Bagnaia against team orders from Ducati; ‘I don’t need help to be in front’
Bagnaia, who lost out on an extra five points when Enea Bastianini beat him to victory at the Aragon MotoGP last weekend, is closer to championship leader Fabio Quartararo than at any other point since the season-opener in Qatar.
With just five races to go and 17 points separating the top three in the MotoGP standings, every point is likely to matter which is why team orders at Ducati could come into play.
However, Bagnaia’s main challenger when it comes to riders at Ducati potentially stealing points away from him is Bastianini, who is also a title contender due to being only 48 points back on Quartararo.
Asked whether Ducati should deploy team orders, Bagnaia said: "Sincerely, I don’t think that I need some help to be in front. I prefer to win on track and not because of someone letting me pass.
"But in any case, I’m not inside of this decision and for sure I said my desire [to Ducati] which is to let me do what I want to do and if they decide something different it is not about me. I will be racing and I will try to be in front."
Bagnaia ready to fight for victory as MotoGP returns to Motegi
Having taken part in just one MotoGP race at Motegi previously which came in his rookie season, Bagnaia arrives at Motegi in very different form than 2019 where he struggled.
Arguably the most in-form rider on the grid, plus the Japanese circuit is expected to suit the GP-22 machine due to its hard braking zones, Bagnaia could be in a position where he leaves the Japanese MotoGP as a championship leader for the first time in his premier class career.
Speaking about his chances, Bagnaia was confident but aware that Quartararo will also be in with a chance: "I’m very happy to be here because it’s one of my favourite places to come. It means the start of the flyaways and it’s one of my favourite layouts.
"For sure, the situation is totally different compared to 2019 when I was a rookie and was struggling with my bike. I think this year can be good and I really like the layout.
"I think it suits our bike very well and I really like [hard] braking so I think we can be competitive.
"Normally we are the bike to beat because our bike is the most complete at this moment. We have also seen in Austria that our bike is normally the fastest but Fabio was able to be faster than us.
"It will be very important to make the right decision regarding the feeling [set-up of the bike] and we have to also consider the conditions."
