Pecco Bagnaia in the Eye of the Storm; Marco Melandri Reappears and Lets Loose
In MotoGP, and particularly at Ducati, the Pecco Bagnaia situation is the talk of the town. Marco Melandri also commented on what happened last weekend, speaking his mind in a video on Instagram: “Is he on his own? I didn’t see any VR46 representatives in the pit, and that’s a red flag for me—a rider in such a delicate situation needs to be protected.”
“I’ve never seen them take a stand and side with the rider; it happened to me in the past, and my manager tried to protect me,” emphasized the former rider, now a DJ. He added: “I don’t think Ducati wants to boycott its own rider—what would be the point? They need to sell bikes and show that the bike performs well with multiple riders, with different riding styles. If only Marquez were fast, he’d be the phenomenon—not the bike.”
Upon arriving in Austria, Bagnaia immediately spoke to the media to clarify the situation: “I was probably naive in assessing the situation, because I tend to assume people are acting in good faith, when in fact they aren’t. In this case, my words were taken out of context in a video that shouldn’t have existed, and DAZN has already apologized to me for this, because that’s not how we work,” according to Motorsport.
“I’m sick and tired of the controversy and the mess—there’s already been way too much of it. I understand that once this controversy broke, journalists jumped on it, because you can never afford to fall behind. Let’s just say I didn’t underestimate the situation, because I always assume people are acting in good faith.”
Bagnaia explains that his words “were taken out of context, because the conversation was a bit different. My last sentence was wrong, but it was said in a moment of nervousness and frustration. I’ve always said in every interview I’ve given that Ducati is supporting me in every possible way. So I didn’t like the way that episode was reported at all. I understand that some of you enjoy a bit of controversy, but I also believe that respect must be at the center of everything; I think I’ve always behaved well toward journalists.”
