Manufacturing unit Ducati rider and reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia sits atop the MotoGP standings, with Pramac’s Jorge Martin and Mooney VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi nonetheless in competition to assert glory.
Final season Ducati let Bagnaia and then-Gresini rider Enea Bastianini scrap wheel-to-wheel because the championship race heated up.
“Everyone stated ‘group orders!’ We didn’t give group orders,” sporting director Ciabatti insisted.
“There was a second with Bezzecchi fourth, closing on Fabio Quartararo in third [in Sepang].
“If he was third, Bagnaia would clinch the title which was crucial.
“We stated: ‘What lets do if Marco passes Fabio?’”
Ultimately, it didn’t occur, sparing Ducati an ungainly determination.
However, such is their dominance this yr, that three of their riders are contesting the MotoGP title.
Ciabatti responded to claims that he’ll implement group orders to determine who’s allowed to cross: “Not true. Individuals may assume I’m mendacity, however I’m not.
“I inform our riders: ‘Please don’t take out one other Ducati rider making an attempt an over-ambitious cross, don’t do it on one other Ducati when they’re preventing for the championship’.
“That’s the solely factor I’ve ever stated.
“I by no means stated to anybody: ‘You must keep behind’.
“We all know a rider, when he has an opportunity to win, needs to win.
“I don’t need to see anymore of the Andrea Iannone-Andrea Dovizioso [famous collision in Argentina in 2016] on the final nook! That’s the one factor I don’t need to see between Ducati riders.”
Iannone notoriously worn out each himself and teammate Dovizioso simply metres from the tip of the Argentina MotoGP seven years in the past.
It price Dovizioso the chance to battle Marc Marquez for the championship, an almighty blow for Ducati amid their years of wrestle.
That interval solely ended final yr when Bagnaia delivered Ducati their first title since Casey Stoner’s in 2022, and he did it with fellow Ducati rider Bastianini as his fiercest competitor within the last weeks.