After two less positive rounds, Francesco Bagnaia returned to victory in the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix. In Jerez, the Ducati rider overtook Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati), leading since Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) crashed in front of him with 15 laps to go.
The world champion of the last two years stated in a press conference that the start of the race was crucial for the result, adopting a cautious approach afterwards:
– Sixty percent of the race was at the beginning. Because on Saturday I tried the same overtake at turn 6, but it was a bit wet on the outside. So I only tried it again in the race when it was dry and it worked perfectly. So, I am very happy with that, and then it was important not to force too much on braking because the feeling with the front was not ideal – maybe due to the low temperature, I don’t know, but it was moving a lot.
Bagnaia then mentioned: ‘I am very happy, because the race was very long, but we managed it perfectly without taking too many risks and having some margin for the last laps. So, I am very happy with everything’.
Regarding Martín’s crash, the Italian commented: ‘When I saw Martín crashing, I was braking very hard at turn 6 and I saw that on that lap he was gaining some time on braking and lost the front. But it’s difficult to know why he crashed. Sometimes it can happen in that corner because the asphalt is a bit strange’.
