MotoGP, Davide Tardozzi: “Pecco Bagnaia made a mistake but we cannot crucify him, we must support and help him”

In this MotoGP season we are halfway between an Argentinian Grand Prix which took place and that of the Americas which will take place next week. But at Ducati, we still seem to have in mind this fall of its leader Pecco Bagnaia at Termas de Rio Hondo. It is therefore not considered as a simple incident and what concerns us, apparently, is how his World Champion, who thought he had finished with this type of blunder, will recover from it. Austin will give the answer but in the meantime, like team manager Davide Tardozzi, we are not taking the situation lightly.

It was only a fall, which we certainly no longer expected. Pecco Bagnaia become World Champion, but which is only an exception in a solid run for months. Considering the end of last season, the off-season, not to mention the demonstration displayed during the first meeting in Portugal, there would be no reason to worry about this accident, in the rain, in Argentina. The official Ducati came out of a Saturday sprint revealing a certain mastery of the competition and he was still second before finding himself in the gravel trap, displaying a race pace leaving no doubt about his potential.

In view of the above, the incident should be quickly digested and evacuated so that all we can think about is getting back into action in Austin. But that doesn't seem to be the case. This slide at Termas de Rio Hondo raises fears of a dangerous slope and the analysis of the team manager Davide Tardozzi, who knows his pilot well, shows that we have not yet moved on to something else. On Moto sprint, he declares : " I heard what Bagnaia said as soon as he returned.  He made a big mistake. There are still 19 races left and I think that already in Austin Pecco will have the opportunity to catch up ».

Davide Tardozzi: “ he particularly suffered from this fall in MotoGP because he was aware that he should not do it, he had to bring back points »

On the facts, he analyzes: “ I think he was at the limit in this turn, Bezzecchi was more than 5 seconds ahead and I don't think he thought about catching up. Maybe he had a little pressure because he had Alex Marquez only six tenths behind him and we had informed him of the return of Morbidelli ».

Tardozzi added : " It seems unbelievable to say it today, but I think Pecco has matured from the mistakes he made in the first part of last year. In Argentina, he remade one, he analyzed it in detail with his engineers. He particularly suffered from this fall because he was aware that he should not do it, he had to bring back points ».

The team manager finishes: “ we have to bring home points in the first part of the season and then attack in the second part as I have been saying all winter. Unfortunately he made a mistake but we cannot crucify him, we must support and help him ". The red coats therefore truly fear the other Ducati and the fact that Pecco Bagnaia finds himself facing Marco Bezzecchi doesn't seem any more reassuring. We would undoubtedly have preferred a bastianini in fact more accessible because in the same box.