For the second consecutive year, Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín are locked in an intense battle for the MotoGP title, staying a few steps ahead of their rivals. Despite this fierce rivalry, it has not yet resulted in tensions or controversial situations like other famous rivalries in the history of the premier class.
In a press conference, Bagnaia (Ducati) emphasized the importance of respect between riders, also noting that he has known his rival from Prima Pramac for many years:
– When there is respect, there is peace outside and war inside the track, but always with respect. We know each other for a long time, and I’ve never understood riders that change their relationships during the championship.
While Bagnaia acknowledged that relationships between riders can shift when fighting for the same goal, he stressed that nothing has changed with Martín: ‘It’s true that when you are fighting for the same objective, you change a bit, but the respect has to be always there and it looks like that we are still in the same situation as the last year or when we were younger’.