Pecco’s masterpiece
“There are days when winning is worth more than three points,” writes Valentino Rossi in his autobiography ‘Imagine if I hadn’t tried’ in reference to the victory obtained in Barcelona in 2009 against Jorge Lorenzo. Well, today Bagnaia won the Spanish GP for the third time in a row – just like Rossi did from 2001 to 2003 – and got more than the 25 points up for grabs, which are obviously very precious. Bagnaia has in fact beaten both rivals and brand-mates who aspire to his role, that of number one. First he forced Martin to make a mistake with Jorge who crashed as the race leader. Then he resisted Marc Marquez, dueling body to body, also reaching the shoulder.
To the microphones of Sky Sports MotoGP in the post-race Francesco Bagnaia he explained that he knew it was useless to squeeze in the final to avoid the reunion with Marc Marquez which would have materialized anyway: “When Jorge crashed I was able to make my lines better and I pushed a little, then when I saw that Marquez moved into second position I continued with my pace without forcing because I knew he would catch me anyway. I saved the fastest lap for the finalethat 37″4 gave me a lot of pleasure.”
The session that definitively extinguished Marquez’s dreams of glory is still in third place among the feats that Bagnaia brings home today: “Overtaking on the outside in Turn 6 on the first lap was the best thing, because I had unfinished business after what I didn’t succeed in Thailand and then it was essential to get away from the traffic, the first lap was crucial for today’s victory. In second place I put the fight with Marquez to maintain the lead of the race, then in third place the fastest lap. I dedicate this victory to my team who need it.”
