Francesco Bagnaia expressed that his MotoGP German Grand Prix triumph puts a “big smile” on his face as he heads into the summer break top of the championship.
Bagnaia was chasing down title rival Jorge Martin when a sudden crash at Turn 1 with two laps to go handed the Italian a lead that he would not relinquish to the end.
The double reigning MotoGP champion crossed the line to take his sixth win this season and his fourth in succession as he strives to make it three consecutive titles.
Bagnaia has revealed that his plan was to preserve his rear tyre to be in shape to mount an attack on Martin before the Pramac Ducati’s unfortunate late fall moment.
“I was just trying to be very, very precise with the rear tyre because I knew that the more tyre I had in the last part of the race, the better it was. So I tried everything,” he said.
“When I saw both Pramac [Martin and Franco Morbidelli] overtook me, they were pushing a bit too much. So I just decided to slow down a bit, wait a bit and then I pushed back.
“Maybe I lost a bit too much behind Franky because then Jorge was having more than one second and then I tried to push back again to try to recover to Jorge.
“We were both on thin ice in the last laps, as the front kept tucking and the rear sliding, we had no traction left and we were still lapping in the 21.0/21.1s, so it was really tough.
“The lap before Jorge’s (Martín) crash I also lost the front, but I managed to save the day by running a bit wider.
“It was clear that the first to give up would have lost and truthfully, I believe it could have happened to any of us.
“I was very close but then he crashed. So unluckily. I think it could have been one of the greatest battles between us in the last lap but nothing.
“So happy, fourth win in a row on Sunday. So happy for it. And fortunately, the best way to go with a big smile on the summer break.”
Two months ago, Bagnaia was situated 39 points behind Martin in the Riders’ Championship, having crashed out on the last lap in the Catalan Grand Prix Sprint race.
The factore Ducati rider has bounced back in three race weekends, however, and now boasts a 10 point advantage over Martin heading into the annual summer break.
But despite now harbouring both the points lead and newfound momentum, Bagnaia has cautioned that the tide could change with multiple rounds still to run in 2024.
“I’m in this mood already from six or seven grands prix,” he said. “I’m feeling well and fantastic with my team.
“We are doing a perfect job every weekend. We won six races, five in the last six grands prix. So I’m very happy and we are in a good mood for sure.
“We didn’t have the easiest start to the season, but we did an incredible job and even here, where we weren’t the strongest, we still managed to put ourselves in the condition to fight for the win. Today’s race craft was very important, as it had been in Barcelona.
“But I don’t think that also for Jorge it will change. It will be like starting from zero again because we have 10 points in terms of gap and the championship is still very very long.
“So it’s not the time to think about the turning point or the championship. It’s too long.”
