The 'brotherhood': here's how VR46 sided with Bagnaia

"I say what they tell me to say."
We tried to go back with our memories, and since no similar episode came to mind we tried to imagine Eddie Lawson, Mick Doohan or Max Biaggi uttering something like this.

Yet he said it, today, Pecco Bagnaia to those who asked him for more information about the 'loan' of Morbidelli's GP24 at the Misano test.

It was a declaration, moreover, avoidable...unless Uccio's confession cleared a borderline situation that the Borgo Panigale factory had kept secret until then.

Davide Tardozzi, today, complained in his usual, likeable, sanguine style that all eyes are always on Ducati and that these things, a certain kind of pseudo-secrets brought to light, happen only with it. But they don't!

We brought to light Pigiamino 's decision to leave KTM and Enea Bastianini recently. And we did so when we realized that the engineer was not in the Beast's garage at the Red Bull Ring. We also revealed the farewell of Fabiano Sterlacchini and Francesco Guidotti.

We talked about Toprak Razgatlioglu at Yamaha even before the Iwata factory made Miller's confirmation and Oliveira's farewell official.

Indiscretions were made about talks between Pedro Acosta and VR46...and whatever, it seems he was only offered a coffee, to hear Uccio...in short, we always talk about everyone. Or at least, those who are in the cone of light of the spotlight. That's normal. It's fair. It's fair because the fans don't just want to see the Grand Prix, they also get into the behind-the-scenes stuff.

We personally like the Grands Prix, more than anything else, but the success of Drive to Survive confirms that the public also wants to know what goes on behind the secret doors.

Sports has become a bit like the world of cinema: viewers not only want to see a good show, good stories, but they also avidly follow the lives of the actors and even their companions and even companion animals, as the recent story of Lewis Hamilton's special friend Bulldog Roscoe, to be next to whom the 7-time world champion even gave up a Ferrari test, has shown.

A step forward for sure for a world that, until recently, only cared about the number of horsepower, peak torque and maximum rpm of an engine...or did it?

That's a question, guys, that a boomer cannot answer, because the world goes on repeating itself, but not in a linear and predictable way: sometimes we go backwards, sometimes there are little jumps forward.

What is certain is that you have to adapt, so talk about the changes, maybe even criticize them, but always one step forward. Never get overtaken...heh heh...you see, in the end the key rule of motorsport always remains relevant.

This is the second time, after the revelation about the fourth GP26 for Alex Marquez.

In the case in question - the loan of Morbidelli's GP24 - Ducati has literally had its paint stripped off  by Uccio Salucci, and since Valentino Rossi's fraternal friend is certainly no slouch, his declaration opens up more questions. Not least because he had already recently unabashedly stated his truth by revealing that the GP26 that will be gifted to Alex Marquez in 2026 in gratitude for his performance this year had in fact been offered to VR46, which turned it down. No matter for what reasons.

In short, there is a dichotomy, if we don't want to call it by other words, between VR46's strategy and Ducati's strategy. Collision course? Well, two coincidences make a clue.

For the meantime, let's enjoy these question marks. It's all just the salt of the sport.

But, Ducati, let's face it, you've been tarred twice by VR46's lying statements.