Francesco Bagnaia: 'It could have been one of our greatest last-lap battles…'

Francesco Bagnaia says the Germa𝓰n MotoGP c🍃ould have been one of the greatest last-lap battles between the reigning champion and Jorge Martin.

Francesco Bagnaia, 2024 German MotoGP
Francesco Bagnaia, 2024 German MotoGP

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Francesco Bagnaia believes 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Jorge Martin’s crash from the German MotoGP race lead robbed fans of what ꦗcould have been one of their greatest last-lap battles.

The reigning world champion trimmed Martin’s race l🌠ead down to just half a second as the penultimate lap began.

But a thrilling climax ended in a cloud 🌱of gravel dust when the Pramac Ducati rider suddenly crashed out at Turn 1.

“Today I was just trying to be very, very precise with the rear t💛yre because I knew that the more tyre I had in the last part of the🍨 race, the better,” explained Bagnaia.

The factory Duc💧ati star took the early lead from Martin but had slipped to third behind Martin and his team-mate Franco Morbidelli by the middle stages.

“When both Pramacs overtook me, I saw they were pushing a bit too much. So I just decided to sl𝓰ow down a bit.

“But maybe I lost a too much time behi🌳nd Franky, because then Jorge had built more than a one-second lead.

“So I tried t꧅o push back again to recover ꦛto Jorge.

“I was very close, but then he crashed, unluckily. I think it could have been one of ꦯthe greatest battles between us in the last lap.”

Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia, 2024 German MotoGP
Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia, 2024 German MotoGP

Bagnaia admitted he was also on the limit in some of the hard braking ꧟zones.

“I was in this same situation, braking in some parts of the👍 track was very difficult. Corner 1 and Corner 12 were very, very tricky. The front was moving a lot and was locking,” he said.

“But I’m so happy with my fourth win in a row on Sundays. For sure it’s the best way to go with a big smile into t🌌he summer break.”

Despite turning a 15-point deficit to Martin into a ten-point title lead, Bagnaia played down talk✃ of labelling Sachsenring as the turning point of the season.

“I don't think so. I’m in this good mood from six or seven grand prix already. I’m feeling well 🐠and fantastic with my team,” he said. “We are doing a perfect job every weekend. We won five in these last six grand prix.

“But I don't think that also👍 for Jorge [anything] will change. It will be like starting from zero again [at Silverstone] because we have ten points' gap and the championship is still very, very long. 

"It’s not time to think about a turning point of a championship. It’s to🔜o long.”

Asked to grade the opening🧸 nine rounds of the season, Bagnaia r♒eplied: “Nine. 

"Because I made somꩵe mistakes. I crashed 🐼in Portimao with Marc. I crashed in Barcelona when I was leading. 

"The worst one I think was Barcelona, when I crashed when I was leading with nine-tentဣhs of a second on the𒐪 last lap. This is why not it’s not a ten.”

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