Italy’s Francesco Bagna (Ducati) said this Wednesday that Portugal’s Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) “is a great contender” in the MotoGP World Championship starting this weekend at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Portimão.
In an interview regarding his nomination for the Laureus Return of the Year award due to recovering from a 91-point deficit in 2022 to become world champion, Bagnaya emphasized that Miguel Oliveira “is one of the greatest drivers on the grid.” “. always in the “struggle for victories and podiums”.
“He is a great opponent. I fought him in 2018 for the Moto2 title. [que o italiano conquistou, deixando o português em segundo], it was a tough fight and hard to beat. Has smooth and precise control. With Aprilia he will be one of the strongest this year. We start in Portugal, this is his home race, so I think it will be very competitive. Let’s see,” he said.
At a press conference attended by the Lusa agency, Bagnaya said that “since childhood I dreamed of becoming a world champion.”
The Italian rider was also “very proud” of the Laureus Award nomination, which he shares with Dane Christian Eriksen (footballer who returned to the Premier League after a cardiac arrest during Euro 2020), Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, a recovered athlete from a 1500 m defeat to the conquest 5000 m world title, American Clay Thompson, Golden State Warriors basketball player who became NBA champion after 30 months absence due to injuries, Dutch Annemiek van Fluiten, cyclist who overcame illness, won the Tour de France Femme and with North American Tiger Woods , a golfer who returned to the Masters after a career-threatening car accident.
“I feel like we are doing a good job. But seeing your name next to other nominees is a big emotion. I’ve been following Klay Thompson for a long time. It’s amazing to be nominated among these names. “We are doing a good job. We must continue in the same spirit. The recovery last year was incredible,” said Bagnaya.
The transalpine rider, who was already the 2018 Moto2 champion, says the Laureus is “the most important award in the sport,” but the nomination is “a consequence of winning the 2022 championship.”
“This is a huge pride. It’s like an Oscar-winning actor. I was speechless when I heard [da nomeação]”, he confessed.
The Ducati rider explained that it wasn’t until the British Grand Prix, at Silverstone – a weekend when he struggled with problems with his bike, but where he ended up winning the race – that he began to believe it was possible to reach the headline.
“It was a difficult weekend for us. We fought the bike all weekend but we won the race. It was important for the championship. could have been won. It was then that I realized that it was possible to recover,” he shared.
Confessing to being a “big fan” of Formula 1’s record-breaking audiences, he defended that the MotoGP championship should “keep evolving” as it could “provide more entertainment”.
“The spectacle that we can provide to the fans is better than that of Formula 1, we can provide great battles.” Dorna [promotora do campeonato] is doing a good job, but we need to take it one step further,” he said.
Abandoning the idea of being the favorite but admitting he feels “good” after winter testing, Francesco Bagna dismissed criticism of himself and those who point to the bike as the secret to victory.
“I feel like it’s normal that we can’t please everyone. When Valentino [Rossi] won, they said it was for the bike. When Mark [Márquez] won, it was for the bike. There are always 10% of people who always say bad things about us. When we see comments or listen to podcasts, we feel bad, but I decided that the most important thing is to win. The championship that I won remains in history, not the words of people,” he stressed.
As for the favorites for the 2023 title, he was adamant: “Myself, Marc Marquez [Honda]Fabio Quartararo [Yamaha] and Enea Bastianini [Ducati]”.
MotoGP is the highest category of the world championship in speed motorcycling, the championship of which starts this weekend in Portugal.
The Moto2 and Moto3 categories are other categories that are available for capture.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.