Francesco Bagnaia was left “angry” after a poor start cost him victory in the San Marino Grand Prix sprint race.
The MotoGP world champion had dominated Friday’s practice and took pole for the sprint with a new Misano lap record.
But a poor start allowed championship rival Jorge Martin to jump into the lead from fourth on the gird.
Bagnaia managed to hold on for second place after battling with an overheating front tyre but was left frustrated with his second-place finish which means that Pramac’s Martin now has a 26-point advantage in the championship.
“I’m angry with my performance because I did a bad start, I didn’t find a good start with the clutch and I lost the first place.
“We know perfectly how difficult it is in this track to overtake when you have the same pace as the guys in front of you.
“I was trying the first laps but then the front tyre became too hot and I started losing it.
Race start
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“So, I didn’t have any chance of overtaking Jorge. This afternoon he was just faster… not faster, but he did a better job for sure.
“We have to improve for tomorrow because we can’t do another start like this.”
Bagnaia said he also had trouble running the turbulent air behind Martin, adding: “I was losing a bit on the exits of Turns six, eight and 10, I was sliding quite a bit on the bike, I was behind and everything changed.
“When you’re riding alone everything is perfect, but when you have dirty air the bike behaves differently.”
Bagnaia, who crashed out of the last race in Aragon, now sits 26 points behind Martin in the championship standings and is hoping his tyre choice will pay off in Sunday’s race.
“After what happened in Aragon, it was important to finish the race – doing the maximum, but finishing the race.
“But for tomorrow it will be a different race with the medium. You can’t push like you want with the medium and you have to be more careful in the first laps.
“I think that some riders will try to go with the soft because today it was quite good apart from in the last two, three laps. But I think it will also be a good choice.”
