Fabio Quartararo, the current MotoGP titleholder, thinks it was “impossible” to defeat Francesco Bagnaia in the closing stages of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Quartararo and Bagnaia have been the best racers of the Jerez weekend, qualifying 1-2 on the grid (with Bagnaia gaining pole ahead of Quartararo) and setting the fastest race pace in FP4.
Quartararo was pushed out by Bagnaia from the line and remained behind the Ducati racer for the whole 25-lap race.
Quartararo dropped back into clean air at one point during the race owing to his front tyre pressure rising after Bagnaia, allowing him to attempt an attack in the final laps.
Despite finishing 0.285 seconds behind Bagnaia at the finish line, Quartararo claims he was unable to pass the Ducati rider.
“Yes, was difficult,” said Quartararo, who now leads the championship by seven points. “My goal was to overtake Pecco in the first two, three laps. But he was super-fast, was braking super-good and tight.
“So, it was tough and when I was behind him my front tyre had the feeling that the front pressure and front temperature was super high.
“And I had to make a small gap to Pecco because I couldn’t ride behind him.
“Then the last laps I gave my best to try something, but it was not possible to try any overtakes because he was super-fast, super consistent.
“But I’m really happy about this race because our pace was strong.”
Quartararo also revealed that a little mishap at Turn 11 on the closing laps forced him to call off any final-corner push on Bagnaia – though he concedes that such an effort would have been difficult considering how expertly the Ducati racer was braking.
“Last lap I was pushing like hell, but I tried to make Turn 11 super-fast to give a try on the last corner, but I lost the front a little bit in Turn 11,” he added.
“I said ‘OK, I’m going slowly’. There was two corners to go, there was no chance to overtake Pecco in the last corner.
“So, I was taking it easy in the last two corners but I couldn’t try because Pecco, when he was alone, he was not behind any riders and it’s much better for the front tyre.
“But he worked really well on the first laps to get this chance.”
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Fabio Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia, Grand Prix, Ducati , MOTO, Moto racing, Motocross, MotoGP, MXGP
