MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia says Ducati has already had the chance to tip the scales in his favour in the 2024 title battle - and has elected not to do so.
Bagnaia, representing the Ducati works team, is going up against satellite Ducati rider Jorge Martin in a head-to-head for the title for a second straight year, although this time there is even more incentive for Ducati to want to see Bagnaia prevail.
Martin, having been overlooked for a works team promotion in favour of Marc Marquez, is leaving the Ducati camp in favour of an Aprilia move next year, and would likely have the number one plate on the Aprilia RS-GP should he triumph this year.
It has led to a debate over whether Ducati would make a concerted effort to ensure the title remains 'in-house' - and a forceful move on Martin by Bagnaia's team-mate Enea Bastianini at Misano added fuel to the fire.
Now, Tech3 Gas Gas rider Pedro Acosta has helped keep the matter in the spotlight - as part of his self-admitted desire to see more spice and more of a needle in what he and most others acknowledge has been a very cordial title battle.
Prompted by MotoGP to put in a question for the Australian Grand Prix Thursday press conference, Acosta asked Bagnaia and Martin about Ducati interference in the riders' championship.
Bagnaia immediately met that question with a delighted "I hope!" - but his subsequent answer, as well as his past record of never having publicly asked for team orders or favouritism, made it clear that was a joke.
"I think if they wanted to help me in some way, already in Misano I could have something better than what is already our package," he pointed out.
"Because we tried a new chassis, and the chassis is not ready for everybody, so we are not using it.
"Also because it's more correct that it is like this. I think Gigi [Dall'Igna, Ducati general manager and tech chief] was always clear on that, as soon as I started riding with Ducati. And more in the last two seasons.
"The factory teams [all] have the same package, nothing more, nothing less. If I have something new, everybody has something new. I think it's a different strategy compared to others, but it's the strategy that put Ducati [to where it is right now]. Now Ducati is so competitive for that reason, for that strategy.
"I don't think - and I don't believe - that something will change for [the season finale in] Valencia."
The "strategy" referenced by Bagnaia is likely Ducati's famed reliance on data-sharing between its bikes, which is aided by keeping as many of them as possible as close in spec as possible.
As for the chassis, he had spoken about it before, describing it as being top of his wishlist for 2025 as it was "super good" in the Misano test between the two grands prix there.
"Unluckily I can't use it right now, could be a good help," he said last month. "But they are not ready to give that to all the four GP24s so I will not use it."
Martin, for his part, refused to get drawn in on the question of Ducati favouritism - not suggesting it but also hardly ruling it out.
"I don't know. For me, I can't control that, so I won't focus on that. I will focus on riding," he said.
"I hope for sure no, I hope no, but I will focus on what I can control, that is riding at my 100 percent and try to be fast."
