Francesco Bagnaia has been Ducati’s golden talent throughout the years, with the team knowing almost immediately that he was a special talent.
The Italian has had a strong network of people around him throughout his career, including Valentino Rossi, who gave him the support of the VR46 academy. Bagnaia admitted he was ’embarrassed’ meeting Rossi, but the Doctor did give him the tools to reach MotoGP.
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The 29-year-old won the Moto2 title in 2018 with eight wins and 12 podiums from 18 races. This caught the attention of Ducati, who signed him to the satellite Pramac team the following year.
Bagnaia knew he was strong on the brakes heading into his MotoGP debut. But even before that first race in 2019, he had left Ducati and Davide Tardozzi in awe.
Davide Tardozzi knew Francesco Bagnaia was special after he stunned Ducati in pre-season testing in his debut year
Speaking on MotoGP’s official podcast, Last on the Brakes, back in 2022, when Bagnaia was a factory Ducati rider and fighting Fabio Quartararo for the title, Tardozzi shared how the Italian left him stunned with his performance in his first test session.
He claimed that what he did was impossible for a rookie to do: “I think that we realised in January 2018, before he won the championship. We signed the contract in January 2019, in 2018 he won the Moto2 title.
“But I realised Pecco is a top rider the first test in Malaysia. He had one-and-a-half years of trouble, but at the first test, he showed something that is not possible for a rookie if he’s not a top and fast rider.
“So, we realised there that he has potential. That’s why, even after one-and-a-half years of ups and downs and trouble and bad results, we kept him.
“He has the potential, we only have to find a way to give him the bike and show that potential, and that’s what happened.”
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Davide Tardozzi kept his promise to Francesco Bagnaia by giving him the bike to win two MotoGP titles
Bagnaia’s time at Pramac was tough, to say the least. In two seasons, he managed just one podium, finishing P15 in 2019 and P16 in 2020.
But despite this, Ducati kept the faith and promoted him to the factory team in 2021. Something immediately clicked for Bagnaia as he began fighting for the championship, losing to Quartararo in his first year in red.
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However, he would not have to wait long to taste glory, as in 2022, he overturned the biggest point deficit in MotoGP history to beat Quartararo to the title, handing Ducati their first championship since Casey Stoner in 2007.
Bagnaia would go back-to-back in 2023, becoming the only Ducati rider to win consecutive and multiple championships to date. Things may not be going so well right now, with Bagnaia off to Aprilia in 2027, but he remains the Bologna Bullets’ most successful rider.
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