Factory Ducati MotoGP rider Francesco Bagnaia believes he has done a “better job” than Pramac’s Jorge Martin in terms of pure results this season but would be “happy” if his rival is crowned champion.
Bagnaia is on the verge of losing his riders' crown to Martin in this weekend’s final showdown at Barcelona, having dropped 24 points behind in the standings.
Although the Italian has shown sensational form on the Ducati this year, winning 10 out of the 19 grands prix held so far, a series of crashes and unforced errors have been his undoing, including an incident during a critical point of the championship in the Malaysian GP sprint race.
But the two-time champion feels his performances have been superior to those of Martin, who has won just three times on Sundays this year, and that a lack of consistency has left him trailing the Pramac rider in the championship.
Asked if Martin is more deserving of the title this year, he said: “I think both of us are deserving the title because [of] what we did.
“Absolutely, in terms of mistakes, I did a lot [of them] and if you want to be a champion you have to be more precise, more consistent and Jorge was more consistent than me.
“In terms of results, it's clear that we did a better job because I won 10 races on Sundays, six races on Saturdays. So in terms of pure results, we did a very good job.
“But I think both of us are deserving of the title. What I want to say is that it will be strange [to lose the title after winning 10 races].
“But in [any] case, [if] Jorge will win the title, I will be happy for him because we have known each other for a long time and I'm happy that a rider I know very well is deserving of the title.”
Bagnaia and Martin were in opposite positions heading into last year’s season finale at Valencia, with the latter then facing a 21-point deficit to his factory Ducati rival.
It prompted Martin to engage in some mind games over the course of the weekend, including following him on track during certain sessions, but Bagnaia made it clear that he wouldn’t resort to such practices in Barcelona.
“The only thing I will do is if he will start [the race] behind me I will not push,” he said.
“I know perfectly that on my side mind games are not working. So I never wanted to do, I never did and I will continue doing my job because then I think Jorge understood from the experience of last year that he just lost time doing this.
“It's better to do your job and prepare everything perfectly and then decide it in the race.”
