Francesco Bagnaia’s Misano Meltdown: Frustration Mounts After Costly Crash Amid Early Tyre Troubles

Francesco Bagnaia "frustrated and angry" following Misano disaster

Sprint race victor experiences a shocking lack of initial speed due to rear tire issues, manages to recover… only to later lose control of the front and crash.

Francesco Bagnaia started the Emilia Romagna race with the goal of achieving a flawless home double, following his Sprint race victory on Saturday. He also aimed to secure Ducati’s 100th grand prix win in what would be his 100th grand prix appearance.

A win would have allowed Bagnaia to reclaim the lead in the MotoGP world championship, overtaking Jorge Martin.

After being outpaced by Martin at the start of the Sprint, the pole position qualifier once again fell behind the Pramac rider as they approached Turn 1.

On this occasion, the current two-time champion smoothly overtook Martin again at Turn 2.

Everything seemed to be unfolding as expected for Pecco until the back end of his Ducati began to wobble while exiting certain corners, indicating potential trouble.

Throughout the weekend, Martin was the sole rider who could keep up with Bagnaia's speed, causing a line of competitors to gather behind the red bike.

Noticing Bagnaia's vulnerability, Martin and Enea Bastianini surged ahead on the fourth lap of the 27-lap race and began to distance themselves.

The Italian rider held onto third place and, after initially slowing down to lap times of 1 minute and 32 seconds in the early stages, made a strong comeback by setting a new lap record of 1 minute and 30.877 seconds halfway through the race.

“Once the race began, I thought to myself, ‘Alright, I can establish my own speed and manage the distance between me and the others’,” Bagnaia shared with MotoGP.com. “[However] I found myself falling behind significantly during every acceleration.”

During the warm-up lap, I experienced a loss of control at the rear of the vehicle in the final corner. Subsequently, on the first lap, the rear slipped again at corner 13.

"The back tire began functioning properly after 15 laps, which was quite remarkable!"

After the medium rear tire, utilized by everyone except Marco Bezzecchi, was functioning properly, Bagnaia started to catch up with the frontrunners.

However, with only 7 laps remaining, disaster struck when Bagnaia lost control of the front end while braking at Turn 8. The home crowd gasped in shock as he slid out, marking his seventh failure to finish this season.

Bagnaia blamed a tyre problem for the second time in three races.

The racer mentioned that from the beginning of the race, he was dealing with problems related to the front wheels locking up. Even when the rear tire began to perform well 15 laps in, allowing him to achieve the fastest lap time twice consecutively, he remained cautious, particularly during braking.

Bagnaia described his approach, saying, "I began to accelerate, but I was cautious with the front end because it didn't feel right." He added, "I was braking 18 to 20 meters earlier than my best lap, and I lost control of the front even though there wasn't much lean angle."

"It's highly unusual to lose control of the front end in dry conditions. Today was particularly odd, yet this issue struck us twice in the past three Grand Prix races. Perhaps it will affect other teams in the upcoming race."

Nevertheless, Bagnaia, who had previously pointed to a problem with his front tire during the Aragon Sprint, expressed his dissatisfaction openly.

"You put in a tremendous amount of effort. You're the quickest and the most powerful. You're aware that you have the capability to come out on top in the races. But then, due to factors beyond your control, you end up with outcomes like these," he remarked.

"It's simple to claim I could have eased up and taken third place, but when you know your capabilities, when you have the speed and are managing it well, and then you end up crashing… It's really unfortunate."

"I'm extremely annoyed and upset about this situation because it shouldn't occur in our competition. Nonetheless, we have to accept it."

Having reduced the gap to just four points from Martin on Saturday, Bagnaia now trails by 24 points as they approach the flyaway rounds, beginning in Indonesia next weekend.

The positive outcome for Bagnaia was that his teammate Bastianini managed to overtake Martin with a tough maneuver on the final lap. Without this move, Martin's lead would have increased to 29 points.

“We will continue to put in the same effort as usual. Our goal is to win, though we acknowledge that occasionally a bit of luck is necessary,” stated Bagnaia.

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