After his controversial fall during the French MotoGP Grand Prix, Francis Bagnaia joined the press room to share his point of view in front of journalists.
One of Dorna Sport's cameras was there and filmed the interview during which the Ducati rider declared: “ From my point of view, we have been trying to win in the early rounds for two years. And a driver who is behind, who does not have the potential to lead, tries to overtake six riders at once. That's not how it works.
We all push to the limit and, if I brake at the limit, looking for something else is a mistake, and even more so in the first part of the races. Most accidents happen at first because there is too much commotion. With the situation we have today, all bikes are capable of winning. You have to think about it because it is not a safe scenario. From the first to the last bike, they can all win. There are no longer those six or seven tenths that separated the factory motorcycles from the satellite motorcycles. The “Fantastic Four” won because they were the best and because they had factory bikes. The others were quite far behind because they did not have the potential to ride in the lead, nor the technical level. Now the level is extreme, everything is pushed to the limit. It would be necessary to recover some of this difference between factory motorcycles and customer motorcycles, or find a solution to avoid certain situations. »
These are the sentences put in bold which, taken up in the Italian press, then caused a surge Hervé Poncharal, the president of IRTA, at our microphone before his remarks were repeated almost everywhere, including on the official MotoGP.com website.
For its part, Francis Bagnaia today pleads not guilty, explaining to the entity Autosport/Motorsport.com that he discovered after a three-day media break that his comments had been taken out of context, and that from now on he would only speak about sport so as not to create controversy.
« What was posted is out of context due to interpretation by some people. I was asked about safety and the reasons for the increase in accidents and I just tried to make an analogy and said this hasn't happened before. »
« After Le Mans, I disconnected for three days, without a phone, and when I reconnected, I saw the controversy that had been generated with Poncharal, amplified by the official championship website. The snowball gets bigger and bigger when, at no time, have I made a comment to create controversy. On the contrary, I am aware that this is a very serious problem like security. »
« From now on, I will only talk about sport, which is what I know best, and I will leave the rest to others. I'm tired of having to justify every word taken out of context as an excuse to open a controversy. » (See his full statement here)
Everyone will have their own idea, but there does not seem to be any real justification for the words that were said and filmed.
Afterwards, speaking in front of the press always remains a perilous exercise for pilots who do not all have the know-how of a certain Valentino Rossi, also exceptionally gifted in this area. Clumsiness is therefore always possible, and this time it led to a virulent reaction from one of those who have been working for years to have a 100% competitive grid in MotoGP.
Let's bet that, next time, the reigning world champion will turn his tongue 7 times in his mouth before speaking...
