Bagnaia “doesn’t want to be in a scrap, not the guy who goes all-out”
Aside from Motegi, Bagnaia was faultless for most of the run-in to the 2022 MotoGP season as he became Ducati’s first premier class champion since 2007.
Mistakes were largely eliminated from his game, while the Italian also managed to consistently show better pace than any other rider.
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And after winning the world title and starting this season with a dominant double victory in Portimao, Bagnaia looked to have turned a corner with regards to becoming the complete package.
However, as demonstrated in Argentina, Bagnaia showed that cracks in his game remain after crashing out of second place.
Moments after passing Alex Marquez, Bagnaia began to pull clear of the Gresini rider before losing the front-end of his Ducati at the penultimate corner.
Speaking after the race, Guintoli gave his thoughts about the incident and claimed it might not be the last time we see this.
The BT Sport pundit said: "He got past Marquez. We saw him push, he wanted to create a gap. Maybe it was in his mind to go and get Bezzecchi. Unfortunately for Pecco, we’ve seen those things before. Maybe this will wake something up inside of him.
"The confidence in him since he won the championship, the way he won it? He looked indestructible.
"In these moments is where everyone can come crashing down and you can start doubting yourself. He had an easy [P2]. He just needed to manage.
"It will be a competitive year. The sprint races will be important - even at half-points, you can make a difference. Pecco doesn’t like the sprint races, he has only said it.
"He doesn’t want to be in a scrap. He’s a clean guy who uses the tyres in the best way. He’s a clever, calculated rider. He’s not one who goes all-out. Maybe he’ll have to do that, and maybe he’ll make mistakes doing it."
Guintoli wasn’t the only ex-rider with MotoGP experience to discuss the incident, as Michael Laverty also shared his view on Bagnaia’s mistake, although the Brit pointed to the wet conditions as a reason why it should be taken with a pinch of salt.
"It seemed like he put those little errors behind him last season, but they are still there," said Laverty.
"It’s good for us in terms of the championship because, if Pecco got into his late-2022 stride this early in the season, it could have been game over. Now you’ve got Bezzecchi fighting. There are so many Ducatis fighting who will take points off each other.
"It’s easy to make a mistake in the wet so we can’t read too much into it. He’s still the favourite for the championship. Bezzecchi won’t hold anything back battling his friend and teammate from the academy. We thought it would be Pecco vs the Aprilias."
