Bagnaia’s Misano Misery: A Dream Double Turns to Despair Amidst Tyre Troubles

Francesco Bagnaia expresses frustration and anger following a disastrous race at Misano

After winning the sprint, he experienced an unexpected slow start due to rear tyre issues, made a comeback… then fell after losing grip on the front tyre and crashing.

Francesco Bagnaia entered the Emilia Romagna race with the goal of securing a flawless double victory on home soil, following his win in Saturday's Sprint, and to achieve Ducati's 100th Grand Prix victory during his 100th Grand Prix appearance.

Securing a win would have propelled Bagnaia to the forefront of the MotoGP world championship standings, surpassing Jorge Martin.

Starting behind Martin in the sprint, the pole position holder once more was overtaken by the Pramac competitor at the first turn.

However, on this occasion, the current two-time champion skillfully overtook Martin once again at the second turn.

It seemed like everything was proceeding smoothly for Pecco, however, indications of trouble surfaced when his Ducati's back end started to lose traction and wiggle while exiting several turns.

Throughout the weekend, Martin was the sole rider who could keep up with Bagnaia’s speed, leading to a line of competitors trailing behind the red motorcycle.

Detecting a vulnerability in Bagnaia's performance, Martin along with Enea Bastianini quickly overtook him on the fourth lap out of twenty-seven, subsequently widening the gap.

The Italian racer managed to hold onto third place, and after initially recording lap times in the 1m 32s range during the early stages, made a remarkable recovery to set a new lap record of 1m 30.877s halfway through the race.

"Following the beginning, I thought, 'Alright, I'm able to dictate my speed and manage the distance,'" Bagnaia shared with MotoGP.com. "However, I found myself falling behind significantly during each acceleration phase."

"My car's rear end slid out during the warm-up lap at the final turn. Similarly, on the first lap, I experienced the same issue with the rear sliding out at turn 13."

"After 15 laps, the back tire began functioning, an astonishing development!"

As the medium rear tire, chosen by everyone except Marco Bezzecchi, started performing effectively, Bagnaia commenced closing the gap on the frontrunners.

The event took a tragic turn during the final 7 laps as Bagnaia's front wheel failed while braking into Turn 8, leaving the local audience in shock as he recorded his seventh did-not-finish for the year.

In two out of the last three races, Bagnaia identified a problem with his tyre as the cause of concern.

Bagnaia described his approach saying, "I began to apply pressure, but deliberately avoided exerting too much on the front due to a lack of confidence in it. My braking point was 18 to 20 meters ahead of where it was during my quickest lap, and I ended up losing the front even without leaning into it."

"Under dry conditions, it's unthinkable that the lead could slip away in such a manner. Today's events were quite peculiar, yet this occurrence has befallen us twice in the past three Grand Prix. Perhaps, it might be the turn of others in the upcoming race."

However, Bagnaia, who had previously attributed a problem with the front tire in the Aragon Sprint, openly expressed his irritation.

"You put in a lot of effort. You're the quickest, the most powerful. You understand that your ability is geared towards winning competitions. Yet, due to factors beyond your control, you end up with outcomes like these," he remarked.

"One might argue that settling for third place would have been the wise choice, yet when you're aware of your capabilities, when you're setting the pace and leading confidently, only to end up in an accident… It's truly regrettable."

"I'm extremely upset and infuriated because such things shouldn't occur in our championship. However, it's the current reality."

Having narrowed the gap to just four points behind Martin on Saturday, Bagnaia now finds himself 24 points adrift as they move into the overseas races, beginning with Indonesia the following weekend.

Fortunately for Bagnaia, his teammate Bastianini managed to overtake Martin with a challenging maneuver on the final lap, preventing Martin's lead from extending to 29 points.

"Bagnaia mentioned, "As usual, we'll put in the effort. Our goal is to emerge victorious, though undoubtedly, a little fortune is occasionally necessary."

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