Ducati: Bagnaia’s ‘numbers unmistakable, detractors are simply haters’
Bagnaia is on the verge of winning his first MotoGP world championship and will do so if he fails to lose 24 points to Fabio Quartararo at the season-finale in Valencia.
Bagnaia, who was 91 points down on Quartararo prior to winning in Assen, has been the standout rider during the second half of the championship.
Yet, it hasn’t stopped unfair comments being made on social media in a bid to discredit his potential first title in MotoGP.
As we saw with Quartararo who took time away from social media due to negativity earlier in the season, unfair criticism seems to be more and more apparent which is why Ciabatti has hit back at people he calls ‘simply haters’.
Talking to GPOne.com, Ciabatti said: "Quartararo has also suffered the pressure, so much so that he took a few weeks off from social media. It can bother a rider a lot that there are detractors whatever he does, but you have to understand that this is today’s world and you also need to learn how to not care.
"If we look at the races [Bagnaia] won, the laps in the lead - all those who speak out on principle, because they prefer other riders or because they see the figure of Valentino in Pecco, they are simply haters, but they can be very bad.
"If you fail to detach from these unjustified comments which come from social networks and social media, you risk being hurt.
"Pecco’s numbers are unmistakable, only those who are incompetent or in bad faith can cast doubts about them and we are not interested in these people."
Ciabatti also clarified ‘team orders’ ahead of Valencia
As we saw in Sepang, Enea Bastianini was in no mood to settle for second and even attempted to take the win away from Bagnaia on more than one occasion.
Bastianini then confirmed in the post-race press conference of his intent to win at all costs, which follows on from previous battles between the pair while Jack Miller also took points away from Bagnaia in Thailand.
Team orders haven’t been visible from Ducati, who have insisted all along that riders can go for the win although they should not put moves on Bagnaia that could be risky.
Keen to clarify Ducati’s position, Ciabatti added: "Let’s analyse the facts: Bastianini at Misano tried to win to the very last and at Aragon he succeeded, Miller won in Japan and finished ahead of Pecco in Thailand.
"If there were team orders we would have thought about making Jack slow in Buriram, which also didn’t happen because he was fighting for the win.
"Even at Sepang Enea tried, he got in front and then Pecco passed him again. They seem to me to be controversies that arose very early in the season and that have no objective confirmation."
