An uphill championship. A mentally demanding championship. A championship apparently to forget. A championship that, in reality, for our Pecco will prove useful to understand new dynamics and to invent new adjustments for his Ducati GP25. Pecco finishes the Hungarian GP with a ninth and a thirteenth place but exclaims: “It went well”…
Some call it “assisted” optimism, but it is nothing more than the practice of the Noble Eightfold Path (right Vision, right Resolution, etc.), which aims to overcome suffering through the refinement of behavior. Pecco’s new statements, at the conclusion of the 14th Grand Prix of the season, brought us back to this concept. After all, hearing a world champion claim that “it went well” in a race where he finished ninth, behind riders rarely seen in the points (after yet another tough weekend), suggests that Pecco has acquired a new mental state: optimistic, proactive, but never resigned.
After all, closing practice with the 14th fastest time, finishing the Sprint in 13th place, and then reaching the points in the race with an encouraging ninth position can be seen as either an uphill or downhill path… everything depends on your point of view!
SPRINT RACE
The fourteenth spot on the grid is far, very far, from the front row, especially on a track like Hungary’s, which has been much discussed. The Balaton Park circuit is just over four kilometers long and only 12 meters wide (while the average width of other tracks is about 15 meters), stretching across 17 turns (10 left-handers, 7 right-handers), with a straight that does not exceed 700 meters. The track’s “business card” clearly states: “overtaking is difficult.” That’s why starting from 14th place was certainly not ideal, but our Suomy rider Pecco Bagnaia didn’t lose heart. With determination and a substantial change to his bike’s setup, he managed to have a good race, with positive feelings, finishing in 13th place. A result obviously far from his expectations at the start of the year and from his true potential, but aligned with the general trend of this “memorable” season.
RACE
These were Pecco’s words at the end of free practice:
“It wasn’t the best day I could have had. After the test with the Panigale, I knew I would struggle here, because this is a circuit that includes all the types of corners where we have struggled this year: those where you need to brake hard, lean the bike in while still braking, and make the bike turn in the final phase. We knew it was going to be tough and that’s how it turned out, but we must look at the positive side, since I managed to halve the gap from the leader over the course of the day. Tomorrow I’ll have one more session to try to make another step forward.”
An excellent mental state, despite the difficulties, allowed our Pecco to stay focused and improve both in the Sprint and in the race, where he even managed to reach the points zone with an excellent ninth place.
MOTO 2
In Moto2, our Ivàn Ortolà, in Free Practice and in Q2, lapped just over half a second behind the leaders but could not climb higher than 18th position, showing once again how high the level of all Moto2 riders really is. In the race, however, Ivàn always gives something extra, and even at this round at Balaton Park Circuit, he managed to overtake several rivals and finish in the points, taking tenth place overall. All that remains is to wish him the best of luck for the next round at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, because we believe in his potential and we are certain that a podium spot will come soon for him.
“I knew that from fifteenth on the grid it would be difficult to put together a comeback, especially as this has generally been harder to do this year in the Sprint. In the end, we chose to make a significant change to the bike set-up and I think it could represent a good starting point. Aside from the first two to three laps, in which I had to adapt to the change, I was then able to brake a lot harder and this helped me a lot, even though I ended up struggling more in other areas. Tomorrow, in the warm-up, we’ll try to make another step in this direction. It’s going to be a long and challenging race. It has been a difficult period, but we need to keep believing as we know how high our potential is.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – Sprint Race 13°
“It went well. At the beginning it took me a moment to find the feeling, but then it kept improving lap after lap. In the final stages I tried to overtake Pol (Espargaró), after following him closely for a long time, but at turn five I missed my braking reference. That said, for the first time this season I feel better: obviously the result is not in line with our expectations, but the goal of finding a solution has started to bear some fruit. The step forward made over the different days has been significant, and I’m happy about it.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – Race 9°
World Standings P. 3
Next Round:
CATALAN GP
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
September 5-7th
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #SuomyCrew during the weekend in Hungaria.
