Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia born to bring Italy back to the MotoGP scene after becoming world champion MotoGP 2022. A Valentino Rossi student who really saved the face of Italy.
The dominance of the Spaniards is really evident on the MotoGP stage. Since the MotoGP era began in 2022, there have been three Spanish riders who have become world champions: Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez and Joan Mir.
It’s Italy? Only Valentino Rossi manages to become world champion. Even then, the last time it happened was in 2009. Since then, Italy has languished in MotoGP, in terms of riders and teams.
Bagnaia was born in Turin, Italy on January 14, 1997, the year in which Rossi became the first Grand Prix world champion in the 125cc class.
Since she was a child, Bagnaia loved sports. Football, basketball, athletics, skiing and snowboarding are some of the sports that little Bagnaia often practices. His favorite football team is Juventus.
The car then became Bagnaia’s main choice as a teenager. After receiving the blessing of his family, Bagnaia decided to join Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Academy in 2013, at the age of 16.
“I was 16 and my parents weren’t accompanying me. I had to take a taxi to go to the gym or train at The Ranch. The Academy helped me a lot to grow. Thanks to Rossi for helping me grow,” said Bagnaia, quoted by GPOne.
The beginning of Bagnaia’s career in the Grand Prix was not easy. After failing to get on the podium in the Moto3 class in 2013 and 2014, Team VR46 released Bagnaia at the end of the season. Bagnaia then joined Mahindra in 2015 and took his first podium.
With two victories in Moto3 2016, Bagnaia then regained the confidence to upgrade VR46. Since then the name Pecco has begun to make its way among the top drivers of the Grand Prix.
Bagnaia became the 2018 Moto2 world champion with VR46 and was promoted to MotoGP with Pramac Ducati in 2019. Bagnaia became the second VR46 Academy rider to win the Grand Prix world title after Franco Morbidelli in 2017.
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After being tasked with replacing Andrea Dovizioso in the factory Ducati team in 2021, Bagnaia was able to put an end to Italy’s long wait to get a MotoGP world champion back.
Surprisingly, Bagnaia is the first Italian rider to become MotoGP world champion with the Italian factory team, Ducati. The last time Ducati won the riders’ world title with Casey Stoner (Australia) was in 2007.
Bagnaia confirmed the 2022 MotoGP world title after finishing ninth in the 2022 Valencia MotoGP. Pecco ended the season with a 17-point lead over Fabio Quartararo.
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