Pecco Bagnaia, the adventure begins: World Cup within reach

The Chivasso rider, who has renewed his contract with Ducati until 2024, aims to win the world title “It’s important to start well”

CHIVASSO

This time it gets serious: after the years of apprenticeship and maturation, for the 2022 MotoGP season Francesco Bagnaia shoots with the favorite chevrons for the conquest of the world title.

An investiture resulting from the excellent performances of the second part of last season, of the increasingly close feeling with his Ducati Desmosedici and this is recognized by the experts, who see the Chivassese centaur more launched towards the title than all his rivals, even more than Fabio Quartararo, who on his Yamaha won the last world championship. Sunday kicks off the new season, with the Grand Prix of Qatar, on the Losail circuit and Pecco is betting strongly on his number 63, which will once again stand out on the red Ducati livery: «The Losail International Circuit is a track that lends itself very much to characteristics of our Desmosedici GP – he said -, so I am confident and, as always, I will aim to obtain the maximum result ».

Last year Pecco won four of the last six races and aims to start strong: «The first Grand Prix of the year is always a special moment and playing it at night in Qatar makes the atmosphere even more suggestive. After the winter break, we only had five days of testing in Sepang and Mandalika to be able to prepare for the start of the Championship, so it will be really important to be able to make good use of the days of Friday and Saturday to finish the last setup tests in view of the competition”.

To corroborate Bagnaia’s safety, the new contract has recently arrived, which binds him to Ducati until the end of 2024: “Being a Ducati rider has always been a dream for me and knowing that I can continue to be one for another two seasons. it makes you really happy and proud. In the Ducati Lenovo Team I found a serene environment and I feel very in tune with my team and I know that together we can do great things. Now I can only focus on doing well in this championship. A very heartfelt thanks to Claudio, Gigi, Davide, Paolo and all the Ducati Corse staff. I will try to repay the confidence shown in me by Ducati with my results on the track ».

Pecco, born in 1997, made his debut in the World Championship in 2013, in Moto 3, and since then his career has been in constant growth: never a step back. After four seasons in the “entry” category, he moved to Moto 2 and on his second attempt he won the World Championship. It was 2018 and that success propelled him into the premier class, MotoGP. Last year, the consecration: dispelled the taboo of victory that he did not want to arrive, he has strung pole and successes, proving himself the best in the second part of the season and finishing in second place in the final standings. –

Federico Bona