Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia couldn’t contain his frustration trackside after crashing out of the French Grand Prix on Sunday.
Bagnaia was running second at Le Mans when he lost the front of his Ducati at turn two on lap 16. A podium slipped away as he recorded his eighth retirement in 10 races.
The world feed showed Bagnaia storming out of the Ducati garage, but now fan footage has emerged revealing his immediate reaction to the accident.
Pecco Bagnaia suffers his EIGHTH retirement in his last TEN MotoGP races 😲 What is going wrong?
MotoGP fans ask ‘who wouldn’t be frustrated?’ after Francesco Bagnaia crash
After walking away from his stricken Ducati in the gravel trap, Bagnaia kicked a plastic box marked ‘doctor’ and then swung his leg at a cone in the marshal post before climbing onto the back of a moped.
“I don’t think I have ever seen Pecco this angry,” one fan on Reddit wrote.
Referencing the clip from the garage, another added: “I saw that and was like, ‘Damn, never saw him that angry.'”
Many viewers felt sympathy for Bagnaia, with one writing, ‘It can’t be helped, we’re only human after all’ and another adding, ‘Who wouldn’t be frustrated?’
How is Francesco Bagnaia’s downturn affecting his MotoGP legacy?
A separate comment read: “I feel so sorry for him… I just want him to catch a break.”
Others saw a humorous side; one user called it ‘the angriest scooter mount I’ve ever seen’.
Bagnaia finished second in the Sprint race, his third Saturday podium on the spin, after his first pole position of the year. But his latest DNF leaves him ninth in the championship and fourth among the six Ducati riders.
Why Francesco Bagnaia is ‘going home happy’ despite French Grand Prix DNF
Given his mood immediately after the crash, one might have expected explosive comments from Bagnaia in the media. Instead, he was surprisingly upbeat.
Speaking via Speedweek, Bagnaia said the weekend had given optimism for the coming races, starting with the Catalan Grand Prix this weekend.
While a charging Jorge Martin, who eventually won the race, might have demoted him to third, he thinks a first Grand Prix podium of the season was on.
- READ MORE: Alex Marquez says Francesco Bagnaia’s crash hid Ducati’s real potential at French Grand Prix
“I’m proud of my team,” Bagnaia said. “In Le Mans, we understood much more clearly in which direction we need to work. Despite the crash, the positives outweigh the negatives for me.
“Perhaps I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Jorge Martin. But I’m convinced we could have fought for the podium. I’m going home happy.”
Bagnaia will carry the hopes of the factory Ducati team for at least one more race, with Marc Marquez out of the Catalan GP after undergoing surgery.
The Italian is leaving at the end of the season to join Aprilia, so the one-two-three finish for the Noale manufacturer on Sunday may also bring him some hidden satisfaction.
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