Pecco Bagnaia on Sunday was seen as one of the favourites for the win ahead of the season opener at the Lusail International Circuit.
Nothing could be further from the truth as, with the exception of MotoGP race winner Enea Bastianini, it turned out to be a disastrous day for Ducati in Qatar.
After the MotoGP race, Bagnaia first explained what happened during his crash with Jorge Martin.
“Prior to the crash I had made up a few places, but I just couldn’t get a good pace. I lost a lot of time and we need to find out why.” Bagnaia said.
“I was a little late in overtaking Jorge [Martin], but I didn’t brake very hard. It was strange that the front wheel locked up but I can only say sorry to Ducati, Pramac and Jorge and focus on the next race.” Bagnaia added.
Bagnaia added that during the winter tests he was mainly used as a test rider and he was on a different Ducati every time than in the session before. That really upset him, because the Italian indicates that he considers it necessary to drive a lot with the same machine, in order to build confidence and in this way to adjust the machine to his will.
“The problem is that I never did two consecutive sessions on the same machine during the entire winter testing. This has caused confusion. Even during the race I discovered some things again and that is unacceptable as far as I am concerned.” Bagnaia said.
“As a rider I have to be able to focus on driving and my driving style, and work on driving on the track in question. From the first day of testing to FP3 this weekend, we didn’t spend a single moment working on my riding style or adapting the machine to the track. Because of this you are never well prepared for the race, and that was the situation now.” Bagnaia added.
