MotoGP, Bagnaia: “I didn’t want to screw up, but I did anyway”

Pecco Bagnaia is kicking himself after the Argentine Grand Prix. The World Champion seemed to have the second place in the bag, but hw slipped and blew his chances at eight laps from the finish.

Up until his mishap, the Ducati rider was having a great race. Too bad that fate turned the tables on him: besides having to raise the white flag, Pecco served the World Championship lead on a platter to Marco Bezzecchi, winner of the GP. All he can do now is console himself with a 16th place, without points.  

“I’m pissed off about the way it ended, and I’m particularly angry with myself,” he explained. “I was pushing at that moment. I thought it was all under control, but I was probably at the limit and ended up falling. Too bad. I thought I knew what I could do to never fall again and stay calm in a different condition where, in the past, I was never fast. It was a complicated weekend, and finishing second would’ve been perfect today, but I took that fall, which I can’t explain, and it pisses me off.”

Pecco is really bitter.
“I fell because I did something wrong. These are falls that I can’t explain and understand, but they happen, like what happened last year. The moment I touched the gas, the front closed, and I can’t explain that to myself. Even watching the telemetry, I don’t understand the fall, but there are so many things I don’t understand.”

The fall will definitely be a lesson for the future.
“When I make a mistake, it never happens again, and I’m sorry I threw away a second place like that. It was a complicated weekend, because I had a fever on Friday, while the conditions were difficult on Saturday. But, despite that, we managed to be fast today. That makes me angrier.”

The fall hurts, and Pecco doesn’t deny it.
“Making mistakes at the start in the second race is early. Last year, I was on the podium in Thailand. Today, I fell while I was still holding the brakes. In  fact, it happened right when I touched the gas. I need to be more careful. The same thing happened to Bezz, but he managed to keep it up, while I ended up on the ground. These things can’t happen. We have to keep our heads down and work for Austin.”