IT’S GAME ON!
Bagnaia ignites MotoGP title fight Fabio: ‘I risked too much’
FULL STORY P70
‘Italy expected. And Bagnaia delivered’
It only takes two to tango. And it only takes two to make a memorable race. After Pecco Bagnaia defeated Marc Marquez in an Aragon cliffhanger, it was the turn of Fabio uartararo to come off second-best in a thrilling late duel with the Ducati star in Misano. Fourteen changes for the lead in the final three laps of the Bagnaia and Marquez m l e made the Aragon scrap an instant classic. But Sunday’s Misano masterclass felt more significant.
This felt like payback for Pecco. On his last two appearances in the pressure cooker atmosphere of racing on home turf, he’d crashed while leading. Seven laps from glory in Misano 12 months ago, the blame seemed lame when he oddly claimed his tip off was caused by a discarded tear off.
He was heading the pack in Mugello earlier this year and crashed out again.
Top three in every session in Misano included a second successive pole position. Ducati expected. Italy expected. And Bagnaia delivered. The Italian showed he’s impervious to pressure as he quashed uartararo’s blistering late rally in a race that underlined their status as star pupils in the class of 2021.
This was a showdown between the two fastest men on the grid. Two trailblazers leading a new generation of fearless and fast young riders who graduated from Moto2 together in 201 . The fact that they are now locked in a two-horse race for the title only added more spice to their Misano battle. World Championship glory became a secondary consideration, as neither wasted a millisecond pondering the consequences of a mistake as the race hotted up. A Bagnaia blunder would have dealt a serious blow to his title prospects. A uartararo error could have seen his points advantage shrink dramatically, yet both knew that with big risk came even bigger potential reward.
Decisive in the final reckoning was their choice of rear tyre compounds. Bagnaia went for Michelin’s soft rear option. He knew he’d have to make good on his promise to ‘push like hell’ to capitalise on the better initial grip to breakaway and then manage his lead later on once the tyres were deteriorating.
Plan A was executed to perfection. It looked a lost cause for uartararo on lap 10 when he drifted .4s behind Bagnaia. But what looked like being a routine romp to a second win in seven days turned into a closefought finale for alentino Rossi’s prot g Bagnaia.
He started the last lap only 0. s ahead, as uartararo threatened a clinical comeback courtesy of his decision to run the medium compound rear tyre.
Yamaha and uartararo’s prerace prediction that Bagnaia’s soft rear would lose grip for the last 10 laps was bang on the money. Only twice in those closing 10 laps was uartararo slower than Bagnaia. But despite his soft rear tyre turning to elly, Bagnaia somehow con ured up an inspired final lap of 1 2.57 .
That was his seventh fastest of the 27-lap race. The six laps that were quicker were all registered in the opening lap nine laps when his tyre was at peak performance.
His final lap was also remarkable considering his third sector was his best of the entire encounter. In contrast, uartararo’s final lap was the slowest of his last 1 . And he only lapped slower than his 1 2. 02 on five laps in the rest of the race. A relieved Bagnaia said The last laps were difficult because Fabio was recovering four or five tenths per lap. Pushing like I did in the first part of the race meant I knew I would have less grip later on. uartararo was disappointed to come up short at the end of a stunning recovery. But he still felt like the big winner. A comfortable buffer of 4 points heading Stateside to Austin means a return to Misano next month is likely to give him his first opportunity to clinch this year’s crown.
The 22-year-old said My first thought was ‘wow, I think I risked too much. I was disappointed not to at least have the chance to make a move during the last lap but I was really on the limit. I didn’t think about the championship for a second. I gave it my all.