Francesco Bagnaia was the third-place finisher in the Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix, in a race where the pace was truly impressive. For the first time, the winner completed a race in Sepang in less than 40 minutes, an improvement of over 15 seconds compared to last year. The fastest lap ever in a race was also surpassed.
Questioned in a press conference about whether this pace surprised him, the reigning champion replied: ‘I am always surprised by the pace we have been having throughout the season, because what was very fast last year is practically normal this year. Here we finished the race 15 seconds faster than last year, and last year we were two seconds ahead of [Fabio] Quartararo, but several seconds ahead of the riders behind. We have greatly increased performance this year, maybe also because all Ducati bikes are so competitive and we are improving together’.
Despite expecting an improvement in pace, Bagnaia admitted that it exceeded expectations, emphasizing the considerable improvements in the performance of the bikes: ‘I was expecting a faster pace than last year, but the entire race in 1m59s was remarkable, considering that a few years ago going beyond two minutes was incredible and now the fastest lap in the race was 1m58.9s. I believe we are greatly increasing the performance of our bike, the championship, and this is fantastic‘.
