Bagnaia: I can’t win the championships with these mistakes
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Starting from pole, the factory Ducati star passed team-mate Jack Miller on lap 4, then remained at the head of the field until the fateful 21st lap.It began with Enea Bastianini, riding last year’s GP21, diving for the lead into the first chicane.Bagnaia immediately retaliated by cutting under Bastianini’s GP21 through the downhill Turn 6 plunge, only to hand the advantage back to the Gresini rider by running wide under braking for Turn 8.French MotoGP, Le Mans – Race Results Le Mans: New 2022 MotoGP World Championship standingsSensational Bastianini wins at Le Mans as Bagnaia es out of secondThere were still six laps remaining to take the fight to Bastianini, but Bagnaia’s race only lasted a few more corners with the Jerez winner losing the front and ing out of second place.Related No points but ‘big improvement’ for Valentino Rossi in Magny-Cours French MotoGP, Le Mans Bugatti Circuit – Race Results“It was a perfect race until the ,” Bagnaia said. “I was managing, I was constantly fast. I managed Jack when he was behind. When Enea overtook Jack, I pushed a bit more, my pace was very competitive, very constant.“Then when Bastianini overtook me, I did just the same strategy that I did in Aragon when I was fighting with Marc. I tried to be back in front of him as soon as possible, but then I did a mistake in Turn 8.“I just tried to brake a bit harder, but the front was locking today, so I just went straight. Maybe I braked too hard. Then when I was back on track, I was just thinking, ‘no pressure, I will retake him’, not that soon but with consistency.Related Le Mans: New 2022 MotoGP World Championship standings French Moto2: Flying Fernandez wins in Le Mans after Acosta exits from lead“My idea was not to recover to him as fast as I can, because I knew that it was easy to make a mistake, but then arriving in the second-to-last corner, I entered a bit slower, and I ed.”While Miller fitted the soft front tyre, Bagnaia switched to the medium (also used by Bastianini) for the race. One possibility is that by running wide and rejoining, the tyre had cooled down.”4“I was feeling good with the soft, but today the temperature was a bit higher. So we just decided to race with the medium. But I don’t think that was the problem of the ,” Bagnaia said.“I don’t know why. I did Turn 11 slower, just to breathe a bit, and then when I arrived to the second last corner, I ed. So it’s difficult to say something about it. I just saw the data to understand, but it’s very difficult to understand. I’m a bit angry now.”3084197.0008.jpg Bagnaia: It’s time to be more matureOn the crest of a wave after a brilliant end to last season, the Le Mans accident was the latest setback in a frustrating start to the 2022 campaign for the reigning title runner-up.Having already lost big points with a in the opening Qatar round and 15th in the wet at Mandalika race, Bagnaia will now head to his and Ducati’s home race having dropped 46 points behind Fabio Quartararo.”5Quartararo had been the pre-race favourite but was only in fifth place at the time of Bagnaia’s accident.“We were all expecting Fabio to be the man to beat, but I knew that our pace was very good, like in Jerez,” Bagnaia said.“The only thing that matters today is that I lost 25 or 20 points.“Now I have to think about this , to try to understand, to try to improve myself. Because I can’t win the championship with these mistakes. So maybe it’s time to be more mature.””63084174.0008.jpg Bastianini: Pecco was a bit nervousAfter sealing his third victory of the season, moving him within eight points of Quartararo, Bastianini said:“When I tried to overtake him, for me Pecco has been a little bit nervous, he overtook me again and after has [run wide].”Bagnaia: Ducati will decide my 2023 team-mateMiller, Bastianini and Pramac’s Jorge Martin are all in contention to be Bagnaia’s factory Ducati team-mate in 2023.After his latest victory, Bastianini said he had interpreted some Saturday comments by Bagnaia as meaning his fellow Italian would prefer Miller to stay.”7After the race, Bagnaia emphasised that it will be Ducati’s decision.“It’s like I said, Jack is my team-mate from 2019, and I know him very well,” Bagnaia explained. “So it’s normal that if you have to choose a team-mate to share your box, you want the man you have more conversations, you have more time, with.“So for sure, yesterday I said that Jack is one of my first choices, because he’s a friend, he’s a good team-mate, I like to work with him. But it’s something that the team has to choose.“So if it will be Enea, if it will be Martin, for me it will be the same story. I always had a good relationship with all my team-mates. Enea I think is deserving the place, because, until Austin he was so competitive and today he won [again].””8The latest rumours are linking Miller with a possible move to KTM. If so, that would leave a straight fight between Bastianini and Martin for the TBC factory Ducati seat.On Sunday evening, Miller himself suggested it would make “perfect sense” for Ducati to go with Bastianini, but other rumours still put Pramac’s Martin as the current favourite despite Bastia’s superior results.The only thing certain at this stage is that Ducati will provide Bastianini with the latest Desmosedici equipment next season.”9
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