Francesco Bagnaia believes Jorge Martin will have to go on the attack at this weekend’s 2023 MotoGP season-finale.
Bagnaia out-performed his title rival for the second consecutive grand prix, and now has a commanding 23-point lead in the MotoGP standings.
With just 37 points left on the table, Bagnaia is the clear favourite to repeat as world champion with Martin needing to ideally win both races.
Martin, who blamed his P10 in Qatar on a bad tyre, struggled from the outset and Bagnaia admitted he was surprised to see him so low down.
“I never saw him,” said Bagnaia. “I thought he was fourth, but I didn’t see he was behind like this and my team didn’t say anything to me.”
Martin is fighting for the world title for the first time in his MotoGP career, while Bagnaia’s experience from 2022 has been invaluable over the last few rounds.
Bagnaia was under a lot of pressure to secure Ducati’s first title since 2007 but says the feeling this year is very different.
Bagnaia added: “Last year I remember my feeling (going into the final round). Even if it was a 23-point gap, I was very much under pressure but this year is different.
“I think we can manage the situation better and Jorge will have to totally attack. We are in the best position.”
During the Qatar MotoGP, a race where Bagnaia led the majority before a mistake took him out of the running with three laps to go, Fabio Di Giannantonio received a mapping 8 message which is a sign of team orders.
The factory team were just as surprised as Bagnaia to hear about Di Giannantonio getting that message, however, the meaning was different this time around which is why the Italian continued to attack.
Bagnaia said: “I didn’t know! He got mapping eight!? Fantastic if it was the same as the last time! In any case, he was faster, I did the maximum with my pace and I did my best lap time the one before going wide.”
Keyword: Qatar MotoGP: Francesco Bagnaia: “Jorge Martin will have to attack, we are in the best position”