The world sprint
For Ducati, a scenario that would have been difficult to imagine just a few years ago is taking shape, with three of its riders competing for the world championship with just four races to go. Francesco Bagnaia with the official team is in fact chasing his second world championship and precedes the centaur of the Prima Pramac team Jorge Martin by 27 lengths and the leading rider of the VR46 team, Marco Bezzecchi, by 73.
This internal struggle between the three Ducati teams was commented on in the press conference by the respective team managers.
Tardozzi’s words at the press conference
“Pecco has done an incredible and extraordinary job, but Jorge is only 27 points behind. Bagnaia did a fantastic job, but it’s still not enough. There are four races left and it will be important maintain a very ready mental attitude: it will be the key for the rest of the championship. Will the 2022 experience help Bagnaia? The situation was different, he was second and had to make up points. However, it helps that he has already been there and I think he demonstrated his strength by managing the last two races, then overcoming the difficulties on Sunday.
How is Bagnaia different compared to 2022? He made some mistakes, but he grew. He knows why he made those mistakes, four of them. Now he has a better opinion of himself, greater confidence. The relationship with his race engineer is very close and this helps him to change quickly from Saturday to Sunday. This is a characteristic of champions. When you are in the official team, there is only one goal: to win the world championship. Jorge is still very fast, he has a contract with Ducati, he has less pressure on him, but he won’t be satisfied with second place. Pecco handles the pressure very well and we are convinced that he will do well until the end.
World Cup decided in Valencia? I think so, unless there are accidents or things we don’t want. They are all 3 very fast, Marco is behind and you can never say never. We and Pecco must push hard, play everything to keep them as far away as possible.
Stop data exchange for the last 4 races? Ducati won’t do it, for us it is important and it is also good for the satellite teams, so we improve the performance of all the drivers. We want to give the same opportunities to everyone.”
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