The Italian did not swallow the decision of the commissioners not to punish Takaaki Nakagami for the accident in the first corner of the Catalunya GP. The Ducati Italian recalled Michael Masi's departure from the Formula 1 race directorate and said that changes need to be made so that the same issues don't have to be debated over and over again
Francesco Bagnaia followed Álex Rins and upped the tone against MotoGP's race management. Although he adopted a more polite manner, the Italian demanded changes and called for riders to have more say in the process. The Ducati owner stressed that he does not agree with the decision to label the accident caused by Takaaki Nakagami in the first corner of the Catalunya GP as a race incident.
12th on the Catalunya grid, Nakagami started the race at a fast pace and delayed his braking to try to climb the field in the first few meters. The Japanese driver delayed braking to try to gain as many positions as possible, but he fell and hit his head on Bagnaia's rear wheel, knocking the Italian down. To make matters worse, the LCR rider collected Rins, who crashed heavily and fractured his left wrist.
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Nakagami was taken to the medical center, where initial tests ruled out major injuries, but he was still referred to a local hospital, where he spent the night in the ICU under observation. The Japanese player was barred from the group test on Monday.
Speaking to the press on Sunday, Pecco called for more "common sense" and said that world championship pilots are expected to know that they cannot execute maneuvers like that.
"Lucio Cecchinello [LCR boss] also complained. I think we need a little more common sense. It is expected that in a world championship you have skills at a certain level. We don't need to look at Nakagami's data, it's clear that he braked at the wrong time. If everybody takes their hand off, you can't continue with the throttle fully open, cut the other riders off and do the first corner like that," Bagnaia said. "We've been in MotoGP for many years, he's been in the World Championship before me, it's expected that he has the ability not to knock everybody out in the first brake," he followed.
"If you look at his history, every time he is in front, he never finishes. In my opinion, it's time we take measures to make him understand, if he understands, that this is not good," he stressed.
Asked how serious Nakagami's mistake was, Pecco replied, "It always depends on how it's done. I crashed in Qatar and made [Jorge] Martín crash, there were nine laps to go and it was a very serious mistake, but we were not in the first corner of the first lap. We all know that at that point we have to keep a small margin, and with Nakagami, it's not the first time he's made mistakes like that."
"In my opinion, it's irresponsible driving. When I heard that no action would be taken, I was surprised, especially since a former driver is in charge of the commissioners," he commented.
Bagnaia, however, did not get to talk directly with former driver Freddie Spencer, who, since 2018, has been part of the race direction.
"No. Livio Suppo [Suzuki boss] made a complaint and they didn't even think about accepting it, because they said it was a racing accident, but I don't think that's the case," he stressed.
The Ducati rider then followed up with Rins and suggested that it is important to make changes from the race direction. The Italian cited the example of Michael Masi, who was removed from his post in Formula 1 after a misinterpretation of safety-car rules interfered with the 2021 championship decider between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi GP.
"Cecchinello said he would accept a punishment for Nakagami and that he hoped Spencer's arrival would bring more competence, but that was not the case," Pecco said. "In Formula One, Michael Masi made some decisions last year that were not right for everyone and now he is no longer in office, so the drivers should have more of a voice," he defended.
"I've never allowed myself to say anything regarding this issue because I was one of the last to arrive, but we've been discussing it for years, and if certain things happen all the time, then something needs to change," he noted.
MotoGP returns to the track on June 19 for the German GP at Sachsenring, the tenth round of the 2022 season.GRANDE PRÊMIO is following all the activities of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship.