Ahead Of The Austrian MotoGP, Bagnaia Doesn't Bother With The Standings: Focus On Winning Points Every Race

Pecco Bagnaia (Instagram @ pecco63)

JAKARTA - Francesco Bagnaia admits that he is not concerned with his position in the standings but tries to focus on each race well in order to get maximum points.

Heading into this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, the Ducati rider has managed to cut a significant distance from standings leader Fabio Quartararo after winning two consecutive races at Assen and Silverstone.

Bagnaia was 91 points behind to Assen, and those two wins in Holland and England, combined with Quartararo's unfortunate accident and penalty, the Italian came close to his Yamaha rival by 49 points and 27 points off Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro. which is in second place.

The gap is quite wide, but Ducati will benefit from the three races to come, namely at the Red Bull Ring, Misano and Aragon, circuits that were friendly with Bagnaia and the Ducati squad last season.

"At Silverstone, we added points in the general standings, but for now, I don't want to think about the championship. I have to stay focused, one race after another, try to get the best possible result," Bagnaia was quoted as saying on the team's official website, Thursday.

"In the last GP, I had an unexpected victory, and I think it was one of the best in my career.

"Now we arrive in Austria, on a track that has historically been friendly to Ducati."

This year's Red Bull Ring layout is slightly different with the addition of a chicane on the straights between turns 2 and 3.

Seeing the changes, Bagnaia was confident that he could once again become a serious contender at Spielberg.

"We'll see how the new chicane will be, but I'm sure the conditions will allow us to do well."

Since returning to the MotoGP calendar in 2016, the Red Bull Ring has hosted eight premier class races, six of which saw a Ducati rider top the podium, and the other two being won by KTM riders Miguel Oliveira (2020) and Brad Binder, who stayed on slick tires at the end of the season. last year's raining race.