Francesco Bagnaia says Jorge Martin will find the nerves as favourite in a MotoGP title showdown “tough” and warns “nerves can make you more aggressive and make errors”.
Pramac’s Martin leads Bagnaia in the standings by 24 points coming into this weekend’s final round of the 2024 campaign at Barcelona.
The event is being called the Solidarity Grand Prix, following the deadly flooding in Valencia earlier this month that led to the race there being cancelled.
Both riders fought to the final round of the season last year, though Bagnaia held the advantage of 21 points coming into the 2023 Valencia GP which ultimately helped him to his second MotoGP title.
In 2022, Bagnaia was favourite to win the title as he held a 23-point advantage over Fabio Quartararo coming to the final round but struggled to ninth because of the nerves - though this was still enough to secure the crown.
With Martin the favourite coming into the Solidarity GP but never having been in this situation before, Bagnaia thinks the nerves of the moment could get to his rival.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Ducati’s Bagnaia told TNT Sport when asked if nerves could yet play a part in Martin’s championship challenge.
“For Jorge, it will be tough because it’s the first time he is fighting for a championship in MotoGP.
“So, I know the feeling and I think he will try to do the maximum, but sometimes nerves can make you more aggressive and make errors.
“So, right now the only thing that I need is to continue pushing, continue trying to win and hoping.”
Bagnaia has won 10 grands prix in 2024, including the previous Malaysian GP after an epic duel with Martin over the first three laps.
The factory Ducati rider was quicker than Martin throughout this year’s Catalan GP at Barcelona, though crashed out of the lead of the sprint before going on to win Sunday’s race.
Confident in his speed at Barcelona, Bagnaia is cautious that the cooler temperatures of running a race there in November heightens the risk of making a mistake.
“We will try,” he added about continuing his early-season Barcelona form this weekend.
“We know how strong I was in Barcelona in June, but it will be tricky for the conditions because I think it will be very cold and easy to do some mistakes.
“So, it will be important to remain calm, try to avoid any mistakes, try to win both races and continue this way. It’s the only way possible to try to win.”
