MotoGP Australia, a relaxed Bagnaia: "In better shape than I expected”

A cautiously optimistic Pecco Bagnaia is hard at work at Phillip Island. The Italian made the most of Friday’s sessions, beginning to lay the foundations of a strong performance and conscious that it won’t be easy to find the perfect setup.

“All in all, I’m pleased”, begins Pecco, “as, although today’s sessions weren’t easy, I improved a lot. I thought the step we made in FP1 would see me ready for FP2 but as the wind picked up, I needed another step, particularly with regard to the front load. In the second half of FP2, I was fast on used tyres, which is important, while I’m less happy with the flying lap, as I made some mistakes in both the first and fourth sector”.

Did you expect an easier start?

“I knew that the GP22 has less front load than the GP21, so it’s normal to have some issues at a track where that is so important, but I’m already in better shape than I expected”.

Bagnaia: “Only normal that Honda has taken inspiration for its tail with wings”

Honda has presented a tail section with wings. What do you think?

“When somebody tries something new and it works, it’s only normal for others to follow. Honda has probably noted how we’ve been using the tail with winglets for a while, so they’ve decided it’s a good idea to replicate that. It can help at tracks like Phillip Island, where the bike tends to be twitchy”.

Ducati continues to set the technical benchmark. Do you agree?

“Definitely and that's nothing new, despite it not having won the title for several years. We’ve done a good job this year I think, seeing as we’ve always managed to stand out in difficult situations”.

How are Quartararo and Aleix Espargaró doing?

“Fabio seems quicker than Aleix. I know this is a Yamaha track, so I expected Quartararo to be fast. I was at his level at the end of each session anyway, though I don’t think we’ll see the conditions we had in FP2 again. If the wind were to drop, I think we could improve”.

Traslated by Heather Watson