MotoGP Assen: Francesco Bagnaia concludes: ‘When I relax, I crash’

Having spent several days contemplating his third race mistake of the season, in Sunday’s German MotoGP, Francesco Bagnaia has reached a surprising conclusion.

The Ducati star has dropped a disastrous 91 points from Fabio Quartararo after losing control of his Desmosedici while holding station behind the Frenchman in the early laps at the Sachsenring.

The frustrated Italian insisted there was no reason for his accident and nothing unusual on the data.

“Looking at the data, it's impossible to understand,” Bagnaia said last weekend. “I can't explain it. I'm very angry, because when you crash and you know why, if it's your mistake, normally I'm very self critical. But today, the reason I crashed is something I can't explain.”

However, after analysing not only this season’s accidents but the style of past race victories dating back to Moto2, Bagnaia believes he’s spotted a common scenario.

Free Practice (2) results from the Dutch MotoGP at Assen, round 11 (of 20) in the 2022 world championship.

UPDATE: Aleix Espargaro has been stripped of his lap times set at the end of Free Practice 2 after running 'with a rear water spoiler (add-on) whilst using slick tyres on the front and rear'.