Bagnaia was initially \u201cscared\u201d to discover his Ducati\u2019s rear ride-height device wasn’t working but still stormed to victory.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHonestly, I was quite scared, but then I looked at the times, and I was quite surprised. I was super-fast,\u201d Bagnaia said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are tracks and tracks. Honestly, here, the grip level is very low, so to give the shock more movement [suspension travel] is better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn other tracks where the grip is good, without the ride-height device you are accelerating much less.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Buriram, the big concern was tyre endurance over the 26-lap grand prix distance, underlined by Honda\u2019s Joan Mir <\/a>being forced to retire due to excessive wear in the closing stages.<\/p>\n Other riders spoke of battling wheelspin in fourth and fifth gears during the final laps.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Although the rear ride-height device provides greater outright performance, it also puts more stress on the rear tyre in the process.<\/p>\n “We optimise everything”<\/p>\n \u201cWith the rear devices that we have, the bikes have improved so much, also with the wings, and we stress a lot the tyres when it’s super hot like this,” said Mir\u2019s factory Honda team-mate Luca Marini<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pressed on whether he tries to save the rear tyre by not always using the ride-height device, the Italian confirmed: \u201cYes, but we play a lot with the rear device during the race, because we know everything.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a lot of work done before going on the track to really analyse these things, the tyre temperature in every situation of the track, in every corner, to understand in which part we can push and which we cannot.<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t want to spoil our [secrets], but we try to use it in a good way. We optimise everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Tech3 KTM\u2019s Enea Bastianini <\/a>was more open.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I didn’t use [the ride-height device] for all the race,\u201d he said of the connection between the device and tyre wear.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially in the Turn 3 [hairpin], for me, it was too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gng_1294802_hires_1600x900.jpg\")
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