On Track Off Road No.181

Pecco Bagnaia: World Champ
I still think that for our team each and
every win is something incredible. My
best this year was in Thailand [round fifteen]
because it was me and Luca versus
Miguel and Brad. SKY versus Ajo! And
we won the battle. I don’t think Team
Ajo were expecting us to be in the race
because we were fast but not like them
and we made a little step and could beat
them. That was really nice. The best of
the year.
Away from the bike what is it like to be
a race winner and champion?
More media. I also have more people
saying congratulations…even some that
said a few years ago I was nothing. It is
important at this time to know which
people you need to have around you;
those who love you and those that you
can trust. I understand that very much
now and have made a small step in that
respect. [At the beginning] you get surrounded
just because you are a [Grand
Prix] rider…that’s not correct.
“The dream changes, or maybe I should say the
objective changes every year. I think the big dream
is to do something with my life that I enjoy. And
with a smile. My objective is to be one of the fastest
motorcycle riders in the world...”
Does the performance matter more than
the result for you?
For sure. An example: in Japan it would
have been easy just to ride around to
second place because Fabio was really
fast in the lead and I had a gap over
Balda [Lorenzo Baldassarri] in third.
But I’m not like this in a race. I think it
was one of the hardest races this year
in which I really had to push from the
first lap to the last to try to win. I’d had
other victories where it had been easier
to control things. In Austria I caught up
to Miguel and when I reached him then
I could stop pushing and could do what
I wanted. In Japan I wanted to give my
maximum. If I can do that in a race then
it makes a result even better.
Are there other things to worry about
now? Not just the bike, the result, the
performance but also your appearances,
profile, social media, sponsor obligations?
Yes, but maybe not at the level of a MotoGP
rider still. It’s coming though. You
have to take more care of things like Instagram
and what kind of posts and the
kind of image you want show. You cannot
make a ‘story’ when you’re at a party
with a drink! I mean, it’s not my problem
but it is something you cannot really do.
You have to make a good example for the
people that follow you and your fans.