Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi instructed Francesco Bagnaia to ‘stop being a gentleman’ during the 2024 MotoGP season, a new documentary released by the Italian manufacturer has revealed.
Despite being on the back foot for almost the entire year, Bagnaia continued to show respect to Pramac rival Jorge Martin in the title run-in, with the two never trading blows on track or engaging in a war of words in the media.
But this conservative approach angered Ducati chief Tardozzi during the sprint race at Buriram, where Martin ran both riders wide at the exit of Turn 1 after making a rapid launch from third on the grid.
Bagnaia, who had started from pole, ultimately finished in third after Martin demoted him in the final laps with a bold but fair pass.
It prompted Tardozzi to issue a strongly-worded message to the two-time premier class champion, encouraging him to be more aggressive on track against his rivals or risk losing out the title.
“Pecco, Martin had the guts - the guts to knock you out,” he said. “Because he was already positioned like this [pointing towards him] on the grid. He had already decided that he was going to bother you. He did what he had to do.
“That’s what you’ve got to do tomorrow [in the main race]. You can’t always be the gentleman. You just can’t because these guys are kicking your ass.
“He targeted you at the first corner. He had already decided that he was going to run into you. There’s no doubt about that.
“So you need to stop being such a gentleman because all these guys will tear you apart.”
Following the disappointment in the sprint, Bagnaia defeated Martin the following day to win the Thai Grand Prix.
This brought the Pramac rider’s championship lead down to 17 points, but a mistake next time out in the half-distance race in Malaysia undid his good work and ultimately cost him the 2024 title.
The final margin between Bagnaia and Martin was 10 points.
