A star-making Friday for Francesco Bagnaia in Assenwhere he achieved not only the best times but also the track record of the Dutch GP during pre-qualifying. With a time of 1:31.340 Pecco crowned this start to the weekend of a race where he will aim to give further strength to his path towards the title in this MotoGP season.
Assen, Bagnaia: “I won’t ask the team for anything more for tomorrow’s Sprint”
In the interviews given to Sky Sport at the end of this day, the Ducati rider declared his satisfaction also with regards to the work that the team has been carrying out since the beginning of the season and that “It’s bearing the first fruits”. On the other hand, the successes in the Barcelona race and the one-two between Sprint and Sunday’s race at Mugello demonstrate a perfectly mapped out route, but not only that: “We’ve been competitive for five Fridays already“, added Bagnaia, underlining however the fact that for the first time since 2018 he achieved the best time already in FP1.
“I am very satisfied even if we have opted for a strategy of never doing the time attack. We are working in the right direction, and I won’t ask the team for more tomorrow: we’re already at a good point“, continued the reigning MotoGP champion.
“In Assen it is essential to have stability”
Then Pecco explained: “Assen is a very complicated track in many ways.. Last year I was struggling on Fridays, given the stability problems with the bike. This time we solved it, and found stability right away. And this gave me the right feeling to push.”
In terms of tyres, today’s choice was for the medium “with which I found myself well”, while with the soft “there is more grip but we don’t know how it could behave in a long race. Tomorrow morning we will try to use it for a few laps as it should be the hottest day, so the Sprint could help us understand which tire to use. The soft has a lack of movement, and if the bike moves here it’s a problem.”
Pramac and Yamaha deal marks weekend at Assen
Meanwhile, it has arrived in Assen the news of the agreement between Pramac and Yamahawhich will become a supplier from 2025. After twenty years, the current MotoGP world champion team is leaving the Borgo Panigale bikes to move to the Japanese manufacturer, which will then go down to four units while the Desmosedici will go from the current eight on the grid to six. A multi-year agreement, with Pramac becoming a fully-fledged Factory Team.
It could be the long wave of Marc Marquez joining the official Ducati team from 2025alongside Bagnaia. And which also had as consequences the diaspora of the Borgo Panigale riders, with Jorge Martin who will race in Aprilia from next year together with Marco Bezzecchied Enea Bastianini who will go to KTM.
Bagnaia: “Three riders away from Ducati, it’s a loss”
Bagnaia commented on the situation that has arisen: “I don’t know which satellite team will be the reference between VR46 and Gresini, although I hope it becomes the first. In any case, everything will be a bit different given the two less bikes, which will therefore mean less work for our engineers too. But perhaps it will be a positive aspect. Does Marquez have anything to do with these changes? I don’t know who made the decisions, but these choices certainly had a reason behind them. Out of four drivers, three leave, and this is a loss. Certainly there are three very strong riders who will go elsewhere, but I don’t know if this depends on the presence of Marquez or not. Maybe it only applies to Martin”.
Marquez: “I had nothing to do with it. It’s a good thing that MotoGP isn’t a single-brand series.”
And the Spanish player, Pecco’s next teammate, in turn, commented to Sky Sport: “First of all, I don’t feel guilty about Pramac’s farewell to Ducati. I did not do anything. Of course, as a Ducati rider I would have preferred Pramac to stay, so as to have two more bikes and therefore more information. But as a MotoGP fan I think this is good news. Selfishly, I prefer two more Desmosedicis on the track, but as an enthusiast I think it was normal that one of the Ducati teams signed with Yamaha. For the championship it is good to have four less Japanese bikes and two less Italian ones. The more brands there are, the more options we will have for other manufacturers, drivers and sponsors.”
