Francesco Bagnaia was left in a bullish mood after securing a potentially-title deciding seventh MotoGP win of 2022 in Malaysia as he vowed to try and “win again” in Valencia.
The factory Ducati rider made a blistering start from ninth on the grid to exit the opening turn in second, which later became the lead after pole-man Jorge Martin crashed out at around a thirds-distance.
Bagnaia then fended off a spirited attack from Gresini pilot Enea Bastianini to eventually score supremacy, a win that sees him enter the final race of the year in Valencia a stout 23 points clear of Fabio Quartararo – who finished third in the Malaysian Grand Prix – with only 25 left in play.
The Italian was keen to focus on making what could be the biggest weekend of his life “a normal one”, and insisted that if the chance was there he would try to “win again.”
“Valencia will be a different situation, with 23 points I’m only missing two so I just need to finish 13th if he won which sounds easy, but it’ll be very tough because sometimes if you are more careful you can have more trouble or mistakes,” explained Bagnaia.
“I will just try to do a normal weekend with less crashes than this one, and then be smart, try to race at the front and try to win again if we have a chance.”
Bagnaia reckoned that his ability to brake impossibly late was “what allowed me to win the race” as well as his lightning getaway that saw him rocket through the bulk of the top ten on the run to Turn 1, something he revealed he and Ducati worked out in the Barcelona test back in June.
“The start was incredible, we haven’t been able to practice nearly all weekend because in FP2 and FP3 I crashed so I couldn’t try them, and this morning (warm-up) my starts weren’t very good so I wasn’t sure,” continued Bagnaia.
“In the Barcelona test we did something on the launch system that worked because before it was difficult to make a good start as the bike wheelied a lot, I did 23 practice starts at Barcelona and since then every one has been perfect.
“When I got through the first two corners I was calmer and felt that I could start to adapt my pace, Jorge (Martin) in front was pushing a lot and after two laps trying to follow him and I realised the pace was too much for me and stuck to my comfortable pace.
“The hardest part was when Enea (Bastianini) overtook me because I knew Fabio (Quartararo) was there and it was important to be as far ahead as possible heading to Valencia so I just tried to understand his pace.
“When I saw mine was better I tried to be in front again and I braked as hard as possible (into Turn 15) to stop him overtaking again, it was tough but it was one of the best moments of the season.
“Today my main advantage was being able to brake so hard, I was losing a bit in the long, fast corners because he was using more lean angle and squaring off the corners more, but my braking was stronger and this was what allowed me to win the race.”
