Portuguese Grand Prix winner Francesco Bagnaia fired a warning shot to the rest of the MotoGP field as he declared that his riding style “suits this bike better.”
The reigning premier class world champion dominated the Portuguese weekend after qualifying second to Marc Marquez on Saturday, the Italian securing victory in the first ever MotoGP sprint race on Saturday afternoon before going back-to-back with success in the full-length grand prix on Sunday, having led all but two laps.
His double-winning weekend means he holds a 12 point lead over Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales – who finished second to the Ducati rider in Sunday’s Portuguese GP – heading into next weekend’s Argentina GP at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.
Bagnaia was left full of confidence following his impressively commanding Portuguese showing, revealing that Ducati’s “incredible” 2023-specification Desmosedici actually suits his riding style better than the previous machine that took him to last year’s world title.
“I’m very happy with today and we did the perfect job for sure, we only missed the pole position but it was pretty much the same starting from the front row,” explained Bagnaia.
“The feeling with the new bike is incredible, although the circumstances around this race were very different because we already had the test here so we were prepared.
In any case in one week we’ll be in Argentina which will be a new track with this bike, but I feel we have a very strong bike with great potential.
“I pushed a lot because just I knew he (Vinales) was fast, but my pace was improving little by little every lap and this was enough to open up a gap, but then I realised he was doing a cool down to push again so I just had to make sure to keep doing the same thing.
“My tyres were finished so the last laps were a bit difficult, but we managed to win which was the perfect situation.
“My riding style suits this bike better so everything at the moment is perfect, let’s continue like this.”
Having watched back footage of the nasty Turn 3 clash between Marc Marqeuz and Miguel Oliveira post race and been a part of the crazy sprint race on Saturday, Bagnaia added that he felt it “was a bit like a jungle out there again” having had to close the throttle off the start after nearly being sandwiched by Marquez and Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin.
“I had to close the throttle (off the line) because Marc (Marquez) was wheelieing and coming my way, and Jorge (Martin) was on my inside so I had to back off,” continued Bagnaia.
“Luckily they both braked a little late into the corner and I used those mistakes to ensure I could stay third.
“It was a bit like a jungle out there again as I saw the videos.”
