Francesco Bagnaia's 2024 Thai Grand Prix has gotten off to a better start than in 2023 as the Italian sits fourth on the timesheets.
Francesco Bagnaia ended Friday in fourth place in Practice at the Thai Grand Prix. The Italian rider was behind his teammate, Enea Bastianini, and title rivals, Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin.
However, Bagnaia's Friday was not a very straightforward day. The Ducati rider encountered issues on one of his bikes and did not get the feeling he wanted from his machine. It was not until his team completely changed the bike that Bagnaia felt comfortable on his GP24.
"Honestly, we had a little issue on one of our two bikes," Bagnaia explained to MotoGP.com. "We needed to try something on that bike. So, we had to plan everything again, we tried to do the same without being able to do the same in the time. The other bike was not working well, I tried to adapt to it but I was not happy.
"Just before the time attack, we changed the direction completely and I felt much better. So, this was a good thing and the time attack went well, I did not do a very precise lap on the second attempt and I missed the possibility of being faster. But, I am happy, it wasn't easy to understand the way, but we did it so I am happy."
Bagnaia further explained that the main issue he was experiencing with his Ducati was when turning. But once again stated that the bike felt much better after completely changing how it was set up.
"Before I was struggling a bit when letting the bike turn," Bagnaia said. "Then we completely changed the setup and it was better."
The 2023 Thai Grand Prix was difficult for Bagnaia until the Grand Prix on Sunday. However, this weekend the Italian has had a better start to the weekend than last year. Bagnaia described how his team always improve when they are in a difficult situation and that it is an important skill to learn.
"Absolutely. This season I have always felt much better than last year," Bagnaia stated. "I am happy that we have been able to bounce back with results, we have always improved when in a difficult situation. This is something that is a good skill to have and we have to make little improvements tomorrow. Then nothing more because we are very close."