Francesco Bagnaia (Turin, Italy, 26 years old) is the third rider in the modern MotoGP era to successfully defend his title, a milestone only two of the championship’s greatest legends, Marc Márquez and Valentino Rossi, can achieve. Ducati’s number one was crowned premier class world champion for the second time in a row this Sunday with victory at the Valencia GP. It was enough for him to go at his own pace and take advantage of his competitors’ mistakes. He already knew he was the winner on the sixth lap when Jorge Martín collided with the rear of Marc Márquez’s bike, ending his dream of winning the title. In the first season in its 75-year history with a double dose of racing on the weekends, Pecco once again proved to be the most intelligent and calm representative of the motorcycle army of the Bologna brand, the great dominator of the championship. “I’m very happy because it wasn’t necessary, but I always dreamed of winning by winning,” he cheered. All the greats of their time did that.
The new champion hardly shied away from the psychological game of Martín, the Spanish candidate who pestered him until the last test with a satellite motorcycle. Bagnaia refused to interfere and limited himself to fulfilling his work schedule throughout the weekend. He remained virtually undecided with the title as he achieved a second-place finish on Saturday with the flair of a win in qualifying, although the Madrid native later countered with a win in the ‘sprint’, extending his fight until his crash in the race, which has been a spectacular one World Cup ended.
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The 25-year-old Pramac rider, a great cheerleader of this second stage of the World Championship, achieved the feat despite everything going against him. Math was complicated, no matter how much he insisted. The final blow, which came shortly after a crash at the limit on the third lap as he pressed his rival for the title, also provided the bitterest end to Márquez’s farewell to the Honda. The eight-time world champion was thrown in the contestant incident and was taken to hospital in pain after hitting the gravel head first. “This is racing, the title was on the line and I won’t blame him. “He was optimistic and he was excited about Maverick,” said the Catalan, who was able to return to the pits on his own two feet and toast all the good times he had spent with his team.
Martín was dejected and took a long time to take off his helmet. He hid his tears between the hugs of his entire team and the Ducati bosses. “I feel lucky because after the difficult moment I am grateful for the team I have and the people around me. “I promised them that we would be champions,” he said. Their idea is to maintain the current structure despite the possibility of promotion to the official structure. Cheste, with 93,000 fans in the stands, vibrated at the final fireworks of the championship, one of the most exciting in history, which was only cleared by 39 points after 20 Grands Prix and 39 races held. Despite the title’s prompt denouement, the test left several borderline situations and unexpected twists in the script. While in the lead, the KTMs of Brad Binder and Jack Miller made successive errors, handing victory to the world champion, accompanied on the podium by two other Ducatis, those of Fabio DiGiannantonio and Johann Zarco. A penalty two hours after the test took second place away from Gresini and gave the pits back to Binder.
It is said in his garage that Bagnaia radiates his unwavering calm throughout the building. “He never loses his temper,” praises one of the prominent members of his circle. “He’s more head than heart, he’s very analytical, but not cold, just calm,” he adds. The three-time world champion celebrated his title like an NBA star. He dipped his toes on the track and won three rings, one for each World Cup victory on his record (two in MotoGP and one in Moto2). Pecco was able to withstand the strong pressure from Martín, being faster on one lap but also more volatile in strategy, until the last lap of the championship. At Ducati they are proud of how their mainstay, without team orders and with the same weapons, withstood the chicanery of the Spanish competitor, who took the lead on Saturday at the Indonesian GP, the fifteenth round of the year, after overcoming 66 points in just four championships -Stations.
In Mandalika, the Italian demonstrated his full confidence in defending number one with a brilliant comeback on Sunday, when he won the race from thirteenth place on the grid. The champion’s traditional number had not been seen on the starting grid since 2012, and he chose it even though no one had won with it since 1998. “Pure personal demands,” they explain from their box. “If you wear one, you have to show it later,” he remembers. One of the people who knows Bagnaia’s development and achievements best is Cristian Gabarrini, his technical boss since he moved up to the premier class as Moto2 champion in 2019. “When he started with us, the hardest thing for him was braking hard and staying behind.” Tire management. These are two of his strengths right now. “In general, he is very good at managing and analyzing competitive races,” he emphasizes.
Bagnaia’s composure off the pitch reflects his style on the pitch. The Turin native doesn’t have to set the best time in training and prefers to sacrifice the fastest lap in order to optimize his machine for Saturday and Sunday. Even in Valencia he kept a cool head and did not let himself be disturbed despite the cat-and-mouse game that Martín suggested to distract him. When he dropped to fifteenth place on Friday, he seemed so cool and just admitted it wasn’t a good day for them. Based on the study of the data and discussion with the technicians, the champion tends to go from less to more every weekend, an unmistakable rhythm. “You can have the best electronics, the best technical manager and everything you want, but within a few hours everyone in the brand knows what you do and how you do it. “The data is there and the responsibility to make something happen lies with the riders,” emphasizes Gabarrini, who is aware of the difficulty of outperforming the other seven riders on an equal footing with the best motorcycle on the grid.
Bagnaia’s title comes after a year in which he was able to finish on the podium at every Grand Prix in which he did not crash. “It’s strange. For me, the key to the year was its consistency, also its weakest point. He had certain moments of inconsistency, but if you look closely, we have five zeros and the rest were podiums,” emphasizes the coach, who has worked with Casey Stoner and Marc Márquez in the past. In total, Bagnaia has won seven long races and achieved 15 podiums in 20 Grands Prix, in addition to four sprints and 13 podiums on Saturdays. In his fierce defense, he was always able to respond to Martín’s victories in the new format (9) by either minimizing the damage or bringing more points into the grand prize total calculation.
His biggest challenge this season has been overcoming the physical and psychological impact of his heavy crash at the Catalan GP, which also coincided with Martín’s moment of emergence. Despite this accident, which bordered on tragedy, he was on the bike the following weekend and achieved two important podium finishes despite the severe pain resulting from his crash. “It’s been a very difficult season, especially since Barcelona, which was a very hard blow. Since then it has been very difficult for me to find speed on Saturdays,” he admitted. “Today we will all celebrate, we deserve it. “I am very, very happy because this year was more difficult than the last,” he added. The Turin native, very reserved and little interested in fame, said that this title will allow him to have a relaxing winter with Domizia, his fiancée. In Pesaro he leads a quiet life and is responsible for shopping and cooking at home. He will experience the greatest joy of his life in July 2024 when his wedding is planned.
Bagnaia’s success lies in his popular character and his routine, which has remained unchanged since his arrival at the VR46 Academy, the cradle of Italian masters designed by Valentino. There he continues to train every day alongside the best talents in the country, who have their new role model and idol in him, a situation that he neither needs nor fears. Pecco, champion on and off the track, is so polite and proper that he even waits for the avalanche of journalists who want to talk to him after winning the title: “Are you all there? Okay, let’s get started.”
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