Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi gave Francesco Bagnaia a clear message at this year’s Thailand GP, as revealed in a new documentary
In a new documentary series on YouTube, Ducati is giving exclusive insights into Francesco Bagnaia’s title fight, also showing the tense atmosphere behind the scenes – for example at this year’s Thai Grand Prix.
There, Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi told his driver to stop “being a gentleman” after he allowed title rival Jorge Martin to push him at the start of the sprint race.
Although Bagnaia was behind throughout the season, he continued to show great respect for his Pramac rival. There were no direct confrontations or verbal exchanges either on or off the track.
But this reserved approach particularly annoyed Tardozzi at the aforementioned sprint race in Buriram. He criticized Bagnaias lack of aggressiveness before, especially at a time when his title chances were already fading.
“Pecco, Martin had the guts – the guts to take you out,” Tardozzi said. ”Because he had positioned himself on the grid like that. He had already decided he was going to annoy you. He did what he had to do.”
“That’s exactly what you have to do tomorrow (in the main race). You can’t always be the gentleman. You just can’t, because these guys will kick your ass. He targeted you in the first corner. He had already decided that he would crash with you. There’s no doubt about it.”
“So stop being a gentleman, because these guys will tear you apart,” Tardozzi told Bagnaia. He needs to be more aggressive on track against his rivals, otherwise he risks losing the title.
Bagnaia, who started from pole, ultimately finished the sprint in third place after Martin pushed him into second place with a bold but fair overtaking maneuver on the last few laps. The following day, Bagnaia defeated Martin to win the Thai Grand Prix.
This reduced the Pramac rider’s lead in the championship to 17 points. But a mistake in the following sprint race in Malaysia undid Bagnaia’s good work and ultimately cost him the 2024 title. In the end, just ten points separated Bagnaia and Martin.