MotoGP | Bagnaia defends himself: "My words were taken out of context"

MotoGP Ducati – The statements made by Pecco Bagnaia after the Le Mans race triggered various controversies. The world champion, speaking about the accidents that occur at the start of the race, admitted that the problem arises from the fact that all the bikes are competitive: "There are no longer the six or seven tenths that there were before between the official bikes and satellite ones. We need to recover some of that difference between the official bikes and those of the customers, or find a solution to avoid certain situations."

The one who was very disappointed by those words was the team manager and IRTA president, Hervé Poncharal who, interviewed by Paddock TV, admitted that what the Ducati rider said was "unsportsmanlike".

Bagnaia wanted to clarify his position on those statements once and for all and did so to Motorsport.com.

“What was published is out of context due to the interpretation that some have given it. I was asked to talk about safety and the reason for the increase in accidents and I simply tried to make a comparison, saying that it didn't happen before. I think that years ago there were less contacts because there was a lot of difference between the top riders and the others in the ranking. Now everything is much more compact, I who arrived in MotoGP racing for a satellite team, how can I suggest creating differences between the official bikes and the satellite ones? The increase in the number of falls is due to the great parity in the World Championship. We are all closer and we all brake at the limit. Even when you start from the back and know you don't have the pace to stay in front, you try to gain as many positions as possible at the start to make the most of the new tyres. That's why there are so many accidents in the first part of the race."

Pecco said he was very disappointed by the way his words were interpreted and that he was tired of having to justify himself every time:

“After Le Mans I disconnected for three days, without my phone, and when I reconnected I realized the controversy generated with Poncharal, magnified by the official website of the championship. Unfortunately we are entering a dynamic in which some prefer to seek controversy rather than talk about who wins or the good battles on the track. Lately there's been too much talk about topics that aren't my expertise. I am a driver, I am in love with this sport and my only goal is to win and work together with my team. From now on I will only talk about this sport, which is what I know best, and I will leave the rest to others. I'm tired of having to justify every word that is taken out of context as a pretext to start a controversy."