Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia ( ; born 14 January 1997) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer competing in

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

for the Ducati Lenovo Team. He is the and MotoGP World Riders' Champion. Bagnaia was the 2018 Moto2 World Champion. He is the first and only rider from

Valentino Rossi Valentino Rossi ( ; ; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian racing driver, former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed "the Doctor", Rossi is widely considered one of the greate ...

's VR46 Riders Academy to win a world title in the premier class. His 2022 title was also the first Ducati rider World Championship in 15 years and the first for an Italian rider since Rossi in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Career

Early career

Bagnaia was born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Italy, and rode Minimoto bikes from a young age, winning the European MiniGP championship in 2009. He made his pre-GP 125 Mediterranean championship debut with Monlau Competición team in 2010 and finished the season as runner-up. In 2011 he took part in the Spanish Championships in the 125cc category, winning a race, and finishing third in the final standings. In the

2012 CEV Moto3 season The 2012 CEV Moto3 season was the inaugural year in which Moto3 bikes became mandatory. Álex Márquez Álex Márquez Alentà (born 23 April 1996) is a Grand Prix motorcycle rider from Spain racing for Ducati satellite team BK8 Gresini Raci ...

he rode a Honda NSF250R and once again finished 3rd in the championship behind

Álex Márquez Álex Márquez Alentà (born 23 April 1996) is a Grand Prix motorcycle rider from Spain racing for Ducati satellite team BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP. He has competed in MotoGP since the 2020 season, having previously become World Champion in th ...

and Luca Amato, with a race win and two 2nd places in seven races. Bagnaia joined the VR46 Riders Academy, and remains a member.

Moto3 World Championship

Bagnaia made his Grand Prix debut in the

2013 Moto3 World Championship The 2013 FIM Moto3 World Championship was a part of the 65th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. The riders' championship title was won by Team Calvo rider Maverick Viñales and runner up by Álex Rins from Estrella Galicia 0,0. Sea ...

, with Team Italia FMI riding a Honda alongside his teammate

Romano Fenati Romano Fenati (born 15 January 1996) is an Italian motorcycle racer who competed in the FIM Road Racing World Championship between 2012 and 2023 in the Moto3 and Moto2 categories. He was European 125 cc Champion in 2011, championship runner ...

. The season was a disappointing year for Bagnaia as he did not manage to get a single point in the 17 races he participated in. His best race was a 16th-place finish at

Sepang Pekan Sepang is a small border town and also a mukim in Sepang District, Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on t ...

. In

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Bagnaia switched teams to join the newly formed Sky Racing Team by VR46, riding a KTM with

again. After failing to score points in his rookie season, Bagnaia made clear improvements, finishing in the top 10 five times during the first 7 races, with a 4th-place finish at

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

as his best result, where he also set the fastest lap of the race. Bagnaia missed the races at

Assen Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...

and

Sachsenring The Sachsenring () is a motorsport race track, racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyc ...

due to injury. After scoring 42 points in the first 7 races of the campaign Bagnaia slumped badly during the second part of the season, only finishing in the points twice of the last 9 races, clearly affected by his injury. He finished the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

in 16th position with 50 points. In

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, Bagnaia made another team and bike change, this time joining

Aspar Team Aspar Team (formerly Ángel Nieto Team) is a Grand Prix motorcycle racing team from Spain, competing in the Moto2, Moto3 and MotoE World Championships. History The team was created by former world champion Jorge Martínez in 1992, when he was ...

on a Mahindra, with new teammates being Juanfran Guevara and

Jorge Martín Jorge Martín Almoguera (born 29 January 1998), nicknamed the ''Martinator'', is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer, who rides for Aprilia Racing. He won the 2024 MotoGP World Championship with Prima Pramac Racing, becoming the first inde ...

. In the fifth race of the season in France, Bagnaia got his first podium at

, finishing the race in 3rd place behind

and

Enea Bastianini Enea Bastianini (born 30 December 1997), nicknamed "La Bestia" (The Beast), is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racer, riding for Red Bull KTM Tech3 in the MotoGP class. He won the 2020 Moto2 World Championship. Car ...

. In the next race at Mugello Bagnaia finished fourth, missing the podium by 0.003 seconds. He was on his way to another podium finish at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

but crashed with two laps remaining, fighting with

Niccolò Antonelli Niccolò Antonelli (born 23 February 1996) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racer set to compete in the 2023 FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship for Team MMR. He most recently competed in the 2022 Moto2 World Cham ...

for the 3rd place. Despite improving his championship position by two places, and gaining 26 more points than the previous year on a new bike for the third straight season, this time a Mahindra, it was still an up and down year for him. Bagnaia only finished in the top ten during five races. He also missed points in seven races, unclassified in five of those. He finished the year 14th place in the championship standings, with 76 points. In

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, Bagnaia started the season with a podium finish at

Losail The Lusail International Circuit (, sometimes rendered Losail International Circuit) is a motor racing circuit located just outside the city of Lusail, north of Doha, Qatar. The track is in length, with a main straight of . It is surrounded b ...

and another podium finish at

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Located in southwestern Iberia, it lies on the Campi� ...

, finishing third on both occasions. At his home race in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Bagnaia again secured third position, beating

by 0.006 seconds. Followed by a crash at

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Bagnaia secured his first Grand Prix win at the historic

circuit, in what was his 59th Moto3 race, and the first win for Mahindra, too. He had four podiums in the first eight races of the season, and found himself fighting for the title. After two average races and a crash at

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, Bagnaia got his first pole position in the rain-affected

and finished second behind

Brad Binder Brad Binder (born 11 August 1995) is a South African Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racer competing for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. He is the 2016 Moto3 season, 2016 Moto3 World Champion. Previously, he had competed in the ...

in a thrilling race. Bagnaia won his second race of the season at

, winning the race comfortably with a big gap after

Joan Mir Joan Mir Mayrata (, born 1 September 1997) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racer riding for the Honda HRC Castrol team in the MotoGP World Championship. Mir is best known for winning the 2020 MotoGP World Champions ...

and

Lorenzo Dalla Porta Lorenzo Dalla Porta (born 22 June 1997) is an Italian motorcycle racer for Yamaha Altogo Racing Team in the 2024 Supersport World Championship. He is best known for winning the 2019 Moto3 World Championship, and has also won the FIM CEV Moto3 ...

all crashed out in the same corner during the beginning of the race, which was filled with multiple crashes. He finished the season with 145 points to place 4th in the Moto3 Championship with a total of 2 wins and 6 podiums. Bagnaia would have had an opportunity to finish 2nd in the World Championship behind

, but was taken out in both

Phillip Island Phillip Island (Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The island is named after Arthur Phillip, Governor Arthur P ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Gabriel Rodrigo Gabriel Rodrigo Castillo (born 12 October 1996) is a Spanish-born Argentine former motorcycle racer The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either o ...

. Rodrigo pushed out

Fabio Di Giannantonio Fabio Di Giannantonio (born 10 October 1998) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer, riding for Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team in the MotoGP class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 2025. Career Early career Born in Rome, in 2015, Di ...

in Australia who went down and collected Bagnaia with him in that crash. In Valencia, Rodrigo made a highside crash on the first lap approaching the last corner which Bagnaia was unable to avoid.

Moto2 World Championship

Francesco Bagnaia leads the pack 2018 Motegi

After 4 seasons in the Moto3 category, Bagnaia moved up to Moto2 racing for

Sky Racing Team VR46 The VR46 Racing Team is a MotoGP racing team owned by Valentino Rossi and based in Tavullia (Marche, Italy). The team enters Grand Prix motorcycle racing in the MotoGP category with Ducati motorcycles chassis, under the name Pertamina Enduro V ...

, where he last rode in

. For the

2017 Moto2 World Championship The 2017 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 69th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. The season was marred by the death of Stefan Kiefer, head of Kiefer Racing, in Malaysia. Johann Zarco was the reigning two-time series ...

, he would have

Stefano Manzi Stefano Manzi (born 29 March 1999 in Rimini) is an Italian motorcycle racer. Career Junior career Manzi joined the 2012 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, and had two podiums in his first season already, a 2nd place at the Sachsenring and a 3rd place ...

as his teammate. In just his fourth ever Moto2 race at

Bagnaia finished 2nd. He finished 2nd in the next race as well at

after having qualified in 2nd place, missing pole position to

Thomas Lüthi Thomas Lüthi (born 6 September 1986) is a Swiss sporting director at Prüstel GP, and former Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He spent 19 years in Grand Prix world championships, becoming one of only nine riders to reach 300 race starts, spending ...

by just 0.026 seconds. Bagnaia took a third podium at

, finishing 3rd behind

Franco Morbidelli Franco Morbidelli (born 4 December 1994) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer in MotoGP class, riding for Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team team. He became champion in the 2013 European Superstock 600 Championship, and the 2017 Moto2 Wo ...

and

Dominique Aegerter Dominique Aegerter (born 30 September 1990) is a Swiss professional circuit racer of solo motorcycles, competing in World superbike Championship. He won the Supersport World Championship in and 2022. He also won the MotoE World Cup in . He is ...

and

Hafizh Syahrin Hafizh Syahrin bin Abdullah (born 5 May 1994) is a Malaysian motorcycle racer, who most recently competed in WorldSBK in 2024 on a Ducati in JDT Racing Team colors. He raced full time in the series in 2022 and 2023 with MIE Honda. In 2018, he ...

; however, Aegerter was later disqualified, promoting him to 3rd of his fourth podium of the season. He was crowned Moto2 Rookie of the year after the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, and finished his rookie season with 174 points to place 5th in the championship standings, scoring points in 16 of the 18 races. Bagnaia opened the season with a win in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, having led the race from start to finish. Bagnaia took a second win in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

after a hard fight with

winning the race with a gap of 2.4 seconds and also setting the fastest lap of the race. At

Bagnaia finished 3rd behind

Lorenzo Baldassarri Lorenzo Baldassarri (born 6 November 1996) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racerwho is set to compete in the 2025 MotoE World Championship with Dynavolt Intact GP. Baldassarri recently raced in the Supersport World Championship, finishing r ...

and

Miguel Oliveira Miguel Ângelo Falcão de Oliveira (; born 4 January 1995) is a Portuguese professional motorcycle racer who competes in the MotoGP World Championship for Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, getting the step up from KTM Tech3,Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, and like the race in

he led from start to finish. The win was also his 3rd podium at

since 2015. Bagnaia took a 4th win at

, starting the race from Pole Position and leading the entire race. After qualifying 3rd on the grid in

, Bagnaia finished the race down in 12th place, having been forced outside of the track after

Mattia Pasini Mattia Pasini (born 13 August 1985) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Career Early career Pasini participated in his first race at the age of 9. In 1998, aged 13, he suffered a serious motocross accident that left him with sever ...

, who fell down in front of him in the last corner on the second lap, and despite being down in 26th, he made up fourteen places in two laps, including overtaking

the final corner of the last lap. At

Bagnaia finished third and lost the championship lead to Oliveira, but quickly retook the championship lead at

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, winning his 5th race of the season. Bagnaia won his sixth race of the season at Misano from pole position. He took a 5th straight podium at

Buriram Buriram (, , ; Northern Khmer: ) is a city municipality ('' thesaban nakhon'') in Thailand, capital of Buriram Province, about northeast of Bangkok. incorporating Nai Mueang and Isan Subdistricts and parts Samet Subdistricts of Mueang Burira ...

, winning the race with his teammate

Luca Marini Luca Marini (born 10 August 1997) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racer contracted to race with Honda HRC Castrol during 2024 and 2025. Marini competed for VR46 Racing Team, Mooney VR46 Racing Team in the 2023 M ...

in second place. He took his 8th win of the season at Motegi after

Fabio Quartararo Fabio Alain Quartararo (; born 20 April 1999), nicknamed El Diablo, is a French Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle rider racing in MotoGP for Yamaha Motor Racing, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. Having won the 2021 MotoGP Wor ...

, who initially won the race, was disqualified due to low tyre pressure. After finishing 3rd at

he was crowned Moto2 World Champion with his 12th podium of the season, his teammate

taking his first ever Moto2 win as well, his 5th podium of the campaign. Bagnaia finished every single Moto2 race he participated in, 36 in total. He scored points in 34 of them and was on a 30-race point scoring streak, starting from

in 2017. The streak ended when he retired from his first MotoGP race at

MotoGP World Championship

Pramac Racing (2019–2020)

= 2019

= After two seasons in the Moto2 category, Bagnaia was promoted up to take part in the

2019 MotoGP World Championship The 2019 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 71st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. After fifteen rounds of the championship, Marc Márquez successfully defended his Rider's Championship in Thailand taking hi ...

with Pramac Ducati. He was previously offered a ride in MotoGP in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

by Pramac after his stellar rookie season in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, where he took four podiums and finished 5th in the championship behind

Miguel Oliveira Miguel Ângelo Falcão de Oliveira (; born 4 January 1995) is a Portuguese professional motorcycle racer who competes in the MotoGP World Championship for Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, getting the step up from KTM Tech3,Álex Márquez Álex Márquez Alentà (born 23 April 1996) is a Grand Prix motorcycle rider from Spain racing for Ducati satellite team BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP. He has competed in MotoGP since the 2020 season, having previously become World Champion in th ...

, but Bagnaia decided to stay, with an opportunity to take the championship title. He replaced fellow Italian rider

Danilo Petrucci Danilo Carlo Petrucci (born 24 October 1990) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer who has competed in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York. After losing his KTM ride in MotoGP at the end of the ...

, who went to the Factory Ducati Team, replacing three-time MotoGP World Champion

Jorge Lorenzo Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero (; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racing, motorcycle racer. He is a five-time World Champion, with three List of 500cc/MotoGP Motorcycle World Champions, MotoGP World Championships ...

, who took the seat vacated at

Repsol Honda Team Honda HRC Castrol is the official factory team of the Honda Racing Corporation in the MotoGP class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing (World Championship road racing), formally backed by principal sponsor Repsol for 30 years until the end of 2024 ...

Dani Pedrosa Daniel Pedrosa Ramal (born 29 September 1985) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racer who retired from regular competition after the season. He grew up in Castellar del Vallès, a village near Sabadell. He is a ...

after he decided to retire after 13 seasons in MotoGP, becoming an official test rider for KTM. After failing to score points in

, where he retired from the race due to a damaged front wing, Bagnaia took his first two points in the

MotoGP World Championship Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

with a 14th place in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, having started the race from 17th on the grid. Bagnaia finished 9th in

getting positions after

Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Alentà (born 17 February 1993) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who races for the Ducati Lenovo Team. He previously raced for the Ducati satellite team Gresini in 2024 and Honda's factory team from his MotoGP deb ...

and

Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow (born 29 October 1985) is an English professional motorcycle racer who retired from regular competition after the 2020 season. He is contracted as a test rider for Yamaha Motor Racing, which he is expected to continue in 2022 and 2 ...

crashed out from the race in separate accidents, and both

Maverick Vinales Maverick or Maveric may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bureau T-32 ...

and

were penalised with ride through penalties for jumping the start. Prior to the fourth race at

Bagnaia had three straight podium finishes, starting from the

2016 Moto3 season The 2016 FIM Moto3 World Championship was a part of the 68th Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, F.I.M. Road racing, Road Racing World Championship season. Danny Kent was the reigning series champion but did not defend his title as he j ...

. He qualified 10th on the grid but crashed out on the sixth lap, fighting with Pol Espargaro. At

where Bagnaia won the Moto2 race in 2018, he crashed out on the sixth lap after an incident with

. In the next race at

Mugello The Mugello () is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Fl ...

, his home Grand Prix, Bagnaia had a solid start to the weekend. He topped the second Free Practice time sheets on his way to qualify 8th on the grid. However, he crashed in the last corner on the 11th lap while in 7th place. It was the first time in Bagnaia's career that he had failed to finish three races in a row, all of them with crashes. In

, Bagnaia had his best race weekend since his time in

Moto2 Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

, both in terms of his qualifying, advancing to Q2 and starting from 5th on the grid, and race pace, managing to cross the line in 7th place. At

Bagnaia finished the race in 4th place, his best result of the season, missing the podium by just 0.055 seconds to his Ducati teammate Jack Miller. 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

due to injury.

= 2020

= For

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Bagnaia received a GP20 bike, the same as his teammate, Jack Miller. However, in a season that was majorly affected with races constantly being postponed or cancelled due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the first race in MotoGP wasn't held until 19 July at

, with the first scheduled race at

being cancelled for the premier class. Despite this, Bagnaia had a strong first weekend, qualifying 4th on the grid and ultimately finishing the race in 7th position. In the next race, held at

, Bagnaia was even stronger than the previous race, qualifying on the front row of the grid in 3rd place. Unfortunately on lap 19, with 6 laps remaining, him well settled in to his 2nd place and on his way to a maiden podium, he had to retire with engine failure. Next race weekend at

Bagnaia crashed during FP1, breaking his leg, and he therefore missed the remainder of the weekend, and the two next races, being replaced by

Michele Pirro Michele Pio Pirro (born 5 July 1986) is a motorcycle road racer from Italy, He was 2007 and 2008 the ''Italian CIV National Champion in the Superstock class'' and a test rider for Ducati Corse, Ducati factory racing in MotoGP and rides occasiona ...

. He returned for his home race at Misano, where he took his first podium of his MotoGP career, with a second-place finish behind

, fellow VR46 Academy member. He fell into a bit of a slump after his first podium however, only scoring 8 points in the last six races, eventually finishing the season down in 16th place, with 47 points to his name.

Ducati Lenovo Team (2021–present)

= 2021

For

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, Bagnaia moved up to the factory Ducati team, along with former teammate Jack Miller. He started the season well, qualifying for pole position ahead of teammate Miller and the factory Yamaha riders

and

, at the season opener in

. This marked his first career MotoGP pole position, and he would later finish the race in 3rd. In the second race in Qatar, Bagnaia finished in 6th place. At Portimao Bagnaia initially took Pole position during Qualifying; however, his lap time was disallowed due to

Miguel Oliveira Miguel Ângelo Falcão de Oliveira (; born 4 January 1995) is a Portuguese professional motorcycle racer who competes in the MotoGP World Championship for Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, getting the step up from KTM Tech3,Fabio Quartararo Fabio Alain Quartararo (; born 20 April 1999), nicknamed El Diablo, is a French Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle rider racing in MotoGP for Yamaha Motor Racing, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. Having won the 2021 MotoGP Wor ...

after Jack Miller, Alex Rins and

Johann Zarco Johann Sylvain Pierre Zarco (born 16 July 1990) is a French Grand Prix motorcycle racer, best known for winning the and Moto2 World Championships with his 2015 triumph being a record points total for the intermediate class. He is a MotoGP rac ...

all crashed out. He finished 2nd the following race weekend in Jerez too, making it three podiums from four races. The middle of the season saw him score regular points, before he had another 2nd place in Austria. Bagnaia took his maiden premier class win at

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, where he set the all time track record in qualifying, and led the entire race starting from pole, successfully defending seven overtakes by

during the final stages of the race. Bagnaia managed to repeat this achievement the following weekend in

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

; he broke the lap record to take pole and led the entire race to take his second career victory in MotoGP. Bagnaia secured his third consecutive pole position in

, and finished the race in third, cutting the championship lead of

to 52 points, with three races remaining. In Misano, Bagnaia would continue his hot streak, getting pole position, setting the fastest lap of the race, before he crashed out of the lead with 5 laps to go, securing the title for

. This would not deter Bagnaia however, securing a fifth consecutive pole position in Portimao, something which has only been done in the premier class after the 1000cc rule change by

and

earlier this season. He won the race in Portimao, as well as the season closer in

, finishing second in the championship, with 252 points, 26 points behind World Champion Fabio Quartararo.

= 2022

Going into the 2022 season, Bagnaia with a strong finish from the previous year, was picked as a Championship favourite for his second year with

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. History Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...

. He crashed out of 8th place taking the polesitter and fellow Ducati rider,

out at the opening race at

in Qatar. At the second round of the season, at a wet Mandalika circuit, Bagnaia took home a disappointing 15th place, collecting only one point in the opening two races of the season. Two fifth places at

COTA Cota or COTA may refer to: People Surname * Ava Michelle Cota (born 2002), American actress * Chad Cota (born 1971), American football player * Chase Cota (born 1999), American football player *Ed Cota (born 1976), American basketball player * H ...

and the Argentinian Grand Prix and an eighth place in Portimao were followed up until

, a track where Bagnaia has had success earlier in his career. He dominated the weekend, taking a record-breaking pole position and then leading from start to finish, picking up the second

grand slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

of his career. At

, Bagnaia once again dominated initially, leading the majority of the race; however, he was eventually caught up by

who won the race, and Bagnaia crashed out of with seven laps to go. The next race at

Bagnaia had more of a mediocre start, qualifying in 5th spot he eventually caught up to and passed

Marco Bezzecchi Marco Bezzecchi (born 12 November 1998) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer, competing for Aprilia Racing in the 2025 MotoGP World Championship. Career Junior career Bezzecchi won the Italian Moto3 championship in 2015, and also made his ...

to the lead the remainder of the race for his second win of the season. In

Catalunya Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Bagnaia was running 3rd and was one of the favourites to take the victory but was taken out alongside Alex Rins by

Takaaki Nakagami is a Japanese former Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racer, who competed for LCR Team, Idemitsu Honda LCR in the MotoGP class until retiring from competition after the 2024 season. Nakagami currently acts as a test rider for ...

heading into the first corner, the race was won by

. Looking to bounce back at

, Bagnaia however slid out from 2nd place on Lap 3. He was now at a 91-point deficit to Quartararo, the championship leader, and stood in 6th place in championship at the exact halfway point of the season. After that race he turned his season around strongly. He went on to win the next 4 races in

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...

and Misano. He made history as the first

rider and only the 4th rider in the

era to do so. The others being multi worldchampions

Marc Marquez Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...

and

. He had gained 61 points on

in 4 races collecting a maximum of 100 points. At

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, a ...

Bagnaia aimed for a fifth win in a row but had to settle for second to

with a margin of just 0.042 seconds, being overtaken on the final lap. In a race where Fabio Quartararo crashed-out after riding into the back of

on the opening lap, Bagnaia once more managed to decrease the gap by 20 points, heading to Motegi with a 10-point deficit. At the Japanese Grand Prix, while running in 9th position just behind Quartararo, Bagnaia crashed out of the race on the final lap, allowing Quartararo, who finished the race in 8th place, to increase his lead in the championship over Bagnaia to 18 points with 4 races to go in the season. In the Thailand Grand Prix at

and the Australian Grand Prix at

, Bagnaia finished in third place while Quartararo failed to score on both occasions, leaving Bagnaia 14 points ahead of him with two races to go. At the

Malaysian Grand Prix The Malaysian Grand Prix (, officially the Malaysia Grand Prix from 1963–1965 and 2011–2017 and Malayan Grand Prix in 1962) was an annual auto race held in Malaysia. It was part of the Formula One World Championship from 1999 to 2017 and ...

, Bagnaia could win the championship if he outscored Quartararo by 11 points. He picked up the seventh victory of his season after a poor qualifying session but Quartararo finishing third meant that the title would go down to the final round. At the Valencian Grand Prix, Bagnaia would then go on to win his maiden premier class championship and made history as he completed the largest points overhaul (−91) for a Championship winner in premier class history.

= 2023

= Bagnaia continued with

for

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and 2024 alongside a new teammate,

who replaces Jack Miller. For most of the season, Bagnaia was locked in a championship battle with

. Both riders exchanged sprint and race wins, though Bagnaia always held the lead of the championship except after the sprint race in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Bagnaia won the championship after Martín's crash at the final race of the season in

, finishing 39 points ahead. Thus, Bagnaia became a 2-time premier class MotoGP World Champion, the first Ducati rider to successfully defend a riders' championship, and the only rider in the

Motogp Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

era to win back to back titles after

and

= 2024

Ahead of the 2024 season, Bagnaia extended his contract to remain with

until the end of 2026. By the end of

2024 Austrian Grand Prix The 2024 Austrian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 30 June 2024, at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. It was the eleventh round of the 20 ...

, he won his 25th Premier class victory. He also matched last year's win total of 7 feature races. In the 2024 Aragon Grand Prix, after a collision with

, he found himself trailing 23 points behind

. He won his eighth feature race in 2024 Japanese Grand Prix to break his personal record to trim the deficit to Jorge Martín to ten points. After Australia and Thailand , Bagnaia was 17 points behind Martín. His crash in the sprint race at the penultimate round in Malaysia cost him further points as he was 29 points adrift of Martin. Pecco won the feature race in Malaysia, while Martin finished second. With a gap of 24 points, the winner was to be determined at the final round at Barcelona. Despite taking a hat-trick; pole position, sprint win, main race victory, Bagnaia finished as the championship runner-up in 2024, 10 points behind Martín. His feature race win tally of 11 in the 2024 MotoGP season remains the most by any rider in the premier class in a single season not to win the title.

= 2025

= On 5 June Bagnaia's teammate for

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

and 2026 was confirmed to be eight-time World Champion

, replacing

. Bagnaia struggled to match the pace of teammate Márquez, but nevertheless seized advantage at the Grand Prix of the Americas to win his first race of 2025 after Márquez had crashed. His start to the season also saw strong consistency until the French Grand Prix, where he crashed in both the sprint and feature race.

Career statistics

CEV 125cc Championship

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

CEV Buckler Moto3 Championship

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Season still in progress.

Personal life

Bagnaia is known as ''Pecco'' because his older sister Carola, when learning to talk, could not pronounce ''Francesco'', and the nickname has stayed with him all of his life. Francesco Bagnaia married his longtime girlfriend Domizia Castagnini. They were married in the Duomo di Pesaro on 20 July 2024. On 5 July 2022, Bagnaia was involved in a

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether recreational or ...

crash in the early morning on the Spanish island of

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

. It was reported that he failed a

breathalyser A breathalyzer or breathalyser (a portmanteau of ''breath'' and ''analyzer/analyser''), also called an alcohol meter, is a device for measuring breath alcohol content (BrAC). It is commonly utilized by law enforcement officers whenever they in ...

test, with his

blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes. BAC is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume of blood. In US and many i ...

more than three times the legal limit for driving in Spain. Bagnaia stated he left a nightclub at around 3 am, and failed to negotiate a roundabout, with the front end of the car ending off the road. He stated he was celebrating a race win at

, and was normally a very light drinker.Accidente en Ibiza del piloto Francesco 'Pecco' Bagnaia tras dar 0,87 en la prueba de alcoholemia
''Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera'' (in Spanish), 5 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagnaia, Francesco 1997 births Living people Italian motorcycle racers Moto3 World Championship riders Moto2 World Championship riders Sportspeople from Turin MotoGP World Championship riders Pramac Racing MotoGP riders Ducati Corse MotoGP riders MotoGP World Riders' Champions Moto2 World Riders' Champions

Career

Early career

Moto3 World Championship

Moto2 World Championship

MotoGP World Championship

Pramac Racing (2019–2020)

= 2019

= 2020

Ducati Lenovo Team (2021–present)

= 2021

= 2022

= 2023

= 2024

= 2025

Career statistics

CEV 125cc Championship

Races by year

CEV Buckler Moto3 Championship

Races by year

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Races by year

Personal life

See also

References

External links