Owner of the best time of the day, Francesco Bagnaia is happy with his performance but is somewhat confused in terms of understanding what is really happening with the bike’s performance… due to the (very) high grip.
The rider managed to lap in 1:52.040s, being 0.220s faster than the second on track, none other than Jorge Martín, and naturally showed satisfaction with what he did but, at the same time, also… with some doubts, in terms of understanding what is really going on, and explained why:
– I am very happy. Considering the starting point, I wasn’t expecting to be able to do the same qualifying lap time without using the soft [tire]. I think the track has increased a lot in terms of grip, I think this track is one of the best in terms of asphalt and grip, so we were able to work well, but it is very difficult to understand the level of what we are trying to do because the grip is very high. It is possible to do the same lap time with new and used tires, or by using an M [medium tire] I am three tenths slower, which is very good for performance, but harder to understand if something is working well or not.
Still, despite these ‘problems’, the Italian, current world champion, is generally satisfied and highlighted some of the improvements introduced since the last test in Sepang: ‘I think we took another step forward compared to Malaysia, in terms of power delivery. We tried the fairing again and I feel the same as in Malaysia, so great points, but weaker points compared to last year’s fairing, but I am quite satisfied with what happened during the day’.
