Francesco Bagnaia secured second place in the MotoGP Italian Grand Prix qualifying. This will be his starting position for Saturday’s Sprint race, but not for Sunday’s main race in Mugello.
The Ducati rider received a three-place grid penalty for an incident with Álex Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) during the second practice session yesterday, meaning he will start fifth on Sunday.
This sanction did not sit well with Bagnaia, who said in an interview with the official broadcast: ‘Absolutely starting from the front row is one of the greatest things I could do today, because this clown penalty is something useless’.
Next is the Sprint race, and the Italian expressed confidence in his abilities and pace, believing it will be crucial to take the lead early:
– Today will be important to start well, to do the maximum, and we know that our pace is very, very fast. So I think if we can be leading already on the first lap, we can have a good advantage.