The second race weekend in Losail got off to a good start for Pecco Bagnaia. The Ducati rider finished the day in second place behind Jack Miller, who put in a monstrous performance today. But it’s not so much the flying lap performance that made Bagnaia and his team smile, but progress in tire management and wear.
This was indeed Ducati’s real weakness last week and it seems Bagnaia has found a way to solve the problem without losing its speed potential. Third place on Sunday is not a throwaway result, but Bagnaia wants to climb the other two levels and give the first win of the season to the manufacturer Borgo Panigale. As you can see today, the potential for this is there.
“I think my feeling is better than last week – said Bagnaia with a smile – although the track conditions weren’t any better, I immediately found myself perfectly on the soft tires and have the feeling that I can manage them better in the race, too – really good pace , now we just have to wait and see what conditions we will find tomorrow. I can only say that I feel completely comfortable with the bike. The time attack immediately went well. Last week I had to do two to get into Q2, but this time I only needed one. I’m happy, everything worked, even new things that we tried on the bike. In the end, however, I chose a bike that was like last week. I just need to improve on tire wear, but I think we did a great job today. “
It seems that one of Ducati’s big problems is the strong wind on the track and this weekend the wind is less strong. Will it be an advantage?
“The wind has always been a problem for Ducati, but there was a lot of it last week and we finished second and third. So I think if we can adapt well we won’t have any problems. With a little wind, you’re better at it too saddle, because today it was difficult with all the moisture, now I’m done sweating after the session! I think Suzuki and Yamaha are the rivals and the problem, not the wind ”.
What did you work with the bike today?
“I tried a different setup that worked well but made the bike a little less stable. So I decided to go back to what I would call a default setup and just tried to set the times differently. On my second outing, I had used up tires and as much fuel as in the race and immediately posted good times. I’m happy because it seems to me that everything is easy on the bike, I noticed that during the time attack. What really means a lot to me is that on my second lap I was very close to the times it took to stay in the top ten, and that’s not that trivial. That’s great in my opinion “.
Today the tarmac conditions seemed to be worse, but you still drove very hard.
“All the drivers noticed that the grip on the rear wheel was lower today than last week. There was more moisture, at first I thought I hadn’t found a good tire. I just found a way around the problem. I’ve never had a problem with the tires overheating which is another great thing. Even after many laps, I’m consistent without having to invent big things in the saddle. I just changed my style a little to protect the tire a little more in the back and it works. In my opinion we were very fast today under the conditions we were in. “
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