Francesco Bagnaia labelled his Dutch Grand Prix weekend as “perfection” as he topped each session and then led all the laps in the race to achieve a grand slam feat.
The reigning double MotoGP champion topped both practice sessions, put his GP24 in pole position and was victorious in both races without relinquishing first place.
His dominant weekend made him the first rider to win both Sprint and Sunday races in two consecutive rounds since the inception of half-race distance races in 2023.
In addition, the Italian matched Casey Stoner’s record 23 wins with the Bologna-based squad to close to 10 points behind championship leader Jorge Martin’s Pramac.
Reviewing his weekend, Baignaia revealed that he and the team entered the weekend well-prepared with his bike set-up to ensure he was competitive from the outset.
“I really had fun this weekend and everything went perfectly,” Bagnaia said.
“I’d like to thank the team because we did a fantastic job: on Thursday we already had a clear idea regarding the bike set-up and after FP1 we were basically ready.
Bagnaia’s Sunday race saw him complete the 26-lap race 30 seconds quicker than on the GP23 bike, which he attributed to finding the right set-up during Friday practice.
“The race today was 30 seconds faster than last year, which is incredible. I managed to be quick and precise, the weather was fantastic and we were able to show our full potential.
“We are reaping the rewards of the work done since the start of the year. We started off well and made only a few adjustments on the bike, which turned out to be the right ones,” he said.
“We needed it, as we hadn’t topped the FP timesheets for a long time and this makes me happy.
Bagnaia characteristically grows into a race weekend, but since he finished top of the pile in both Friday practices, it was the first time he achieved this in his MotoGP career.
While Ducati is the fastest manufacturer, Bagnaia is no stranger to success around the track.
His Sunday win put him in the history books as the first rider since Mick Doohan to win three times around the Assen TT Circuit.
The tattoo on his arm of the track layout speaks volumes about how much he loves it around the twisty fast track, describing it as a “unique feeling”.
“When things go the right way, Assen is a fantastic track and it’s incredible to attack all those long corners in fourth and fifth gear. It’s a unique feeling.”
