Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati has stated that in the next three races, he will not make any frantic or aggressive moves on Fabio Quartararo in order to keep his slim MotoGP title hopes alive.
Bagnaia has been on a roll of late, winning back-to-back races at Aragon and Misano and finishing third in the Grand Prix of the Americas on Sunday.
Quartararo, who finished second to increase his championship lead to 52 points over Bagnaia, will have his first opportunity to win the title in the upcoming Emilia Romagna GP.
Dominique Aegerter collided with Jordi Torres on the final lap of the MotoE finale in Misano three weeks ago and won the race — only to be penalized post-race, giving Torres back-to-back titles in the series.
Bagnaia stated when asked if he would have to make risky moves on Quartararo to keep his title hopes alive: “I’m here just to try to close this gap that looks like it’s impossible to close.
“But I’m just trying to… I’m more relaxed than Fabio, I think, because Fabio has to think about the championship.
“I have to think only to be as competitive as possible and I’m not saying that Fabio’s not relaxed, but I’m more calm I think.
“For sure, I will not do something like Aegerter because if you have the possibility to overtake, you overtake, and if you don’t have it it’s too risky to do something.
“We don’t have eight, seven points between us, but 50, so I think that’s not something that I have to do.”
Bagnaia added: “I will not give up, but Fabio this year has done a great job.
“He was the best at the start and is the one who remained more constant, so he’s really a great rider. So, he will have the possibility to win.
“We know where we lose these points, so in these last three, four races we are doing a really good job, we are improving, we are learning.
“So, we are more competitive and Fabio is doing a really great job.”
Quartararo said after his Austin podium that he “doesn’t need to be obsessed” with winning the title in Misano later this month, and that he will treat the race as any other.
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