The MotoGP rider who has “the same mental attitude” as Casey Stoner

That’s according to Davide Tardozzi, the Ducati team manager who oversaw Bagnaia emulating Stoner’s achievement of winning the MotoGP title.

The famous Italian manufacturer endured a generation of hurt since Stoner’s glory in 2007, until Bagnaia triumphed last year.

“Stoner and Bagnaia are two different riders, but they have the same mental attitude,” Tardozzi told AS. 

“I think Pecco is still growing. He already took a big leap by winning the championship, but the biggest jump in his head has been done this year, after the two falls in Argentina and Austin.

“He is an intelligent boy and has spoken a lot with the team, and what happened has made him take another step to make him even more of a champion. Now he has the right mentality.

“Pecco will become one of the greats. 

“Right now it is showing that he is growing, as I told you before. 

“The championship hasn't been won yet, because 62 points are nothing with everything that lies ahead and 37 points at stake every weekend. 

“The best thing is that he has understood how to work to win. 

“On Friday he concentrates only on the bike, not on fast laps. 

“His best virtue is that he knows how to describe problems to engineers very, very well. 

“He conveys exactly what the bike does. All the riders say what the bike does, but he perfectly describes the problem and the engineers say it's like they're on the bike when Pecco talks. 

“With him they understand perfectly what the problem is.”

Ducati failed to repeat Stoner’s 2007 success even with big-name recruits like Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in their midst.

But Bagnaia helped put them back on top of the MotoGP world last year, and is poised to win back-to-back titles this season.

He currently leads the MotoGP standings, with five grand prix wins from the first 10 rounds.