Francesco Bagnaia appeared before the microphones with his usual calm, yet also a hint of bitterness. After taking his first pole of the season—the twenty-fifth of his MotoGP career—the Ducati rider finished only seventh in Saturday’s Sprint Race at Brno, penalized by a communication issue between the electronics and the track. “We already had a small electronic glitch on the grid… the front tire pressure was right, I shouldn’t have dropped any positions. The dashboard, however, told me I was outside the parameters, and unfortunately, I had to listen to that,” Bagnaia explained lucidly.
The disappointment wasn’t so much related to his speed, but rather to the fact that, as subsequent data confirmed, there had been no irregularity. “When I got to the pits, I didn’t understand why I wasn’t under investigation… by lap 2, I was already fine with the pressure,” he added, implying that had he had the correct information, he could have handled the race differently. Indeed, in the early stages of the Sprint, Bagnaia was in full control and maintaining a good pace behind Marc Márquez, the eventual winner. “I was quite comfortable… I was losing a bit to Marc, but I had a comfortable lead… unfortunately, some notifications came to me during the race, and they weren’t correct.”
Despite finishing seventh, Bagnaia chooses to look on the bright side of an otherwise important Saturday. “I can’t be sad… I took pole and I was finally able to understand a few things… the goal for tomorrow is definitely the podium.” Confidence for Sunday’s long race remains high. Pole position is a strong signal, a boost of confidence that comes at a time when it was needed. Now there’s only one goal: to return to winning ways.
