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Pecco Bagnaia “destroyed” bike with important “modification” in Jerez MotoGP practice
Pecco Bagnaia’s early crash costs him the chance to evaluate a new Ducati modification on Friday afternoon at the Spanish MotoGP.
Pecco Bagnaia began Friday afternoon practice at Jerez with a “modification” to his factory Ducati, also used by eventual Friday leader Alex Marquez.
Unfortunately for Bagnaia, he crashed just minutes into the hour after being caught out in the braking zone for Turn 1, with the Gresini rider just ahead of him.
“This afternoon I started with a modification that Alex also fitted for the session, but unfortunately, I immediately destroyed that bike and wasn’t able to test it as we should have,” Bagnaia told Sky Italia.
“It’s a shame because I think it could have given us a lot of help, but we’ll try it again tomorrow.”
Explaining his accident, Bagnaia said: “Unfortunately, that was the out lap, and I braked quite hard because I had Alex in front.
“He was still slowly building up the pace, and I found myself having to brake a bit more aggressively.
“The front wasn’t ready, and it locked up pretty early. It just meant I tore the bike apart [in the gravel trap].”
Returning on his second bike, Bagnaia set a competitive pace on used tyres, then claimed sixth (+0.561s) during his time attacks to safely progress to Qualifying 2.
“Even though I was using a bike that wasn’t exactly ideal, I was able to have a pace similar to the fast riders, and that’s important,” Bagnaia said.
“And after, the time attack, it was a bit chaotic, but being ahead was crucial.”
Factory Ducati team-mate and reigning champion Marc Marquez was just ahead of Bagnaia, in fourth on the MotoGP timesheets.
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Pecco Bagnaia’s early crash costs him the chance to evaluate a new Ducati modification on Friday afternoon at the Spanish MotoGP.
Pecco Bagnaia began Friday afternoon practice at Jerez with a “modification” to his factory Ducati, also used by eventual Friday leader Alex Marquez.
Unfortunately for Bagnaia, he crashed just minutes into the hour after being caught out in the braking zone for Turn 1, with the Gresini rider just ahead of him.
“This afternoon I started with a modification that Alex also fitted for the session, but unfortunately, I immediately destroyed that bike and wasn’t able to test it as we should have,” Bagnaia told Sky Italia.
“It’s a shame because I think it could have given us a lot of help, but we’ll try it again tomorrow.”
Explaining his accident, Bagnaia said: “Unfortunately, that was the out lap, and I braked quite hard because I had Alex in front.
“He was still slowly building up the pace, and I found myself having to brake a bit more aggressively.
“The front wasn’t ready, and it locked up pretty early. It just meant I tore the bike apart [in the gravel trap].”
Returning on his second bike, Bagnaia set a competitive pace on used tyres, then claimed sixth (+0.561s) during his time attacks to safely progress to Qualifying 2.
“Even though I was using a bike that wasn’t exactly ideal, I was able to have a pace similar to the fast riders, and that’s important,” Bagnaia said.
“And after, the time attack, it was a bit chaotic, but being ahead was crucial.”
Factory Ducati team-mate and reigning champion Marc Marquez was just ahead of Bagnaia, in fourth on the MotoGP timesheets.
Pecco Bagnaia began Friday afternoon practice at Jerez with a “modification” to his factory Ducati, also used by eventual Friday leader Alex Marquez.
Unfortunately for Bagnaia, he crashed just minutes into the hour after being caught out in the braking zone for Turn 1, with the Gresini rider just ahead of him.
“This afternoon I started with a modification that Alex also fitted for the session, but unfortunately, I immediately destroyed that bike and wasn’t able to test it as we should have,” Bagnaia told Sky Italia.
“It’s a shame because I think it could have given us a lot of help, but we’ll try it again tomorrow.”
Explaining his accident, Bagnaia said: “Unfortunately, that was the out lap, and I braked quite hard because I had Alex in front.
“He was still slowly building up the pace, and I found myself having to brake a bit more aggressively.
“The front wasn’t ready, and it locked up pretty early. It just meant I tore the bike apart [in the gravel trap].”
Returning on his second bike, Bagnaia set a competitive pace on used tyres, then claimed sixth (+0.561s) during his time attacks to safely progress to Qualifying 2.
“Even though I was using a bike that wasn’t exactly ideal, I was able to have a pace similar to the fast riders, and that’s important,” Bagnaia said.
“And after, the time attack, it was a bit chaotic, but being ahead was crucial.”
Factory Ducati team-mate and reigning champion Marc Marquez was just ahead of Bagnaia, in fourth on the MotoGP timesheets.
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