Pecco Bagnaia claims he has conquered Ducati’s braking issues ahed of the Japanese GP Sprint Race

Pecco Bagnaia claims he has finally solved Ducati’s braking issues ahead of the Japanese GP.

Pecco Bagnaia claims he has conquered Ducati’s braking issues ahed of the Japanese GP Sprint Race

Pecco Bagnaia (Via Ducati Corse)

Pecco Bagnaia hasn’t been able to achieve optimal results in recent times. The Italian rider had come into the inaugural Indian GP race weekend with a 36 point lead on Jorge Martin. However, after losing out to him in the sprint race, it all went downhill for the Italian rider in the main race itself. Having crashed out on Lap 14, it had huge implications for the championship fight. 

Coming to the Japanese GP race weekend, Pecco Bagnaia was under pressure, and he seems to have delivered so far. The Ducati rider went on to finish second fastest on Friday at Motegi. That too, being 0.029 seconds behind KTM’s Brad Binder. Ever since his last win in Austria, braking issues in his Ducati have made his life on the racetrack difficult. 

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In an interview, Pecco Bagnaia revealed that his bike finally feels normal as the issues are gone. “I feel back on the braking,” said Bagnaia. “I can force a lot of the braking and I can take a deep breath on that because I was struggling too much on the last two race weekends, so finally I am happy for that. Still I am missing something to be completely happy, but it’s a huge step forward,” the Ducati rider continued. 

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Pecco Bagnaia’s gap to Jorge Martin in the championship is a mere 13 points with Marco Bezzecchi also on the chase

Pecco Bagnaia had come into the Indian GP holding a decent 36 point lead over title rival Jorge Martin. After the Sprint race on Saturday Bagnaia’s championship lead to Martin was reduced to 33 points. However, Sunday’s race took everyone by surprise as Pecco went on to crash out from the race. This meant that he came out of the Indian GP weekend with zero points while his rivals got a sizeable lead on the Ducati rider. 

Pecco Bagnaia MotoGP
Pecco Bagnaia (Via MotoGP.com)

The Japanese GP seems to paint a different picture as Pecco Bagnaia has resolved his braking issues. However, Jorge Martin has become the star of qualifying yet again with his pole position while Pecco finished second. It will be interesting to see what happens in the Sprint race. There is a lot of pressure on the Italian Ducati rider to retain his championship lead. 

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