Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia is back in the MotoGP title race after suffering a wobbly start to the season with Ducati.
The two-time champion applied pressure to and forced teammate Marc Marquez into a race-ending mistake while leading at the front during the Grand Prix of the Americas.
It resulted in Bagnaia inheriting the lead and coasting to the finish ahead of Alex Marquez, who takes the lead of the riders’ championship by one point without having won anything this year.
Despite winning all six races to start the season, neither factory Ducati team rider sits on top of the pile. It’s an unusual statistic.
Michael Laverty noticed one big change in Bagnaia before his breakthrough victory, which helped to end a difficult period for him.
Heading into the weekend, Bagnaia was feeling ‘angry’ at Ducati over his lacklustre start to the campaign. He seems to have rediscovered his confidence at one of his weaker tracks.
READ MORE: Francesco Bagnaia faced one key challenge at the Grand Prix of Americas, ‘it wasn’t easy…’
Francesco Bagnaia admits he must ‘be calmer’ after Grand Prix of Americas victory
Three races into the 22-race campaign and Bagnaia has enjoyed his best-ever start to a MotoGP season, despite criticism for his lack of pace.
The upcoming Qatar Grand Prix is a track which suits his style and should offer him the opportunity to build on his Austin result.
Speaking to the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com, Bagnaia admitted that he has to find a way to control his emotions better in the future.
“I screamed like crazy until the fourth or fifth corner. It always happens to me, I have to be calmer,” he said.
“And I know perfectly well that tomorrow I won’t have a voice and everything will hurt, but it doesn’t matter. In the end, the goal was to win and we did it. I think we have to wait a while longer.”
Which MotoGP tracks favour Francesco Bagnaia the next over the next few months?
MotoGP’s next three races will be held in Qatar, Spain and France as the premier class begins the European leg of the season.
Bagnaia has won the last three consecutive races at Spain’s Jerez circuit, he won at Qatar last year and has struggled the most at Le Mans’ Bugatti Circuit.
Comparing it to his teammate Marquez, he should have a slight upper hand. Now is his opportunity to close the 11-point gap to the six-time champion.
This is the part of the season where their much-talked-about battle from pre-season could come to life. They may finally have to fight on track.
It’ll be a handful for team boss Davide Tardozzi to handle, but they have already established respect for each other and shouldn’t harm the team’s chances at success.
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