Pekko Bagnaia puts an end to all conspiracy theories: “I was the one who didn’t perform as well as I should”

Pecco Bagnaia He answered questions from Italian presenter Ale Cattelan on the podcast “Supernova”, where he answered questions about everyday life as well as topics related to MotoGP. From the beginning, he admitted, “It was good to rest. When you have a season like that, where it wasn’t really easy, you want to start right back, but it’s good to take a break every once in a while and take time to reflect and try to understand what you did wrong and what you did right. It always helps.”

“I’ve had four seasons where I finished first or second in the championship, so I’ve always played for important results. This year, unfortunately, I couldn’t find the balance where I could always be fast, so I flashed a lot and felt more like an ‘outsider’ than a driver who should always be there. So I don’t feel too good about this, because I realize we definitely could have done more.”

“Most of the time it was me who didn’t perform as well as I should have, I didn’t know how to adapt properly to the situation, and I had some bad luck, like having a puncture in a race where I was second and fighting for the win. I had some bad luck that I hadn’t felt in how long. But in my case, you take everything as a lesson. Everything leads to growth, and next year if you find yourself in a situation like that, you’ll know how to react.”

“A lot of times it was me who didn’t perform as well as I should have, and I didn’t know how to properly adapt to the situation.”

Cattelan asks him a question. He talks about the friendship between the drivers in the paddock and talks about his relationship with Marc Marquez. ”We are not all friends. Of course, different people like different drivers, and they like more or less, but in general, I wouldn’t say I’m friends with everyone, but I get along pretty well with everyone, and I’ve never had any major problems with them in the past.

“But certainly, when you put a charismatic driver like Marquez in the same pit, there are two problems: either they start arguing right away, or they get along. He has a pretty calm demeanor, he understands the dynamics of the team, and his priority was not to cause chaos and try to maintain a comfortable atmosphere in the pits without arguing. “This year we have definitely gotten to know each other better and I can say that our relationship has improved.” Great. ”

“Marc has a pretty calm demeanor and understands the dynamics of the team and his priority was trying to maintain a fun atmosphere in the box without causing chaos, without arguing. This year we got to know each other better and the relationship has been great.”

And Bagnaia recognizes that: Shelving any conspiracy theories about him and Marc Marquez riding the same bike this year, “Yes, yes, yes,” he replies, revealing the kind of topics that can arise among colleagues. “If they give parts to one rider first, but that’s not the case with us, because we are managed exactly the same way. If we both don’t have parts, neither can get them. That’s the philosophy that has helped Ducati grow in recent years and allowed us to become a reference team.”

While we recognize that motorcycle development may be geared towards one rider rather than another, Ducati has enough power to go down two paths. “Yes, that’s right. More than that, it’s the way the rider rides. Let’s say Marc Marquez at Honda did this kind of work. They concentrated all the work on Marquez and made sure that only he could ride that bike. According to him, We chose a specification that probably gives the same result, but it’s not easy for everyone and that’s why he made the difference over the years.”At Ducati, everyone is not obliged to ride the same bike with the same parts and at the same time. You can also follow two paths.

“With Ducati, we are not obliged to all ride the same bike with the same parts, and we can go on two paths at the same time.”

“For example, this year we raced with two different fairing specs since mid-season. I liked it. Maybe I liked the bike to handle better and he liked a bike with more weight on the rear. We continued with the two different specs.”