MotoGP, Bagnaia: “My movement is limited, I’ll have to manage that”

After the scare, it’s time to look to the future. Pecco Bagnaia arrives in Jerez still feeling the after-effects of his Portimao crash, but the lack of any fractures or serious injury is one piece of good news on which to build. “Today is the first day I’m feeling a bit better”, comments Pecco, “which is a good thing. A lot of liquid is draining out and the colour is changing and is now yellow. Luckily the tests only show a big edema across the entire shoulder, but the fact there is liquid limits my movements”.

How do you think the weekend will go?

“After the Portimao race, the pain got worse on Monday and Tuesday, but things improved with therapy. I won’t be able to complete many laps of course, as I need to save myself for Sunday, but in theory, the fact we’ve completed so many tests at this track should mean that we have little to nothing to test”.

Bagnaia: “The Portimao race gave me the feeling I was looking for”

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And how are you feeling from a technical standpoint?

“I pushed a lot to complete last Sunday’s race, I needed to, and that left me with many good sensations. My fastest lap of the race, which was lap 17, was three tenths quicker than my seventeeth lap last year, when I won. I was able to brake hard again, and run smoothly, an area in which I was lacking feeling. I think I’m in quite good shape in terms of sensations, but we’ll see.”

Jerez is the track where you scored the double win in 2021. Will this help?

“Last year both Miller and I got on very well, but we were both lucky in the race considering Quartararo’s problem, as he’d been stronger up until that point. I was very quick during testing in November, faster with the medium than I was in qualifying. This track suits both my style and the bike.”

So can we finally debunk the myth that Jerez is a hostile track for Ducati?

“In 2020 my engine broke while I was second. I was quick last year and in November, so I don’t think Ducati has any hostile tracks. Perhaps there are tracks where the bike has more difficulty, but it’s a complete bike.”

Translated by Heather Watson

MotoGP: Valentino Rossi the most successful at Jerez, Miller the last to win