INTERVIEW I 2022 MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPION FRANCESCO BAGNAIA
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to three wins in the first seven
races, a galling sight for those
grappling to find a base setting
with new hardware.
The Comeback
But by Jerez, Ducati engineers
had found a base setting that
returned Bagnaia's confidence
when braking robustly on the
front end, where much of his
work is done. But crashes at
Le Mans when chasing Bas-
tianini, and Barcelona, when
taken out, negated those gains.
Then came the season's nadir
at Sachsenring when another
careless fall left him really up
against it.
At this point, it wasn't just the
support of Ducati that came in.
Members of the VR46 Academy
rallied around Bagnaia and told
him a few home truths. "In my sit-
uation, I love when some people
around me say what they think
about me," Bagnaia said of that
moment. "I'm a difficult guy be-
cause at the start I say, 'No, it's
not like that.' Then I try to change
my mindset, to change myself,
taking that advice on board."
Uccio Salucci, team manager
for the Mooney VR46 squad and
Valentino Rossi's long-time right-
hand man, agreed.
"[After Germany] he said he
was stupid but he understood
why he crashed. When a rider
understands why he crashes,
it's easier to recover, to restart.
Pecco stayed calm and the guys
in the Academy were together.
The Academy grouped around
him in that moment."
"The most difficult moment
was at the Sachsenring because
Thailand was a very difficult race for me, I struggled
a lot in the wet. But I tried everything to be on the
podium and recovered a lot of points. In that
moment, I recognized we could win it.
The racing in 2022
was sometimes
ferocious like the
classic staged at
Phillip Island in
Australia.
