Bagnaia now has to “take a risk” to beat Quartararo and win the MotoGP

Banya starts this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix just two points behind Quartararo, overcoming a 91-point deficit from June’s German Grand Prix.

The Italian has only recently begun to publicly consider himself a title contender, but remains adamant that he won’t be changing his approach to racing right now.

As a result, he admits he now has to “take a chance” to beat Quartararo, although he admits Phillip Island is “not the best” for Ducati.

“I definitely have to take risks, like him,” said Banya, who finished eighth overall on Friday, when asked about the title battle. “We all have to take risks at this point because it’s so important to be ahead.

“These two races are definitely not the best for our bike, but we have already shown on tracks where we were slow last year, we were competitive this year. So, let’s see. In any case, I will follow the same strategy as in the past races.

“We will push and try to do our best and try not to think too much about the championship. It’s good to think about the championship, but this is the moment to attack.”

Banya says he was hit hard by the wind in both practice sessions on Friday at Phillip Island, losing speed on one lap in sectors one and three.

“Honestly, I was fighting the wind this morning,” he added. “Then we did something that helped a lot in the second and third outs and I improved my pace a lot.

“Then in the afternoon the wind was even stronger and maybe because of my setting or my riding style I struggled a bit.

“Then we took another step forward and in the third outing with the old tires I showed a pretty good pace and I’m happy about that.

“But in the time attack I did not do a very good lap. So, it’s true, I’m quite happy with how I felt before the last time attack in FP2, but I’m not happy with the time attack.

“It seems that in the first and third sector I am so far behind, in the second and fourth I am ahead. So it’s strange, but we already know what to do.”