Francesco Bagnaia is the 2022 MotoGP World Champion. Thanks to his ninth-place finish in the Valencia GP, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider has secured his first MotoGP World Title after making a historic comeback in the Championship, which has never been achieved before by any other rider in the premier class.

For the 25-year-old from Turin and the Bologna-based manufacturer, this is a historic achievement: with seven wins, ten podiums and five pole positions this year, Bagnaia becomes the first Italian rider to win the MotoGP World Championship on an Italian bike, the Ducati Desmosedici GP.

After increasing his lead to 23 thanks to a stunning victory at Sepang in Malaysia, Bagnaia needed only a ninth place today to secure Ducati’s second Riders’ World Title in the premier class, 15 years after Casey Stoner’s first title in 2007. The last person to do so in the top class was Giacomo Agostini 50 years ago, in 1972, when he won the title in the 500cc category with the MV Agusta.

For Ducati, the only non-Japanese brand capable of winning a World Championship in MotoGP, this is the second Riders’ World Title, after the one won by Casey Stoner in 2007. The Borgo Panigale manufacturer also wins the Constructors’ Title and the Teams’ Title with the Ducati Lenovo Team.