Room to improve for Bagnaia on Fridays in battle against MotoGP team-mate Marquez

Francesco Bagnaia might have been upbeat following his fall in apply for the Argentina Grand Prix, however the Italian will likely be conscious that the sketchy Fridays can’t proceed if he desires to problem his manufacturing facility Ducati team-mate Marc Marquez in MotoGP 2025.

Whereas Marquez scorched previous his personal 11-year-old lap report at Termas de Rio Hondo to breeze into Q2 because the quickest rider, Bagnaia flirted with a repeat of the Q1 outing he confronted on the opener in Thailand. 

The 2022 and 2023 world champion’s ultimate run in apply got here to a sudden finish when he misplaced the bike heading into Flip 2, placing him out of motion and into grave peril. With 5 minutes remaining, he was solely seventh.

A number of riders had been nonetheless attacking and he admitted to feeling weak earlier than scraping by way of to Q2 in tenth.

“Once I was on the scooter [back to the garage] I used to be already pondering ‘OK, we’re going to complete eleventh by a couple of tenths and will probably be shit’,” stated Bagnaia. “However fortunately I used to be inside the highest 10.”

Bagnaia reckoned he had greater than three tenths up his sleeve, which might have put him round fourth within the session. 

“It’s a disgrace concerning the crash,” he added. “I wished that lap time. I like to be quick and I must really feel the velocity. However I’m inside the highest 10 and it’s OK.”

Up till that time, Bagnaia had regarded visibly extra in management than he had within the barely damp opening apply session. He confirmed as a lot in his feedback on the finish of the day. 

“As we speak, with the change we made within the afternoon, I really feel a lot better. This afternoon I felt extra like how I felt final yr,” he stated.

“Now I can give attention to enhancing myself and enhancing my setup and feeling with the bike. Tomorrow morning we are going to do one other step for positive.”

These incremental beneficial properties from a sluggish begin are commonplace process for a Bagnaia weekend. He’s typically able to ship nice issues come Sunday. However in what seems to be a extra aggressive 2025 discipline, Friday misadventures threaten to value him greater than they’ve previously. 

Bagnaia received by way of Q1 in Thailand and no hurt was achieved. As we speak in Argentina, he additionally received away together with his mistake and can take his place among the many Q2 elite tomorrow. However his luck will run out quickly if he can’t begin ironing out Friday struggles and drama. 

If that occurs, the value could possibly be notably excessive on condition that his team-mate Marquez tends to search out the restrict immediately on a Friday morning. He did precisely that at present, heading free apply regardless of operating fewer laps than any of his essential competitors.

That was a prelude to a day during which the Thai GP winner as soon as once more proved unbeatable. Bagnaia, who completed third in Thailand, admits that none of it was a shock, notably on a low-grip monitor similar to this one.

“I used to be pondering he would push like this, as a result of in these situations he’s all the time very aggressive,” stated Bagnaia. “I used to be extra impressed by Johann Zarco than Marc, as a result of I anticipate this from Marc.”

Marc Marquez, Ducati Workforce

Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photos

Zarco continued Honda’s encouraging begin to the season on his LCR entry with the second-fastest time within the morning after which a seventh place within the afternoon. The latter would possibly nicely have been higher however for Zarco’s mid-session fall.

“The man who impressed me essentially the most was Zarco, who did unimaginable issues at present,” stated Bagnaia. “And in addition Fabio di Giannantonio, as a result of he was out for [pre-season testing, with injury]…and with out doing something through the session he was very quick within the time assault.”

As for whether or not Bagnaia can catch the senior Marquez later this weekend, the Torino man’s reply was crisp and brief.

“Let’s see,” he stated. “It’s too quickly proper now.”

But when Bagnaia’s defeat to Jorge Martin in 2024 taught something, it’s that Friday at a MotoGP occasion is, the truth is, typically fairly quickly sufficient for injury to be achieved.