The 24-year-old from Chivasso among the big names together with the Australian Miller with the factory Ducati debut on Sunday in Qatar: “Enthusiastic, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time”
CHIVASSO
The MotoGP season is about to start and among its announced protagonists is the Chivassese centaur Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia, expected in the lot of the best in the premier class, the MotoGP.
2021 could be the year of consecration for Pecco: after a season (2019) of apprenticeship during which he paid particular attention to learning, last year, although studded with unfortunate episodes, he told everyone that Pecco has the numbers to fit in with the pretenders to victory.
The good performances of 2020 earned him the call to the official Ducati team (until now he had raced in the “satellite” team, Pramac Racing) where he will meet, as a teammate, the Australian Jack Miller, already with him in the previous two seasons. The World Cup starts without an obligatory favorite: the times of Valentino Rossi have passed and with Marc Marquez, the “Martian” who has won six titles in seven seasons still convalescing, uncertainty reigns supreme. Surely it will be necessary to keep an eye on the reigning champion Joan Mir (Suzuki) and the Italian Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha), second in last year’s final standings. But the recent free practice held in Quatar showed how the Ducati Desmosedici Gp21 is absolutely performing and presents itself at the starting line as the bike to beat.
The Bagnaia-Miller duo is tested both professionally and on a human level: the Australian is in his seventh season in MotoGP (where he has already won a Grand Prix, in the Netherlands in 2016) and can therefore boast more experience, but the two riders will start on an equal footing: the track will establish the hierarchy within the team: «I feel at the same level as Jack within the team – says Pecco -. I don’t feel him in front of me: certainly with the results he achieved last year, he will start with more pressure, but Ducati has never made me feel like the second rider for the moment ».
THE CARREER
Born in Turin on January 14, 1997, Bagnaia took the first steps of his motorcycle career in minimoto. Crowned European MiniGp Champion in 2009, Pecco was soon recruited by Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Riders Academy. After making his bones in the minor categories, he made his debut in the Moto3 world championship in 2013 and then moved on to the Sky Racing Team VR46 the following year. In 2015, with the Aspar Team, his first podium in the minor class; the following year the first world success in Assen and fourth place overall in the overall standings. In 2017 the jump in Moto2 with the Sky Racing team Vr46, with four podiums and the title of best rookie (rookie). A springboard to the 2018 Moto2 world title, with eight seasonal victories.
Since 2019 Bagnaia has been riding the Desmosedici in MotoGP and the good performances, albeit without high pitches, have allowed him to join the official team. The qualities that everyone in the world recognize him are, in addition to his undoubted talent, reliability and determination.
SUNDAY THE GO
Sunday will take place in Qatar, a Grand Prix that has often smiled at the “Rossa di Borgo Panigale”: five wins and another six podium finishes. Pecco is excited: «I’m really excited to finally be able to face my first Grand Prix as an official rider of the Ducati Lenovo Team. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time and I can’t wait to try again the adrenaline of the first traffic light of the season. After the two test sessions held in the past few weeks, we arrive at the first appointment of the year with a solid base from which to start. It will be important to be able to further improve our “time attack” (the fastest lap, ed) to be able to guarantee a placement in the first two rows of the grid in qualifying. I am very energized and I feel I can fight for a good result in the race ».
Pecco’s optimism is the result of a particular feeling that, during the tests, was created with his Desmosedici: «The sensations on the bike are very good, better than last year, things are easier for me. The tests last year were good for me, but this year I am faster than a second in both race pace and time attack. I took a step forward with confidence: the Desmosedici is a bike very similar to last year, but I think I have improved my riding style and my feeling with the bike. I am very happy, because I have never been so comfortable ». –
Federico Bona