Bagnaia perseveres to bring Ducati long-awaited crown with epic comeback

When Francesco Bagnaia crashed at the German Grand Prix in June, the Ducati rider found himself 91 points behind reigning champion Fabio Quartararo, an enormous lead that had never been overhauled in MotoGP history. Until this season.

Bagnaia came agonisingly close in 2021 when the Italian pushed Quartararo all the way before a crash with two races left handed his Yamaha rival the title.

But Bagnaia's comeback this season, the greatest in MotoGP history, saw Ducati clinch the title after 15 years as he sealed the championship in Valencia on Sunday and finally ended the dominance of Japanese manufacturers Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki.

"It was an amazing victory. I was feeling the weight on my shoulders to bring back this title to my team Ducati and to Italy," Bagnaia told reporters.

"I'm very proud of my team, of myself, of what we did because it's incredible."

The start of the 2022 season was far from ideal for pre-season favourite Bagnaia, however, when he began with a crash in Qatar as he struggled to come to grips with a new Ducati machine.

"I know that the task of a factory rider is to work, but if we want to win, then we have to be more concentrated on me during the race weekend," Bagnaia said at the time as he blamed Ducati for trying to test new specifications on a race weekend.

He took his time to adapt while Ducati also worked with him, trusting his judgement, eventually allowing him to claim his first victory in the sixth round in Jerez.

But just as Bagnaia felt that he was back to his best and set to challenge Quartararo, the 25-year-old failed to find consistency, with one more win in Italy sandwiched between three retirements.

SEASON OF TWO HALVES

The 91-point deficit midway through the year looked daunting but Bagnaia