The new MotoGP season is about to begin, and one of the natural title contenders is Francesco Bagnaia – who has been the champion for the last two years. Jorge Lorenzo believes that the Ducati rider starts as the favorite, but not without facing strong opposition.
The former rider analyzed the characteristics of the Italian in an interview with the MotoGP official website: ‘I think Pecco is that kind of rider who’s like a robot, similar to what I was when I was competing. They need everything going perfect to feel strong and when they feel strong, they are unbeatable. I think these two world titles that he won made him believe much more in himself and now his confidence is in the sky’.
Lorenzo believes that Bagnaia is highly confident and considers that he had the right strategy in the tests: ‘He has a very strong confidence in himself, he knows the bike perfectly because from 2019 it’s five years with the same bike. He made the evolution in the last few years of the new Ducati – so Ducati takes his notes to create the bike with his riding style, so this is very important. But especially, Pecco needs to feel he’s important in the team, to feel he has everything in a perfect situation and then he demonstrates it on the track. That’s what he did in the pre-season: try to show to his rivals he’s still the best, he’s still the number one, to make them put the head down and don’t show up or take away his confidence. So I think the strategy was perfect, but now it’s time for racing’.
The three-time world champion of the premier class then spoke about Bagnaia’s potential opponents, emphasizing, however, that he sees him as the clear favorite: ‘We can see Jorge Martín, who makes the pole position and starts very well at the beginning of the races. We can see Marc Márquez, who never gives up and he will try always to be in the front because he’s like a bulldog. And for sure [Enea] Bastianini is feeling better with this new 2024 bike than with the 2023. For sure KTM will be there, Aprilia, so many question marks that need to be discovered. But of course Pecco is the favourite, I believe’.