Bagnaia Hopes Last Season's Difficult Moments At The Mandalika Circuit Will Not Be Repeated

Francesco Bagnaia wants to win easily in the 2024 Mandalika MotoGP (Instagram/@pecco63).

JAKARTA The defending MotoGP champion, Francesco Bagnaia, hopes to not encounter any obstacles since the training session to face the 2024 Mandalika MotoGP this weekend.

The Italian racer last season managed to come out as the champion at the Mandalika Circuit. However, his struggle was not easy because during training and qualifying sessions he had difficulty finding the best settings between the bike and the tires.

"Last season was not so ideal because I struggled from the start and then had to start the race from the 13th position," Bagnaia said at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, afternoon WIB.

Bagnaia and his team just managed to find the ideal suit on their motorbike during the warm-up session before the peak of the race which took place on Sunday afternoon.

The 27-year-old then took advantage of his chances after Jorge Martin fell. The Spaniard was Bagnaia's main rival last season in a race to seal the title.

Bagnaia hopes that last year's unpleasant moments will not be repeated so that she can smoothly pursue the ambition of the champion at Mandalika.

"However, during Sunday's race, we managed to do something great and finally won the race. This season I want to start the weekend better," he said.

The series of races at the Mandalika Circuit will begin on Friday, September 27, 2024 and will end with the peak of the race on Sunday, September 29, 2024, Indonesian Western Time (WIB) afternoon.

Bagnaia is currently still in second place in the drivers' standings with a collection of 317 points. He is 24 points adrift of Jorge Martin in the first position.

There are still five series after Mandalika, namely Japan, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Valencia. To keep the chance to win, Bagnaia must avoid losing points in the rest of the race.