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reach long before Barce- lona had it not been for careless crashes in Argen- tina, Austin and France, showing the 25-year-old can still iron out a few weaknesses, mainly un- forced errors, which had also affected the start of his previous campaign. Bagnaia believes those early crashes were perhaps the reason why he took time to get going at certain tracks later in the year. "If you remem- ber Martin in Indonesia what happened to him, he was so confident. He was pushing, gaining gap, and three seconds ahead. Then, without knowing why, he crashed," he said. "This was what hap- pened to me in Austin. I was riding, feeling unbeat- able. Then I came to turn two, I was a bit wider and lost the front without understand- ing why. I still don't under- stand why, honestly. Now I know it's better to be calmer, understanding better the situ- ation with the tires and then pushing. Because the first part of last year was a great lesson. "For next year, I will have to improve. But in the last races I did a big step in front. We just had some misfortune. I'm very proud of my team. Very happy with everything. I think they did an amazing job. I'm very proud also of my crew at home: my family, girlfriend, who are always helping me in any situation and let me understand how happy I can be." This latest achieve - ment brings Bagnaia into an exalted company. Only 12 riders had success- fully defended a premier- class title before him. He joins Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez as the only men to win back-to- back titles in MotoGP's four-stroke era. "It's fantastic," he said of the achievement. "I thought about it many times this season in all the races we were struggling that the only two riders able to win two years in a row were Marc and Valentino. Even more so because [I was running] the number one. Finishing second would have been a very bad result. The number-one plate means you need to demonstrate you are number one. "I think we did everything perfectly to be considered this. Even more in the second part of the championship because we were faster many times, but we managed to always be competitive, faster, and stronger in the main race. Last season was a year to be very proud, but this season, even more so because with the number-one plate, with many mistakes, bad luck in some situ - ations, we still won the title." CN "NOW I KNOW IT'S BETTER TO BE CALMER, UNDERSTANDING BETTER THE SITUATION WITH THE TIRES AND THEN PUSHING." Back-to-back champ! INTERVIEW I 2023 MOTOGP CHAMPION PECCO BAGNAIA P74