“We've improved on the result from Argentina and I was the best rookie again. In addition, I learned a lot from riding behind Petrucci.
“Whenever I'm on track with the best riders in the world, I'm learning. That's also very positive. I'm looking forward to more.”
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