In Mandalika a bad start once again cost Francesco Bagnaia a chance to fight for the victory.

Francesco Bagnaia leaves Indonesia three points closer to Jorge Martin in the MotoGP standings. The Italian won the Sprint Race on Saturday and finished in third in the Grand Prix on Sunday.

However, Bagnaia believes he could have done better on Sunday in the Grand Prix. For the last four Grands Prix Bagnaia has been plagued with bad starts, something he is not known for. These bad starts have caused Bagnaia to get stuck in the pack and lose track of the leaders, this is something he knows he needs to fix in the last five Grands Prix.

"In the last two seasons, I was always perfect at the start," Bagnaia stated. "However, in the last four Grands Prix, I have started in a different way and they have all been bad. Today was different than yesterday, yesterday was not bad, this morning was good, and this afternoon I wheelied and spun. Luckily I did not lose many positions but I was too careful in the first lap and lost positions.

"It was an intense race because my pace was fast but when I was in the group I was struggling with my front tyre and braking hard. Getting passed (Marco) Bezzecchi was very difficult as the GP23 has more traction, but once I got passed him Franky (Morbidelli) was much easier as he is on the same bike as me. Finishing third today is a good result, we gained three points in the Championship from the start of the weekend."

"I enjoyed it in the moment, but it was not good for the Championship" - Francesco Bagnaia

Bagnaia went on to speak about another issue that the 2024 Ducati has been having throughout this season. In the early laps, the bike struggles for rear grip when the GP24 riders are fighting in a group. The Italian knows that if he does not get a good start he is going to lose pace for the first five laps.

Bagnaia elaborated by saying: "For me when you are in front you can compensate on the lack of rear grip in the braking by gaining a lot there. But if you are behind you can't push like you want and the rear tyre is maybe not ready. This is maybe something with the GP24 when you are behind. After five laps I was back on my pace and I was strong I just missed the first five laps."

Going into the final five rounds of the 2024 season the two-time MotoGP Champion is second in the standings. 21 points separate Bagnaia and Martin in the standings something Bagnaia must close down. However, in Indonesia, the Italian was locked in a battle with his close friends Marco Bezzecchi and Franco Morbidelli, which slowed down his race pace.

"I enjoyed it in the moment, but it was not good for the Championship," Bagnaia revealed. "I was stuck behind them, I watched Bezz and Franky a lot in corner 10 and every time I tried to arrive close to Bezzecchi. However, his acceleration was huge so I stayed close and as soon as he made a mistake I overtook him. Then on the last lap I took Franky, it was a lot of fun but for the Championship not so good."