If ever there were an inspiring story of perseverance and success in the world motorcycle sports, Francesc “Pecco” Bagnaia’s story would be often repeated long after he retired. Fondly nicknamed Pecco by his father, Francesco has been into autosports since a young age. And mind you, it has not been an easy road for him.
Bagnaia’s first win came in the year 2009 at the European MiniGP championship. In 2010, Pecco made his debut in the pre-GP 125 Mediterranean championship with the Monlau Competición team and stood second in the championship. In the year 2011, he won a race in the Spanish Championships, 125cc category but finished third in the final championship standings. Eventually, Baganai was chosen to be a part of the VR46 Academy and continues to be a part of the academy even today.
Bagnaia debuted in 2013 Moto3 World Championship with Team Italia FMI riding a Honda alongside his teammate Romano Fenati. However the season was disappointing for him. In 2014, Bagnaia took the decision of switching teams and joined the newly formed team Sky Racing Team by VR46. Pecco continued to improve his performance through the season that year but sustained an injury in the second part of the season, causing him to finish at the 16th position.
After another team switch in 2015 to the Aspar Team on a Mahindra, Bagnaia got his first podium at Le Mans by finishing the race in third place. He finished the year in the 14th place of the championships. 2016 saw a good start for Pecco. He got podium finishes at Losail and Jerez by coming third on the podium in both races. After a crash at Barcelona, Francesco secured his first Grand Prix win at the historic Assen circuit. After numerous wins and crashes during the season, he finished the season with 145 points to place 4th in the Moto3 Championship with a total of 2 wins and 6 podiums.
Moto3 saw Bagnaia in four seasons. But now it was time for him to move to Moto2. He chose to race for the Sky Racing Team VR46 where he last rode in 2014. At the end of the season, he was crowned Moto2 Rookie of the year and finished his rookie season with 174 points to place 5th in the championship standings, scoring points in 16 of the 18 races. Pecco had two seasons in Moto2 and now in 2019, he moved up to the MotoGP.
Bagnaia was promoted to take part in the 2019 MotoGP World Championship with Pramac Ducati. Once again with numerous crashes and ups & downs, Bagnaia finished his rookie season in the premier class with 54 points, placing him 15th in the championship standings. He missed the final race at Valencia due to injury. 2020 saw Pecco finishing the season down in 16th place, with 47 points to his name. 2021 saw Bagnaia join the Ducati Lenovo team along with his earlier teammate Jack Miller. The season started well for Francesco where he qualified for the Pole Position at the season opening race in Losail. This marked his first career MotoGP pole position and he then went on to finish third in the race. The season saw Bagnaia working his way up and all his efforts paid off when he won the season closer in Valencia, finishing second in the championship, with 252 points, 26 points behind World Champion Fabio Quartararo.
2022 saw Bagnaia become the hot Championship favorite for the year owing to his stellar finish in 2021. This was his second year with Ducati. But the first and second races of the season proved to be unsuccessful for Bagnaia. But as the season progressed, Bagnaia worked his way up and the Jerez circuit saw him lead the race all throughout while also taking a dominating Pole Position. He picked the second grand slam of his career. At the halfway point of the season, he stood in 6th place in the championship. He went on to win the next 4 races in Netherlands, Great Britain, at Red Bull Ring and Misano. He made history as the first Ducati rider and only the 4th rider in the MotoGP era to do so. Bagnaia went on to win the World MotoGP Championship in 2022. He made history as he completed the largest points overhaul for a Championship winner which was also the first for a Ducati rider in fifteen years and the first Italian rider since Valentino Rossi in 2009.
Bagnaia is slated to continue with Ducati in 2023 and 2024. We look forward to seeing him this year in the first Indian GP to be held in September at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida.
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