Bagnaia: “True fan” reaction to Mugello MotoGP win overrules social media critics

Francesco Bagnaia says the reaction he received for his MotoGP Italian Grand Prix win came from “true fans”, which is more “important” than his social media critics.

The factory Ducati rider cruised to his third grand prix victory of the 2023 season in front of his home fans at Mugello, capping off an Italian GP weekend in which he also qualified on pole and won the sprint contest.

This comes after Bagnaia was involved in more online criticism for comments he made about the competitiveness of MotoGP now, which were taken out of context.

However, this is just one of numerous incidents in which Bagnaia has faced backlash on social media, including his drink/driving incident and ill-thought Dennis Rodman tribute helmet at Misano in 2022.

Faced with a rapturous fan club reception and adulation from the track-invading crown under the podium, Bagnaia says this put things into better perspective for him.

“It’s always like this,” he said about his home support.

“You can be criticised always, but where? On social media. But you go on track and see that [support], it’s unbelievable. It’s one of the best things ever.

“It’s the first time for me to see that, and this is the true fan. This is the thing that is most important for me.

Source: Autosport