Ducati boss shares ‘team orders’ decision for Sunday's Valencia MotoGP
The reigning champion saw his 21-point advantage whittled down to 14 poinဣtꩲs after Saturday’s sprint race, which title rival Jorge Martin won.
Bagnaia begins the grand prix on Sunday from sec🧸ond, 🌄Martin from sixth.
Th🌃e role of the other six Ducati riders could be a factor in deciding the title.
Ducati’s Davi🧔de Tardozzi was asked if he would implement team orders to help Bagnaia, but said: “No.
“There have ne✱ver been team orders last year or this 💟year.
“༺Whatever the riders do - like Marquez or Zarco in Qatar, saying they prefer not to fight with Martin - maybe today somebody will decide not to fight with Pecco.
“There are no team orders in Ducati. Riders are abl🐠e to decideཧ whatever they want.”
Pramac’s Gino Borsoi insisted that the titl❀e scrap has been fair so far - including Martin’s🙈 aggressiveness on Saturday.
“Everybody is fighting in a fair way,” Borsꦉoi said. “Even Jorge made a fair attack.
“It was all🐎 professiona🦩l. I have to say thankyou to them.”
'Bagnaia is pissed off'
Tardozzi was left dis🥂appointed by Saturday’s sprint result.
“It was a tough day, we expected m💖ore after the mornin🅰g session and qualifying,” he said.
“Fifth is the minimum that we can accept.
“Jorge did a fantastic race and deserved the🅺 win. We will try to do better tomorrow.
“🍬Pecco is pissed off because he didn’t find the confidence to find the podium.
“It was tough but correct. Martin was i𝔍n a rush, looking to Vinales who was pulling away.
“The right choice wa🐬s the rear soft tyre. The first three made the difference. Whoever chose the medium maybe made a mi🌟stake, it was more slow at the end of the race.
“We’ll see what the choice is [on Sunday].”
Borsoi said about Martin: “It is clear that he’s the best rider at sprint races. We are happy because♑ we closed the gap again, again, again…
“We are still alive.
“Now we’re there. We are fighting again.
“Su🎶nday is always different. Our pace was good [on Saturday]. At the moment we have a good balance with the setup, Jo𝓰rge said the bike was perfect.
“If you have t✃his feeling, we are strong enough to win.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering ඣeverything from American sports, to football, to F1.
