Bagnaia Brushes Off Rossi Heir Talk With MotoGP Title In His Sights

Francesco Bagnaia is not interested in comparisons with Valentino Rossi as he makes his bid to become the first Italian since the motorcycling legend to win the sport's biggest prize

Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Sep, 2022 ) :Francesco Bagnaia is not interested in comparisons with Valentino Rossi as he makes his bid to become the first Italian since the motorcycling legend to win the sport's biggest prize.

Ducati rider Bagnaia is 10 points behind MotoGP leader Fabio Quartararo with five Grands Prix remaining after winning four of the last five races and coming second in the most recent Aragon GP.

The 25-year-old is in a strong position to win Italy's first title since Rossi in 2009 and Ducati's first since Casey Stoner two years before, as French reigning champion Quartararo has struggled in recent races, crashing out in two of the last five.

"There can never be an heir to Valentino Rossi. Everyone needs to walk their own path," said Bagnaia in an interview with AFP.

"The most important thing for Ducati is to win, and it's no different whether it's an Italian, Frenchman or Spaniard doing it.

" After winning the San Marino MotoGP -- his fourth straight win -- earlier this month Bagnaia said that he would only think about winning the championship once he was "10 or five points away".

Now he can't avoid the title talk after slashing a points gap between him and Quartararo which five GPs ago stood at 91.

"We're all starting from scratch as of now. We know that in general the coming tracks are good for us," says Bagnaia.

"The important thing is to continue doing a good job, everything else will follow from that... We know we are good, but we still have 10 points to recover and it needs to be done as intelligently as possible."A first title for Bagnaia would also give Ducati just their second crown in the MotoGP class in a year in which they have dominated.