Francesco Bagnaia is racing for his third MotoGP title. However, to achieve this he will have to overcome a 24-point deficit against Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) at the Barcelona Solidarity GP.
The Ducati rider was asked during a press conference to compare this potential title with those he won in 2022 and 2023, to which he replied: ‘I think it’s difficult to compare the titles, because I won them in different ways. The first, I was 91 points behind, but my rival was clearly at a technical disadvantage. Last season was maybe the easiest, but I had the crash in Barcelona that made me slow down a bit, and I needed more races to get the feeling back – and Jorge took the advantage and was unbeatable in this last part of the season. And this season, it must be said that I made many, many mistakes. I also had a bit of bad luck in certain situations, like at Le Mans or the three times other drivers made me crash’.
At the same time, Bagnaia recognized the superiority of Martín’s consistency and admitted that he would need his rival to make mistakes at Barcelona to become champion: ‘It must be said that Jorge was very precise, very good, and he made fewer mistakes. He also perhaps accepted not winning, but finishing second. And that makes the difference. And if we check the results of the Sprint races, he has a clear advantage in terms of points. So, that’s what I need to focus on. But it must be said that if I win this title on Sunday, it is because I did a very good job, but he made mistakes during the weekend’.
When asked to clarify this point, the 2022 and 2023 champion said: ‘I think we both deserve the title because of what we did. Of course, in terms of mistakes, I made a lot of them, and if you want to be a champion you have to be more precise, more consistent. And Jorge was more consistent than me. In terms of results, it is clear that we did a better job, as I won ten Sunday races and six Sprint races. In terms of pure results, we did very well. I think we both deserve the title. I think it will be strange, but if Jorge wins the title, I could be happy for him, because we have known each other for a long time, and I am happy that a driver that I know very well, and who I think deserves the title, be great’.
