Bagnaia Claims To Be Involved In GetTING Speed In Q2, Even Though The Duel In Valencia Becomes The Determination Of Champions

Pecco Bagnaia (Instagram @pecco63)

JAKARTA - Francesco Bagnaia was overwhelmed by his speed during training and qualification but the Ducati rider took valuable lessons from the session for the duel to determine the world title in Valencia on Sunday.

Bagnaia, who is 23 points ahead of Yamaha racer Fabio Quartararo, will start from P8 when his main rival is in four positions ahead.

Quartararo inevitably had to win in the closing series of the season in order to defend his title, on condition that Bagnaia finished P15 or lower.

The job is not easy for the Yamaha rider because his rivals mathematically only need three points to become champions this season.

Bagnaia admits the qualification didn't go as planned because he was overwhelmed to make his bike fast with his new tires.

"Since yesterday we have had difficulties with new tires and also for time attack, me and two or three other Ducati riders have the same obstacles," Bagnaia said in an official MotoGP statement, quoted by Antara, Sunday. "We have to consider the positives and I think our speed with used tires is quite good, with our new tires being a little overwhelmed than other riders but I think starting from lap 8-10 we can be competitive and start to get ahead."

Bagnaia was out of title competition in the first half of the season after bagging four DNFs but the Ducati rider harvested points, particularly after the summer break to turn the 91-point deficit to a 23-point advantage over his closest rivals in the standings.

In the Yamaha camp, Quartararo had quite good capital after his bike showed reliable "race pace" and a more lucrative starting position.

"Yes, I think we have a chance (to win from P4). Our speed looks much better than our starting position in the race," said Quartararo.

Quartararo admitted that he forced his motorbike to go above the limit while undergoing qualification until he was 0.279 seconds adrift of Jorge Martin's record of pole position.

However, he is quite satisfied with the starting position from the second row and will try to be aggressive from the start.

"The first laps will be crucial and it's very important not to make a ridiculous mistake, but I feel ready and I think we're going to do this job well enough," said the French rider.

Meanwhile, Martin is still eyeing his first win of the season, and if he wins the race on Sunday, Bagnaia will automatically become world champion.

The Valencia GP will also be the arena for determining the Moto2 world title between Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) which is separated by 9.5 points in the standings.

Meanwhile, this year's Moto3 title has been won by Izan Guevara from the Aspar GAS team on Phillip Island, Australia.