Francesco Bagnaia (Turin, Italy, 26 years old) is the third rider in the modern era of MotoGP to successfully defend his crown, a milestone only within the reach of two of the championship’s greatest legends, Marc Márquez and Valentino Rossi. Ducati’s number one was proclaimed world champion of the premier class for the second consecutive year this Sunday by winning the Valencia GP. It was enough for him to go at his pace and take advantage of the mistakes of his rivals. Already on the sixth lap he knew he was the winner, when Jorge Martín collided with the rear of Marc Márquez’s motorcycle and put an end to his dream of winning the title. In the first season in 75 years of history with a double dose of racing on the weekends, Pecco once again proved to be the most intelligent and calm of the army of motorcycles from the Bologna brand, the great dominator of the championship. “I am very happy, because it was not necessary, but I always dreamed of winning by winning,” he celebrated. This is what all the greats did in their day.
The new champion hardly flinched from the psychological game of Martín, the Spanish candidate who harassed him until the last test with a satellite motorcycle. Bagnaia did not get involved and limited himself to complying with his work plan throughout the weekend. The title left him practically tied when on Saturday he achieved a second position with the flavor of victory in the qualifying, although the Madrid native later managed to respond with a victory in the ‘sprint’ to prolong his fight until his fall in the race that has put a stop to a spectacular World Cup.
The 25-year-old Pramac driver, a great cheerleader for this second leg of the World Championship, carried out the feat despite everything going against him. Mathematics was complicated no matter how much he insisted. The final blow, which came shortly after a crash to the limit on the third lap when he was harassing his rival for the title, also caused the most bitter end to Márquez’s farewell with the Honda. The eight-time world champion was thrown in the incident with the candidate and was taken to the medical center in pain after hitting the gravel head first. “That’s racing, the title was at stake and I’m not going to blame him for anything. He has been optimistic, and he came hot from Maverick,” noted the Catalan, who was able to return to the garage on his own two feet and toast all the good times he had with his team.
Martín arrived at his crestfallen and took a long time to take off his helmet, hiding his tears between the hugs of his entire team and the Ducati bosses. “I feel happy, because after the hard moment I am grateful for the team I have and the people around me. I have promised you that we will be champions,” he noted. His idea is to continue with the current structure despite the possibility of moving up to the official one. Cheste, with 93,000 fans in the stands, vibrated with the final fireworks of the championship, one of the tightest in history, resolved by only 39 points after 20 grand prix and 39 races contested. Despite the prompt resolution of the title, the test left several actions on the limit and unexpected script twists. When they were in the lead, the KTMs of Brad Binder and Jack Miller made consecutive mistakes and handed victory on a plate to the world champion, accompanied by two other Ducatis, those of Fabio DiGiannantonio and Johann Zarco, on the podium. A penalty two hours after the test took away second place from Gresini and returned the box to Binder.
They say in his garage that Bagnaia spreads his imperturbable tranquility to the entire structure. “She never loses her temper,” praises one of the prominent members of her circle. “He is more head than heart, he is very analytical, but not cold, just serene,” he adds. The three-time world champion celebrated his title as if he were an NBA star. He dunked on the track and won three rings, one for each World Cup win on his record (two in MotoGP and one in Moto2). Pecco has been able to resist the sharp pressure of Martín, faster on one lap, but also more volatile in strategy, until the last round of the championship. At Ducati they are proud of how their mainstay has resisted without team orders and with the same weapons the harassment of the Spanish contender, who came to be the leader on Saturday of the Indonesian GP, the fifteenth round of the year, after overcoming 66 points in just four stops of the World Cup.
In Mandalika, the Italian demonstrated with a brilliant comeback on Sunday, when he won the race after starting from thirteenth position, his full confidence in the defense of the number one. The traditional digit of the champions had not been seen on the grid since 2012, and he chose it even though no one had won wearing it since 1998. “Pure self-demand,” they explain from his box. “If you wear one you must show it later,” he recalled. One of the people who best knows Bagnaia’s evolution and merits is Cristian Gabarrini, his technical chief since he rose as Moto2 champion to the premier class in 2019. “When he started with us, what was most difficult for him was to brake hard and rear tire management. Right now, these are two of his strong points. In general he is very good at managing and analyzing races while competing,” he points out.
Bagnaia’s serenity off the court reflects his style on it. The Turin native does not need to set the best time in practice sessions, and he prefers to sacrifice the fastest lap in order to optimize his machine for Saturday and Sunday. Even in Valencia he kept his cool and was not disturbed despite the cat and mouse game that Martín proposed to try to distract him. Sinking with fifteenth place on Friday, he appeared so cool and simply acknowledged that it was not a good day for them. Based on the study of the data and the discussion with the technicians, the champion tends to go from less to more each weekend, an infallible rhythm. “You can have the best electronics, the best technical manager and whatever you want, but in a matter of hours everyone in the brand knows what you are doing and how you are doing it. The data is there, and the responsibility to make a difference falls on the riders,” highlights Gabarrini, aware of the difficulty of surpassing on equal terms the other seven riders who have the best bike on the grid.
Bagnaia’s title comes after a year in which he has been able to get on the podium in all the grand prix in which he has not fallen. “It’s curious. For me, the key to the year, his consistency, has also been his weakest point. He has had certain moments of inconsistency, but if you look closely, we have five zeros and the rest have been podiums,” underlines the coach, who in the past worked with Casey Stoner and Marc Márquez. In total, Bagnaia has won seven long races and accumulated 15 podiums in 20 grands prix, in addition to taking four sprints and 13 podiums on Saturdays. In his fierce defense, he has always known how to respond to Martín’s victories in the new format (9), either by minimizing the damage, or by taking more points in the overall grand prize calculation.
His biggest challenge this season has been overcoming the physical and psychological impact of his serious fall in the Catalunya GP, which also coincided with Martín’s moment of emergence. Despite that accident that bordered on tragedy, the following weekend he was on the bike, scoring two key podiums despite the severe pain as a result of his fall. “It has been a very difficult season, especially since Barcelona, which was a very hard blow. Since then it was very difficult for me to find speed on Saturdays,” he admitted. “Today we are all going to celebrate, we deserve it. “I am very, very happy, because this year has been more difficult than the last,” he added. The Turin native, very reserved and little interested in fame, has said that this title will allow him to live a relaxed winter with Domizia, his fiancee. In Pesaro he leads a quiet life and is in charge of shopping and cooking at home. The greatest joy of his life will come in July 2024, when his wedding is scheduled.
Bagnaia’s success lies in his folksy character and his routine, undisturbed since his arrival at the VR46 academy, the cradle of the Italian champions designed by Valentino. There he continues to train on a daily basis alongside the best talents in the country, who have in him their new role model and idol, a condition that he neither needs nor worries about. Champion on and off the circuits, Pecco is so polite and correct 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.”
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes in Facebook and xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
#Pecco #Bagnaia #proclaimed #MotoGP #world #champion #fall #Jorge #Martín