BAGNAIA FINISHES EIGHTH AFTER STRUGGLING FOR GRIP AT MOTEGI

Pecco Bagnaia’s difficult Japanese Grand Prix weekend ended with eighth place at Motegi, a stark contrast to his recent success at the circuit. The Ducati rider had won the previous two Japanese Grands Prix and dominated last year’s race, but this time he started 13th and finished about 20 seconds behind race winner and teammate Marc Marquez.

Bagnaia made a strong start, climbing to ninth on the opening lap, but could not make further progress through the pack. He had also endured a troubled sprint on Saturday, reaching the pits on the final lap with a badly damaged rear tyre.

All riders used Michelin’s hard rear tyre for Sunday’s race. Bagnaia said it was “a positive surprise” because it allowed him to do more, while admitting riders had made a mistake by not testing it earlier. Michelin had presented the tyre as a backup, he explained, so riders had been reluctant to use it. Bagnaia first tried it during the extended warm-up and recalled that a hard tyre had been the best option in a similar situation before.

Brad Binder also found the hard rear tyre encouraging in warm-up, but said KTM’s cautious race approach was unnecessary in hindsight. “We turned everything down a bit because we wanted to save the middle part of the tyre,” he said. After the race, he thought the tyre could have lasted “three race distances” and conceded the changes “weren’t really good.” Binder finished 11th, 25.9 seconds behind Marquez and just behind Honda’s Luca Marini; Tech3 KTM rider Enea Bastianini was fourth, only 2.3 seconds off the winner. Binder said 11th was the maximum he could manage.

Binder’s weekend had been compromised by a heavy crash in Q1, which left him 17th on the grid. “I felt as if a bus had run over me,” he said. His damaged KTM was rebuilt in time for the sprint with help from his own mechanics, Pedro Acosta’s crew and Tech3 staff. Thanking them, he joked: “There’ll definitely be one less KTM for the museum at the end of the year.” He climbed to 12th in the sprint before a front-wheel lock-up at Turn 1 sent him through the gravel, leaving him 18th. Binder said his Q1 crash had made the rest of the weekend harder and that he had “thrown it away” himself. His physiotherapist helped him feel much better by Sunday.

The underlying problem for Bagnaia remained a lack of rear grip. “I can’t do what the fastest riders are doing,” he said. The result was especially frustrating given his past form at Motegi: “Last year I was super strong here, so I had a clear idea of what I could achieve. And the whole weekend it felt impossible.” He said he did not blame his team and believed they had done all they could.

Bagnaia also congratulated Ducati on its 100th premier-class victory since Gigi Dall’Igna joined the manufacturer in November 2013, praising Dall’Igna for doing “an incredible job.” He described the championship battle between Marquez and Jorge Martin as “fantastic” and predicted it would be decided at Valencia. In his view, Indonesia could be difficult for Ducati, Australia should suit Marquez, Malaysia may favour Martin and Valencia should again play to Marquez’s strengths.

After Alex Marquez’s retirement, Bagnaia moved up to eighth in the championship with 164 points.