Does MotoGP lack an icon like Rossi? Bagnaia: “A mistake to compare”

Bagnaia became the first graduate of Rossi’s VR46 Academy to win a MotoGP championship last season, an extension of The Doctor’s stunning legacy.

But the mainstream crossover that Rossi’s fame created has arguably not been replicated since his retirement.

“I want to be me,” Bagnaia reacted to Mundo Deportivo. 

“This story of the characters doesn't appeal to me because, in my opinion, we all have to be who we are, what we are. 

“In my opinion it is the results that make the character, you don’t become a character by how you behave. 

“Things are different now from when there were the 'Fantastic 4' [Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, and later Marc Marquez]. 

“What happens now? Well, all riders, regardless of whether they are in an official team or in a private team, have a bike that allows them to be at the front.

“In Italy... in Spain... I think people are very hooked on the past and make a lot of mistakes by comparing riders from before with those of now. 

“You can't compare me to the Casey Stoner who won the championship with Ducati in 2007. 

“We are different, we are different people. 

“If you talk to a young man who is starting to follow the races now, he will surely tell you that he likes what I do. If you talk to someone who followed the whole era of Valentino, Casey, Dani, Lorenzo and Marquez, he's going to say Casey was better. 

“The story of how this works in sport is basically how the world works.”

Bagnaia’s first championship came by edging a newer generation of riders, namely the reigning champion Fabio Quartararo.

Six-time premier class winner Marquez was largely absent last season and remains outside of the championship hunt due to injury and a below-par bike.

Would a title against a competitive Marquez mean more to Bagnaia?

“Not for me, because I won the title by beating a lot of riders,” he said.

“The rider who had won the title the previous year had been Quartararo, so I had to beat Quartararo, and I got it. 

“Marquez is the active driver in the championship who has won the most, but the last few years have been anything but easy for him. 

“I hope he fully recovers his feelings, that he is well again. Surely the championship has changed a lot since 2019.”