Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia lauded his emphatic Indonesian MotoGP win, where he won from 13th on the grid, as “a great moment” as he looks to secure a second straight title.
Bagnaia managed to cure the braking problems that afflicted him across the Indonesian Grand Prix weekend, which led to a lowly qualifying run of 13th before limiting him to eighth in the Saturday sprint encounter, ahead of Sunday’s warm-up test.
The effects of this set-up breakthrough were clear to see as he swiftly charged up from 13th to sixth on the opening lap, before working his way into the rostrum positions after just a few laps. He later inherited second after title rival Jorge Martin crashed from a dominant lead, Bagnaia then securing victory after passing Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales in the closing stages.
With his sixth win of the year firing back into the lead of the points standings by a handy 18 over Martin, Bagnaia labelled his impressive comeback as “a great moment” and likened it to his crucial win in last year’s Malaysian GP that ultimately led to his charge to a maiden premier class title.
“It’s a great moment for sure. Yesterday I was quite upset after the qualifying and sprint race as I was struggling to set a fast lap with new tyres, and then in the sprint I was struggling to overtake riders so I was stuck,” explained Bagnaia following the Indonesian GP.
“The pace was not bad but I was stuck and had no chance to overtake my team-mate. Today I tried to work hard overnight and find a better feeling, and in the warm-up, I already felt better because I was able to overtake a rider.
“It was very important to win the race for the points, so I couldn’t make many mistakes and it was not easy, especially in the right corners because I was always having moments with the front.
“This win is very important, this feels like Malaysia last year where it was very important to get the win and I managed to achieve the maximum in both cases.”
Bagnaia added that his decision to opt for the harder compound front tyre, which gives more stability under hard braking, helped his frenetic opening lap where he recovered seven spots. The Italian said he could “go down the inside of everyone” with the help of the harder front rubber.
“In the race, I tried to do the maximum at the start and just tried to go down the inside of everyone, and the front hard tyre helped me to outbrake everyone.
“When I saw I was in third (after a few laps) I just tried to push and catch Maverick (Vinales) because I could see (Jorge) Martin going away. I was also thinking the pace of Jorge was very fast and I was feeling some drop from the rear, so I started to look after them more.
“When I saw his crash I just tried to push for a few laps and passed Maverick, and then it was my race so I was able to really enjoy everything on the last lap.”
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