Francesco Bagnaia's Philosophy Of Using 'Cursed' Number In MotoGP 2023

Ducati's rider, Francesco Bagnaia. (Photo: Twitter/@ducatisse)

JAKARTA - Ducati Lenovo racer, Francesco Bagnaia, will not use number 63 in MotoGP 2023. He will take advantage of the privilege of being the world champion in MotoGP 2022, namely using number 1.

"I chose number one, because besides it's been a long time since we all saw (number) 1 in MotoGP, I've always liked that number," said Bagnaia at the team launch, last Monday.

"Number one represents who we really are, and identifies us as world champions," he continued.

The man who is familiarly called Pecco also said that number one was his way of paying homage to the previous world champions in MotoGP.

In addition, this number can provide motivation to repeat his success last season as the world champion.

Number 1! #GoFree and let's have fun! 😎 #ForzaDucati #DucatiLenovoTeam pic.twitter.com/gVzbGBDAFr

— Ducati Corse (@ducaticorse) January 23, 2023

Previously, the 26-year-old racer wore number 63 last season. Bagnaia then became the 2022 MotoGP world champion after defeating Fabio Quartararo with that number.

This made him make history as an Italian racer after Valentino Rossi won the MotoGP world in 2009.

"But I also put a small 63 in this number one, because I want to go with both of them. So, yeah, why not?" Bagnaia said.

However, he did not deny that number one burdened him quite a bit. Pecco admitted that he had doubts about wearing the number this season.

This is reasonable considering that this number is not the favorite of the racers because it is considered "bringing a curse". Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Kenny Roberts Jr., Nicky Hayden, Alex Criville, and Wayne Rainey failed to defend their title the following season after moving to number one.