Francesco Bagnaia, Breaks Record And Achieves Gemilang Achievements In MotoGP World

Francesco Bagnaia (center) has been the third racer to win the MotoGP title in a row since 2002 (photo: x @motogp)

JAKARTA - After being named MotoGP World Champion in 2022 and 2023, Francesco Bagnaia became the third racer to win the MotoGP title in a row since the introduction of this class in 2002. He joined exclusive racers Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez.

Bagnaia became the first racer to successfully race and defend the #1 number in the first class since Mick Doohan in 1998. He is also the first Ducati racer to win more than one major world title.

In addition, he became the third Italian racer on an Italian motorcycle that won more than one major world title, along with Giacomo Agostini (MV Agusta) and Umberto Masetti (Gilera).

With 15 podiums in 2023, Bagnaia will be Ducati's rider with the highest number of podiums in one season. He surpassed the previous record held by Casey Stoner with 14 podiums.

Bagnaia became the fourth Italian racer to win more than one major world title, joining Giacomo Agostini (8), Valentino Rossi (7), and Umberto Masetti (2).

With 18 first-class wins, all with Ducati, Bagnaia took second place on the Ducati driver list with the most wins in this class, only losing to Casey Stoner who had 23 wins.

With 35 main-class podiums so far, Bagnaia is the third Ducati racer with the highest number of podiums in this class, just behind Casey Stoner (42) and Andrea Dovizioso (40).

Bagnaia became the fifth racer to win the title at the end of the year by winning the opening race of the Grand Prix since its introduction in 2002, alongside Marc Marquez (2014), Jorge Lorenzo (2012), Casey Stoner (2007 and 2011), and Valentino Rossi from 2002 to 2005.

This season, Bagnaia is more likely to stand on the MotoGP podium than any other racer (15 times), including seven wins.