Francesco Bagnaia overcame pain and discomfort to lead the MotoGP session at the San Marino GP with a lap time of 1m30.685s, beating Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) by 0.185s. Despite physical difficulties, the opening day in Misano gave a strong indication of the Ducati rider’s performance.
The Italian mentioned that the painkillers he took made a significant difference for the afternoon session: ‘With the painkillers is fantastic, it’s much better. This morning I was scared because my feeling was not the best: I was feeling a lot of pain on shoulder, ribs… so it was not the best. But we planned to take some painkillers this afternoon, and apart from the first two or three laps that I needed to warm-up a bit, everything went better – not 100%, but I was able to be focused on riding and understanding the set-up’.
The improvement in his physical condition gave Bagnaia a boost of confidence: ‘A lot, because this morning was tricky, was very difficult. I was trying to do a good job, but every change of direction was like a knife, and it was not the best feeling. The luck is that we are in Misano, that is a track that I know perfectly, and then being already able to be focused on riding makes a lot of difference, so it’s giving me a lot of confidence’.
The 2022 and 2023 champion set a target for the day, which he exceeded, as he led the session and only aimed to be in the top ten – something he is happy with. Nothing changed on the bike between the two sessions, partly due to the painkillers that improved his sensations immediately.
Although he is confident that his physical condition will improve throughout the weekend, Bagnaia admitted that he will need to continue taking painkillers before Sunday’s race: ‘I think this was the worst day. Now I know what I need. As soon as I finish, I will work with my physio, and we know what to do. Today was the worst day, so it will be better tomorrow, and even better on Sunday. Because nothing is broken, it’s just a hit, and day by day is getting better. I will get painkillers for Sunday absolutely, I need it’.