In the footsteps of "
El Doctor
": the first Italian champion since the legend Valentino Rossi in 2009, Francesco Bagnaia, titled for the first time in his MotoGP career, signs Italy's return to the forefront after failing to 2nd place last year.
A reserved driver, a bit stubborn according to those around him, Bagnaia is in any case obstinate when he is on the track.
After losing to Frenchman Fabio Quartararo in 2021, "
Pecco
" took revenge, to finally realize his dream of being world champion.
The title, the Transalpine acquired it at the cost of a spectacular rise in the championship: on the brink of the abyss in the middle of the season, the Ducati rider, then trailing 91 points by Quartararo at the top of the championship, began a comeback which will lead to the biggest move up to the premier class since the current points system was introduced in 1993.
Last year too, he had achieved a crescendo season, with his four victories at the end of the season.
But this year, he did not flinch at the decisive moment to take the title of maestro.
By the way, he became on Sunday, on the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia (Spain), the first Ducati rider to win a title since Australian Casey Stoner in 2007.
"
Pecco
" is now following in the footsteps of Rossi, his "
mentor
" with whom he studied: he is a student of the VR46 Academy, a group of pilots created by "
El Doctor
".
But for him, there is no question of comparing himself to the seven-time MotoGP champion: “
Valentino Rossi's heir does not exist!
“, he had swept in an interview with AFP in September.
"
Everyone has to create their own story
."
“He believes in himself”
Pablo Nieto, Ducati team manager
Born in Turin on January 14, 1997, Pecco - who owes his nickname to his sister Carola who, when younger, could not pronounce her brother's first name - was immersed in the world of motorcycling at a very young age, carried by his father, Pietro, a two-wheeler.
“
When I was little, I went to GPs with my father and my uncle and that led me to try a Minicross race when I was six years old
”, he explained in 2017, to the specialized site crash.net .
Like several drivers of his generation, the Italian passed through the Spanish CEV championship, after winning a first title in MiniGP in 2009.
He then rose through the ranks of Moto3 (2013-2016) and Moto2 (2017-2018), a category where he was crowned world champion for the first time in 2018.
"
Pecco believes in him a lot (...) and when you have this state of mind, it is difficult to stop him
", explains to AFP Pablo Nieto, manager of the team with which Bagnaia had won this title. .
The Spaniard directly saw in his rider -- "
much calmer today
" -- the potential to reach the heights: "
in Moto3, he didn't have the best and yet he made a few podiums (... ).
For his first season in Moto2, he was the best rookie of the season before becoming champion the following year,
” he recalls.
Juventus supporter
On the strength of his title, the Turinese arrives in 2019 in the premier category in the Ducati-Pramac satellite team before being promoted to the official team of the Italian brand in 2021.
Outside the circuits, the world champion, a cooking lover in his spare time, is happy to appear on social networks surrounded by his family – in particular his partner Domizia.
Supporter of the Juventus football club, when he left the handlebars when he was younger, it was for the football fields, basketball courts or even the ski slopes.
"
I tried several sports with good results, except football, it was a disaster
," Bagnaia confessed in September to the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.
“
Motorcycles, on the other hand, have never ceased to fascinate me.
There was only one critical moment, during adolescence;
I started going out with friends, with girls, I had fun (...).
My father noticed it, he was able to explain to me how important it is to respect one's own work
”, recalls the pilot.
"
At the time, it still seemed like a game, but I understood that a choice requires total dedication
."
A dedication that has taken him to the top.