After taking the lead early in the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix race, Francesco Bagnaia had Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) as a pursuer for much of the distance. However, he always had a reserved pace and was able to respond to his rival’s approaches.
The Italian Ducati rider said in a press conference that it was a matter of management and control of events, although his Desmosedici GP24 had potential for more:
– The potential was to go faster. The bike was able to do 1m52.2s/1m52.1s, but it was pointless because a lap like this can compromise everything. So I just tried to be as constant as possible; everytime I saw Brad was gaining two or three tenths, I just did another lap on dropping two or three tenths to open a bit more the gap. I was trying to manage perfectly the rear tyre, the entry in the corners, because in this way was easier to control the gap. And it was perfect.