Francesco Bagnaia: Losing Italian GP podium late on would have been a “disaster”

Francesco Bagnaia says it would have been a “disaster” if he had lost a home MotoGP podium at the Italian Grand Prix to Ai Ogura on the final corner.

The factory Ducati rider led the first half of the Mugello race from sixth on the grid, before slipping behind factory Aprilia duo Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin.

Although he had a big buffer over the rest of the pack, he came under serious pressure from Trackhouse rival Ogura on the final lap as he struggled for grip on old tyres.

But Bagnaia executed his plan to perfection, allowing Ogura to briefly pass him into the long left-hander before taking a tighter line to cut across him.

He eventually took the chequered flag just 0.034s clear of the Japanese rider, securing his second Sunday podium of the season after another third-place finish at Barcelona last time out.

Bagnaia said that he knew Ogura was going to be a threat as he approached the final lap and accordingly devised a strategy to keep him at bay.

“Just when I started the last lap with 1.4s over Ogura, I knew he would arrive because normally he’s amazing in the last laps,” said the two-time world champion.

“I started to hear his bike in corner 12, and I said, ‘OK, I need to brake harder than I can in the last corner to not give him space. And if he tries to overtake me, he’ll go wide.’

“So the strategy was correct, but on the limit because the last corner losing the podium like this after a race like this could have been a disaster emotionally.”

The Italian said he was not worried about Ogura overtaking him in the drag race to the finish, with the Ducati GP26 having been quick in a straightline at Mugello.

“Today, my bike was a rocket ship, so it was difficult to be overtaken again,” said Bagnaia. “It’s true that in the last corner, I was spinning quite a lot, so I just hoped to make the best exit as possible. 

“I just leaned a lot in the bump to not make the bike wheelie, and that was enough to finish on the podium. But thanks also to my engine, because it was really strong.”

Bagnaia revealed he suffered a minor scare when the dashboard on his Ducati showed the incorrect lap counter while he was trying to defend a podium position from Ogura.

“I was a bit confused because my bike was saying to me, ‘two laps to go’,” added Bagnaia. “But then I exited the last corner and it was the chequered flag, so I said, ‘okay, please, thank you’. Thank you so much because another lap was impossible to remain in the front.”

Bagnaia had a four-second advantage over the rest of the pack when he dropped behind Martin with seven laps to go. However, that gap came down rapidly in the closing stages, with Ogura posting four laps in the 1m46s bracket to hunt down Bagnaia.

“I tried everything. I gave my maximum today from the first laps,” the Italian said. “I tried not to lose too much rear grip, but after half the race, I started to struggle a bit and I knew that Bez was close to me.

“So I said, ‘OK, we’ll start to attack, but I need to calm down because if not, I will not be on the podium’. I just tried to remain calm and then it was the maximum today.”

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– The Motorsport.com Team

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