Aldeguer opens his debrief with an apology
Gresini released its riders' Qatar Sprint comments on November 7. Fermin Aldeguer, who finished 11th, first apologised to Francesco Bagnaia and Ducati, accepting that he had made a mistake while attempting to overtake. Iker Lecuona finished ninth to bring Gresini one point.
‘First of all, I want to apologise to Pecco and his entire team. I made a mistake while attempting an overtake and I'm really sorry about it,’ Aldeguer said. He placed the apology at the beginning of his comments and returned to Bagnaia again before concluding.
The red flag and double long-lap penalty
MotoGP's official report places the incident at the final corner of the first lap after the initial start. Aldeguer attempted to pass Pedro Acosta on the inside, braked too late and hit Bagnaia's bike ahead. Bagnaia was thrown off and the race was red-flagged. He underwent medical checks and did not take the restart.
Aldeguer received a double long-lap penalty for the restarted race, shortened to ten laps. He completed the penalty and finished 11th. In the team's interview he remained positive about his pace, hoped to recover on Sunday and again apologised. Although the two long laps increased the distance he travelled, he saw the pace after the restart as a basis for improving his result.
Bagnaia was subsequently confirmed to have fractures in his right foot and withdrew from the Grand Prix, with the medical developments covered separately by INKA.
Lecuona’s soft tyre and the final points position
Lecuona said he had improved in every session but failed to put together a perfect Q1 lap. Feeling he had good race pace, he chose the soft tyre for the Sprint. He nevertheless experienced some tyre difficulties during the race.
He particularly enjoyed the fight with Diogo Moreira, beating him to bring home a point despite the challenge. The classification lists Lecuona ninth and Moreira tenth, immediately either side of the Sprint points boundary.
