In a recent interview, Pietro Bagnaia, the father of the current world champion in the MotoGP class, confided to journalists the story of how he once almost forbade his son to race motorcycles.
Francesco fulfilled his childhood dream this year and became the first Italian MotoGP world champion since Valentino Rossi in 2009. But a fight between the young racer and his father could soon turn that dream into dust.
"We only had a fight once in our lives," Pietro told MOW Mag.
"I threatened him to stop racing. In the younger categories, parents often argued with each other because of things that happened on the track between their children."
"These were very unpleasant scenes for Pecc, which made him very nervous. He was also angry with me several times, because I didn't want to get involved in this chaos myself."
"I don't know if he wanted or expected me to get involved in the fight, but I quickly let him know that if things like this keep happening and he continues to suffer like this instead of having fun, we will stop racing."
"It was the first and last time I raised my voice against him. Even then it was very difficult because Pecco is a really good guy. You easily forgive him for everything."
When asked by journalists what he had to sacrifice as a father for his son's career, he answered:
"In the history of motorsport, there are many stories about the extraordinary sacrifice of fathers for the careers of their sons. Personally, I wouldn't say I had to sacrifice in any way. I did everything in my power to give my son the best conditions for success in motorcycling. Now I am overjoyed to see how he enjoys it and is very successful at it. We are still very close as a family, which means a lot to me.”
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