Falling In The Catalunya MotoGP Race, Bagnaia: This Is A Shame

Italian Ducati Racer Francesco Bagnaia competed in the Catalonia Grand Prix MotoGP qualifying at the de Catalunya Circuit on Saturday (25/5/2024) (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Ducati Lenovo's Francesco Bagnaia said it was "this is a shame" as he fell at the fifth corner on the final lap of the 2024 Catalunya MotoGP Sprint session at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, Saturday, which saw him lose a very close win. Bagnaia, who started from P2, underwent a fine 12-lap race in Catalunya where he controlled the race when he left five laps while two previous race leaders Raul Fernandez and Brad Binder had fallen. In the final lap, in the middle of him who will become the Sprint champion in Catalunya, the MotoGP defending champion actually had the same fate as Raul and Binder when he became a victim of slippery track conditions at the fifth corner which made Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro out as the champion of Catalunya's Sprint two consecutive seasons. We spent some time after racing on the pit-box to analyze the crash," said Bagnaia, quoted from Ducati's official website, quoted by ANTARA Saturday, May 25. "I hit the brakes in the same place and I was a little slower, but the two-degree tilt angle made me suffer an accident. It's not something big, however this is the reason behind the fall," he continued. "This is embarrassing, because I am fast and control the margin ahead; I know that I have speed and I try to keep everything under control," he added. The driver who was familiarly called Pecco then admitted to being "very disappointed" losing 12 points in Catalunya's sprint where this became the third consecutively for him to miss a "empty-handed" sprint after the Spanish GP and French GP. "My plate is very disappointed, especially since it was the third straight weekend out of the sprint race with an empty hand," he said. "This is clearly a missed chance because 12 points are still within reach, so I am a little angry because of it," he added. With his failure in Sprint, he will race in the main race with 24 laps on Sunday (26/5) at 19.00 WIB with a "more caution" especially when passing the fifth.

While on the other hand, Enea Bastianini's teammate who started from 11th finished Sprint in fifth place, with five points. "I started well but unfortunately the meeting with Marc Marquez left me off track and since then I haven't been able to return to the front group. It's a shame, but we'll try to do better tomorrow," Bastianini said.