SLOW ON THE WET SPRINT. LIGHTNING FAST ON THE DRY RACE. OUR PECCO MAKES THE PODIUM!
Some weekends start under the best auspices and end with many regrets and resolutions. Others turn out completely differently, overturning every prediction, transforming a negative result into a big celebration with applause and cheers under a podium. Here comes Francesco Bagnaia, our Suomy Rider, who rises from the ashes of a sprint race to forget, showing his talent and determination. Despite starting from the back of the grid, he climbs up to third place, helped also by the falls of some formidable opponents.
SPRINT RACE
The wet asphalt of the Sachsenring circuit did not bring much luck to our Pecco, who found himself starting from eleventh position on the grid, after a difficult set of practice sessions—perhaps made even tougher by the use of a new chassis, rear soft tire wear, and a few misjudgments during time attack. Starting so far back surely didn’t help Pecco’s morale, making everything more complicated. The rain, lack of front-end confidence, and poor rear grip didn’t allow him to improve, and he finished in 12th position, 20 seconds behind his teammate.
RACE
Eighteen riders on track, and only ten crossed the finish line. These are the most striking numbers from a race marked by numerous crashes throughout the weekend and the race itself. One key factor behind all the slips was definitely the track, which had far less rubber after the heavy rain the day before. Many, many crashes—yet an absolute dominance by Marquez, although our Suomy Rider, Pecco Bagnaia, finished in an encouraging third place. As always, our Francesco showed his unbreakable spirit, despite a complex overall situation and a significant lack of front-end feeling and grip. Many modifications and interventions were made to the bike starting from Friday, but they still didn’t allow Pecco to find the speed and consistency he was looking for.
“Unfortunately, I can’t seem to be competitive and I’m very disappointed with today and with my performance, because I’m unable to be effective. I tried to do things that the bike apparently doesn’t allow me to do. We’ve analysed the data from every session and we must understand why this is happening. Today, we tried to make a significant change between qualifying and the race, and it actually made things worse. From the post-race debrief, it’s clear that I lack confidence at the front end, while the rear slides a lot. Let’s hope that by taking a different direction, we can turn things around for tomorrow.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – Sprint Race 12°
“Temperatures were lower than last year, but the conditions weren’t easy, with the wind and the reduced grip due to the rain. The front-end was particularly critical at turns 1, 12 and 13, but we managed things as best as we could. It seems like, no matter where I start, I always finish in third – and clearly, we need to change something. We’re making small steps forward, and while it’s not ideal, we recovered positions and scored important points, which is what matters most.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – Race 3°
World Standings P. 3
Next Round:
CZECH GP
Brno
July 18-20th
>Click the button below to find out all the images of the #SuomyCrew during the weekend in Germany.
