MotoGP Valencia: Bagnaia ‘calm but focused’ ahead of emotional race

A year on from winning the MotoGP season finale at Valencia, Ducati Lenovo’s Pecco Bagnaia is out for the big prize this weekend.

Bagnaia has one hand on the 2022 MotoGP Championship and needs just two points from Sunday’s race to secure his name on the historic trophy. Long-term rival and reigning champion Fabio Quartararo is 23 points adrift with nothing less than a win required if he has any hope of stopping the Italian’s dominant run but as has been seen before, anything can happen on race day.

Bagnaia has racked up five DNF’s in 2022, and dramatically crashed out of the title-fight in 2021 but with just one race remaining this season - at a venue which produced a dominant all-Ducati podium with the 25-year-old on the top step last year - the Italian seems to be taking it all in his stride this time around.

“A really important weekend for us is about to begin, but I arrive in Valencia calm and serene,” Bagnaia confirmed from Spain. “The Circuit Ricardo Tormo is a track where we were fast last year, and on paper, it suits the characteristics of our bike.

“We are in a more favourable situation than Malaysia, but we must stay focused until the end and think about working well from the first session to give our best in the race, as always.

“There will be a lot of Ducati fans here, as well as my family, my friends and my fan club, so I hope to give them all some great emotions on Sunday.”