MotoGP, Bagnaia: “I know where I lost the title and it wasn’t in Austin”

Bagnaia tries not to collapse, but knows full well that Austin’s third place, behind Quartararo, has practically negated his title hopes. With three races to go, the 52 points separating him from Fabio is a wall he won’t be able to climb, unless something unpredictable happens. Despite this, he could leave the United States knowing he did what he could.

“I don’t want to drown in a landfill, you should be happy when you give everything – he claims – My potential today was this, and the others were better. The Marquis was untouchable and Quartararo too fast“.

Is it time to give up?
“I certainly won’t give up, but Fabio has done a great job this year: he was the fastest in the first part of the season and the most consistent. s.Or as well where I lost the points I miss, because of my mistakes and my problems, it wasn’t the case today. But in the last few races I’ve been more competitive.”.

In Misano Quartararo he can shut down games, do you feel pressure to stop him?
“I’m here to try and minimize the damage, even though I know it’s almost impossible. From this point of view, I think I’m calmer than Fabio, he has to think in the championship, I should be more competitive. I certainly wouldn’t risk like Aegerter did in MotoE with Torres, also because I’m not 7 points behind him, but over 50“.

Why did you struggle so hard at the start of the race?
“I felt like the rear tire wasn’t primed, maybe it wasn’t at an ideal temperature, so I waited for it to run at its best. At that point, I saw that Marquez and Quartararo were very fast, while the other riders were pushing really hard. I waited for them to get into a crunch and then I started to squeeze. I have to thank Miller for letting me pass, he did a great team job and made me happy“.

The last podium duel was with Martin.
“I didn’t take much risk, when I saw that he had cut the Shikani I knew he would be punished“.

Did I suffer physically?
“It was as hard as I expected, but the focus in the race helps. Of course, the first time I looked at the number of laps lost and read that it was 13, I thought: Oh no, that’s too much (ride). Then I regained my focus. from my point of view It was more difficult than in Malaysia, the heat was the same but this track is more tiring“.

What do you think about Oncu disqualifying two races after causing the crash in Moto3?
“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen such maneuvers in Moto3, Rodrygo did the same in Barcelona, ​​fortunately without consequences. Fortunately, on this straight path it is very wide, the walls are too far and nothing has happened. We did well in giving him that punishment, it’s the only way to start changing things, but you have to think about doing more.“.