Misano – What happened in Aragon obviously left consequences on the body and mind, both of Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez. So it is normal that the two riders were asked to account for both what happened during and after the accident.
Below are Bagnaia’s words and, in the next paragraph, those of Alex Marquez, rather indignant about what happened next, that is, about the words said by Bagnaia in the heat of the moment.
How are you physically? The accident was ugly to see…
“First of all I want to apologize to Alex for the very strong words in the post-race interview, I was very angry and after looking at the telemetry from my point of view things got worse, I didn’t want to say that he made me fall on purpose. The point is that his defense was a bit aggressive, I still see it the same way after the crash because I keep my way of thinking but the words I said were a bit excessive”
And how are you physically?
“I’m not 100%, I feel a lot of pain in my shoulder, collarbone and neck, in any case we will try to be ready, it’s my home GP and it’s fantastic to race here, in front of the fans”
I think Alex has accepted your apology, but you spoke on Sunday night in Aragon, was it important to clarify?
“Yes, because anger sometimes leads you to say something you don’t mean. From my point of view it was important for this, he came to our office to apologize, we locked ourselves in there. We are two pilots, we have two different points of view, he was respectful, as I was. Let’s say we had the same ambition at the wrong time”
How afraid are you of your physical condition? And do you think it is an important GP for you? Last year you couldn’t win because you were coming from Barcelona, and now Jorge has 23 points of advantage over you…
“Every weekend is important when you are fighting for the championship. Now the disadvantage is 23 points, a huge loss, I will try to do my best to recover some points but if it is not possible I will try to lose as few as possible. My physical condition is not the best, I do not feel I can move my body as I would like, I had 170 kg on my shoulder and the impact with the asphalt was strong, I was lucky not to break any bones but the ligaments are suffering a bit”
How do you see two consecutive GPs, better or worse for you, for the pressure?
“I think the two consecutive weekends are worse for everyone, because we will all be at the limit from free practice, and there will already be the risk of going to the limit and exceeding it, so it’s difficult for everyone, the good thing is that we will be at home. I will try to manage it well. For sure for my physical condition the second weekend will be better. The pressure? No, it always pushes me to do something more”
With the Panigale V4 you rode here in July for the WDW and you did turn 11, the Curvone, full gas. Is it possible with the MotoGP too?
“The way you enter the corner is similar but in MotoGP you arrive 30 km/h faster and you have to brake a little bit”
Regarding the apology to Alex, when did you realize it was better to apologize, did you talk to anyone in particular, what was the path that led you to apologize?
“That same evening, when I was calmer, less angry, thinking back to what I had said, I thought it was normal that he hadn’t said it on purpose. I apologized for my words, they were too strong.”
The words of Alex Marquez
On Bagnaia’s apologies…
“I really appreciate that he apologized for the words he said, or how he said them, but what I said is: the damage has been done. To me, to the team, to my image and no one can take that away from me.”
Why did Pecco take so long to publicly apologize?
“I can’t answer that, ask him. It’s a question for him, not for me. He wanted to wait until Thursday but the damage from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday is there”
Alex’s physical condition…
“On Monday I spent three hours with the physiotherapist, today I did another two. The body is quite affected. It took me a long time to recharge my batteries. I still don’t feel 100%, especially with energy. Tonight we have to rest and the body will improve”
More on the incident with Bagnaia…
“In the end they are not normal falls, stay hooked, there are not always these falls”
What was the strongest emotion in Aragon, anger or sadness?
“Sadness. Sadness for having finished a race where we could have been on the podium. And even more sad to see Marc win”
