We don’t know whether to say ‘despite’ or ‘thanks to’ the intense battle waged by his main rival in MotoGP for the past two years, Jorge Martin, Pecco Bagnaia is becoming increasingly stronger. His results bear this out: in Spielberg, Francesco Bagnaia achieved his seventh Grand Prix victory of the year, equalling his best record in a single season, which he had achieved in the two previous seasons in which he was also crowned champion.
At the height of Schwantz
Pecco Bagnaia’s excellent form has allowed him to join the select group of historic winners of the premier class of the World Championship, equalling Kevin Schwantz’s 25 victories following his recent triumph at the Austrian Grand Prix.
After the race, Bagnaia expressed his pride in statements to Sky Sport Italia: “These are impressive numbers, it’s exciting when you grow up admiring these legends.”
In search of Lawson and Pedrosa
Tied with Schwantz and displaying outstanding performances on his Desmosedici GP24, current MotoGP leader Pecco Bagnaia has the chance to continue to climb the pantheon of MotoGP legends. His next goal is to match the 31 wins of Eddie Lawson and Dani Pedrosa, who remains active as a test rider for KTM.
Stoner’s challenge
Further on the horizon are Mike Hailwood’s 37 wins and Casey Stoner’s 38. A few weeks ago at Assen, Bagnaia equalled the Australian as the rider with the most victories for Ducati, with 23 victories, equalling Stoner’s record.
With 7 wins so far this year, Pecco Bagnaia also has the chance to equal or surpass the 10 wins that Stoner achieved in 2007, when he led Ducati to its first world title.
The Top 5 Challenge
Despite the impressive level shown in recent seasons, where he has won two consecutive MotoGP titles, Bagnaia is still far from the records of some motorcycle legends.
Jorge Lorenzo rounds out the top five with 47 wins, closely followed by Mick Doohan’s 54. Meanwhile, Gresini Racing MotoGP’s Marc Marquez is still waiting to break his winless streak. With 59 wins under his belt, Marquez is ahead of Giacomo Agostini’s 68 and Valentino Rossi’s 89.
When you have just digested all these comparisons in terms of results and numbers of such legendary drivers, you have to surrender to the evidence that Pecco Bagnaia is an exceptional driver.
Many fans question him, accusing him of lacking character or personality, confusing these traits with the calm and elegant profile that the Italian driver usually shows us.
There is no doubt that if Pecco were more charismatic, he would win more fans, more media coverage, better publicity… But never more speed. And this last virtue, together with hard work, is the only one that matters in order to have reached such high peaks as those we have just reviewed.
For our part, we can only celebrate the confirmation of a new legend of motorcycling and say: Bravo Pecco! Bravissimo!
