After his fall in Germany, Ducati star Pecco Bagnaia was 91 points behind Fabio Quartararo in the world championship standings. The Italian explained why the fall allowed him to make a comeback to the title business.
After 15 long years, Ducati rider Pecco Bagnaia took care of the MotoGP season finale at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo Salvation of the Reds. With a ninth place, the Italian motorcycle superstar secured the first riders’ title in the premier class since Australian Casey Stoner in the 2007 season.
Bagnaia became motorcycle world champion for the first time in his second year in Moto2 in 2018, back then in the service of promoter Valentino Rossi at Sky Racing Team VR46. In two manageable years at Pramac-Ducati, only a second place at the San Marino GP 2020 resulted before the knot for Bagnaia burst after the switch to the factory team at the end of the 2021 season. Because of the last six races, the MotoGP World Champion won four and was crowned runner-up at the time behind Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP).
The start of the 2022 season in Qatar turned out to be a failure for Bagnaia, after the failure in the emirate the races in Indonesia, Argentina, the USA and Portugal ended without a podium finish. The 25-year-old only won in Jerez, only to retire after a crash in Le Mans, to finish first again in Mugello and not see the checkered flag again in Montmeló and at the Sachsenring.
But instead of giving in, Bagnaia and Ducati fought back. Victories followed at Assen, Silverstone, at the Red Bull Ring and in Misano. The momentum was on their side, while Yamaha’s house blessings were beginning to swam away. After finishing second in Aragón and dropping out in Japan, Bagnaia had three podium finishes in Thailand, Australia and Malaysia. At the final in Valencia, the Reds and the native of Turin could no longer take the title away.
Opposite to motogp.com Bagnaia reflected on his way into the limelight of the premier class: «When I signed with Ducati, it was my goal and my dream to become world champion. Sometimes I thought about whether I made the right decision, but I’ve always said that my dream is to become world champion with Ducati. I just knew that the title would be something special with them.”
But after the tenth round of the season at the Sachsenring, the situation looked anything but promising. Because after his fall, Bagnaia was 91 points behind Quartararo in the world championship standings at the halfway point in the season. “The gap was very big, but I was concerned with the potential that we had as a team. I knew that I was fast enough to fight for the title and that I had the potential to become world champion,” explained the Italian.
To add shortly afterwards: «When I thought about it, I changed the way I work and focused on race pace and starts in practice. That helped me a lot to stay more focused. From then on, I started winning.”
After the successes in the Netherlands, Great Britain, Austria and Italy, the world championship fight was open again. Because Bagnaia was only 30 points behind his rival Fabio Quartararo in the World Championship standings. The Ducati-Lenovo factory pilot worked through this exciting phase. “You think you’re unbeatable. Then, when I finished second in Aragón, I was upset that we didn’t win for the fifth straight year.”
About World Cup rival Quartararo, the Turin native says: “Perhaps Fabio was also too defensive in this phase of the championship. I don’t know if we shifted the pressure to Yamaha. But I’m sure something has changed. Because they were more consistent in the first half of the season, in the second they had problems. »
Before the final in Valencia, Bagnaia was ahead of the Frenchman with 258 to 235 points in the World Championship standings. The seven-time winner of the season remembers: “I was in a better situation than Fabio. He had to win and I couldn’t finish better than 15th for him to be world champion. In such a situation, it is very easy to make mistakes. But when I saw three laps before the end that Fabio was fourth after Jack’s retirement and I was 9th, I knew it would be enough for the title.”
MotoGP result, Valencia (6.11.):
1. Rins, Suzuki, 27 Rdn in 41:22,250 min
2. Brad Binder, KTM, + 0,396 sec
3. Martin, Ducati, +1,059
4. Quartararo, Yamaha, +1,911
5. Oliveira, KTM, +7,122
6. Mir, Suzuki, +7,735
7. Marini, Ducati, +8,524
8. Bastianini, Ducati, +12.038
9. Bagnaia, Ducati, +14,441
10. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +14,676
11. Bezzecchi, Ducati, + 17,655
12. Raúl Fernández, KTM, + 24,870
13. Gardner, KTM, + 26,546
14. Nakagami, Honda, +26,610
15. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 31.819
16. Crutchlow, Yamaha, + 1:28,870 min
17. Alex Marquez, Honda, +1 Runde
– Miller, Ducati, + 5 Round
– Zarco, Ducati, + 12 Runden
– Viñales, Aprilia, + 12 Runden
– Marc Marquez, Honda, +18 Runden
– Pol Espargaró, Honda, + 23 Runden
– Darryn Binder, Yamaha, +23 laps
– Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 24 Runden
MotoGP World Championship final standings (after 20 races):
1. Bagnaia 265. 2. Quartararo 248 Punkte. 3. Bastianini 219. 4. Aleix Espargaró 212. 5. Miller 189. 6. Brad Binder 188. 7. Rins 173. 8. Zarco 166. 9. Martin 152. 10. Oliveira 149. 11. Viñales 122. 12. Marini 120. 13. Marc Márquez 113. 14. Bezzecchi 111. 15. Mir 87. 16. Pol Espargaró 56. 17. Alex Márquez 50. 18. Nakagami 48. 19. Morbidelli 42. 20. Di Giannantonio 24. 21. Dovizioso 15 22. Raúl Fernández 14. 23. Remy Gardner 13. 24. Darryn Binder 12. 25. Crutchlow 10. 26. Bradl 2.
Constructors’ Championship:
1.Ducati 448 Punkte. 2. Yamaha 256. 3. Aprilia 248. 4. KTM 240. 5. Suzuki 199. 6. Honda 155.
Team World Cup:
1. Ducati Lenovo Team 454 Punkte. 2. Red Bull KTM Factory 337. 3. Aprilia Racing 334. 4. Prima Pramac Racing 318. 5. Monster Energy Yamaha 290. 6. Suzuki Ecstar 260. 7. Gresini Racing 243. 8. Mooney VR46 Racing 231. 9. Repsol Honda 171. 10. LCR Honda 98. 11. WithU Yamaha RNF 37. 12. Tech3 KTM Factory 27.
