Francesco Bagnaia Reaches Target at San Marino MotoGP, Finishes in Top 5 by Enduring Pain

Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia. (Photo: Twitter/@ducatisse)

JAKARTA - Lenovo Ducati racer, Francesco Bagnaia, admitted that he had achieved his goal in the San Marino MotoGP race last weekend.

During the main race, Bagnaia finished third behind Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Racing Team). Meanwhile, during the sprint race, he finished in the top five.

This could be said to be a satisfactory result considering that the Italian racer is still struggling with injuries. As is known, Bagnaia had a serious accident in the previous series, at the Catalunya Circuit, Barcelona.

"This was a difficult weekend, but we managed to achieve our goal, namely finishing in the top five in both races," said Bagnaia on the official Ducati website.

"A week ago, we were struggling, and it's hard to consider a race weekend like this, so this time it was the maximum we could do... I'm very happy and proud of the work we did," he added.

When asked about the course of the race, Pecco did not deny that he had difficulty holding control because he still felt pain in his legs.

"I tried to stay with (Jorge) Martin as long as possible, but my legs - the fact that I was riding only with my hands and the front tire pressure didn't allow me to do it," he said, as reported by Antara.

"When it started it was too difficult, I had to give a little gap to Bezzecchi, and I only tried in the last two or three laps not to give (Dani) Pedrosa a chance to overtake me," he added.

The next MotoGP 2023 series will take place at the Buddh International Circuit, India, on September 22-24.

"We will go to India for a race where physically I will be in better condition, and we will try to score more points for the world championship," said Pecco.

The racer who is familiarly called Pecco then said that this race was very special for him because he appeared in his hometown wearing a special Ducati livery and uniform as a tribute to the Italian factory team.

With the results at San Marino, Bagnaia still tops the standings with 283 points. He had a 36 and 65 point lead over Martin and Bezzecchi.