Francesco Bagnaia believes the extra grip offered by Michelin’s new rear tyre is contributing to MotoGP riders crashing more often than usual in 2024.
Championship leader Bagnaia suffered another crash out of a leading position in Saturday’s sprint for the British Grand Prix, losing the front of his factory Ducati going into Turn 4 (The Loop) while running fourth on lap five.
It brought an early end to the half-distance race for the Italian rider, slashing his advantage to just one point over Pramac rival Jorge Martin ahead of Sunday’s grand prix at Silverstone.
Unforced accidents have become a common theme in MotoGP this year, with Bagnaia’s title challenger Martin also having three notable falls in the first part of the year – including in the preceding race in Germany when he was leading.
While Bagnaia praised the grippier rear tyre introduced by Michelin this year, which has led to long-held lap records falling at a number of venues, he also feels the increased speed might be causing more crashes.
“First of all the new rear tyre are fantastic, but are making us crash more because the rear is pushing a lot the front [of the bike],” he said,
“Today, the first three guys finished the race with eight seconds to the fourth. So in this moment, the speed that some guys are having is incredible.
“I think we never saw something like that, it’s super impressive, I love it.
“But the risk of crash is always there.”
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Bagnaia, however, did hold his hand up and concede that it was his error that forced him out of the race, as he was simply carrying too much speed into the left-hander after setting a new fastest lap on the previous tour.
“I did a mistake, honestly,” he admitted. “All the weekend, in corner four I’ve been very fast.
“In this lap, I just exaggerated a bit the line, I was more close to the apex before. I anticipated entering and I lost the front.”
He added: “I did a very good start, but the rear-height device didn’t engage so I did corner one and two with the bike in lower position, so I was fourth. And then I struggled with rear grip for first lap and a half.
“Then everything went perfect again, I closed the gap, I was super-fast, but as soon as I arrived at corner four, I crashed.
“So [it was] my mistake, I already said sorry to my team because they, like always, are doing a perfect job.”
Tyre choice is integral for riders around the long and winding Silverstone circuit, which takes heavy toll on the Michelin rubber.
Bagnaia went for the safer medium option, like the majority of the field, but felt that it was going to be a compromise no matter which tyre he picked.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“We don’t have the correct front tyre, because the temperature is not allowing us to race with the hard,” he said.
“But the medium is strange and the soft after two laps is finished [so there are no good options].
“I think the medium was the correct choice, but at this moment I was exiting too fast from corner three, and when I just entered corner four I was 3km/h faster.
“That is like nothing but more close to the apex that I lost.”
