Francesco Bagnaia says he “will go full send” to try and overcome Jorge Martin’s 29-point lead after his MotoGP Sprint race crash in Malaysia.
The double reigning champion is on the verge of relinquishing his throne to Martin after the Spaniard picked up the Sprint race victory.
If his rival wins the race on Sunday, Bagnaia must finish second to ensure the title goes to the season finale.
The Italian knows that it’s a challenging task but hopes that Ducati riders Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini can be competitive to help take points off Martin.
“I will go like always, full send,” he said to Crash.net.
“I will try to win. We know perfectly that the only negatives that I have is on the sprint races, because all the mistakes I did, all the lost points, are on Saturdays.
“This is a shame from my point of view, but Jorge was just better on the Saturdays this season and we have to say that he did a very good job there.
“But tomorrow I will go full send. I really hope Marc and Enea will find something to be close to us, because I think in the worst situation right now, Jorge will finish second, because we don’t have any rivals.
“But giving my maximum, winning the race will not be enough. So, we will need something more.”
Francesco Bagnaia explains his Sprint race crash
Bagnaia crashed out of proceedings on lap 3 at Turn 9 as his title rival Martin comfortably cruised to victory.
His crash was his fifth retirement of the season in the Sprint race format throughout the season.
Bagnaia shared his version of events which caused his inevitable retirement from the race.
“Honestly, I just – like already happened this season – told myself ‘Ok, I will brake a bit after to don’t risk’ and I crashed.
“This is not the first time it has happened. I entered that corner a bit slower, but I touched the bump in the apex of the corner and I lost the front.
“I did, I don’t know how many laps this weekend and over the years, and I touched it many, many, many times and never crashed.
“So, there is always a first time and it was not the right moment. But it’s something that, honestly, can happen.”
