Why Bagnaia's MotoGP triumph is as worthy as Stoner's Ducati breakthrough

In racing, numbers are usually the most accurate reflection of reality. And the numbers that Ducati recorded in MotoGP this season, with the eight bikes it had spread across the grid, unequivocally underlines the supremacy that the fleet of Desmosedicis enjoyed over their competitors.

Between two of the three versions of the Ducati prototype that have raced on track in this 2022, 12 victories have been accumulated out of a possible 20 - a record for the manufacturer - as well as 16 pole positions. The 32 podiums of the Bologna manufacturer - more than half of the 60 total - have been shared by seven of its eight riders; another metric that only reaffirms the success of the Reparto Corse engineers, led by Gigi Dall'Igna, in the design and development of the latest bike.

All of the above being true, one could get confused and think that the world championship celebrated by Francesco Bagnaia in Valencia has less merit than the first in the history of Ducati, the one Casey Stoner took 15 years ago after catching the competition by surprise. However, while the statistics ratify the superiority of the Italian bike throughout this year, there are also arguments that Bagnaia's title success can co-exist on a similar level to the feat achieved by Stoner and co in 2007.

PLUS: Why the 2022 MotoGP season had a bittersweet ending

To begin with, we must not lose sight of the technical context in which both episodes took place. In Stoner's case, he was crowned in the year that MotoGP engine displacement was reduced from 990cc to 800cc.

As happens in other disciplines, such as Formula 1, a revolution in the technical regulations opens a door through which surprises can slip in, especially from teams with nothing to lose. Ducati took a risk in the conception of a bike that focused its main strength on its enormous power, and then found in Stoner someone who was able to master it.

At the same time, it is worth noting that the single tyre supplier had not yet been established, and Michelin and Bridgestone were thus amid a tyre war. This is another element that obviously also encourages inequality between the customers of the French company (Honda, Yamaha) and those of the Japanese company (Ducati).

Stoner scored Ducati's first riders' title of the MotoGP era in 2007 following a major rule change

Photo by: Andre Vor / Sutton Images

It must also be taken into account that each team was free to use the electronics it considered most convenient, long before it began to be standardised and controlled. Without all the above being favourable to Ducati, the situation still offered the opportunity to be able to make a difference, given the many components that could vary from one project to another.

Of the Ducati personnel that could bask in Bagnaia's crowning moment in Valencia, there's one individual who can compare the value of the two titles: Cristian Gabarrini, who a decade and a half ago was Stoner's technical manager and who is now Bagnaia's.

In 2007, Gabarrini celebrated 10 victories and five pole positions won by Stoner and his GP7, compared to Bagnaia's seven wins and five pole positions at the controls of the GP22. To ask him to weigh in is like asking a child to choose between parents, but he is willing to elucidate on the more meritorious aspects of the two world championships.

"The 2007 Ducati was very extreme, with an almost undriveable engine," Gabarrini tells Autosport. "The one now is one of the best in the paddock, but this Sunday a Suzuki won. And if Marc [Marquez] had been at 100%, Honda would surely have won a race too.

"The differences are minimal, and to come out on top like Pecco has done is very difficult, and to come back the way he has done" Cristian Gabarrini

"It's true that the Bridgestone compounds were at a high level, but Michelin still brought in specific units on Sunday morning, after having manufactured them the night before. And that, in many cases, was a great help.

"And then there is the electronics. At that time [2007], ours was much worse than the rest and, in addition, Casey liked to go practically without; he wanted to control everything himself. Now it's very different, because it's the rider who is in charge of managing those electronics."

With that assessment, one might think that Gabarrini places Stoner's achievement on a higher rung. But he quickly emphasises the extreme difficulty of what Bagnaia has been able to accomplish this season.

"When Casey was racing there were the so-called 'Fantastic Four', which were him, [Valentino] Rossi, Dani [Pedrosa] and [Jorge] Lorenzo," Gabarrini says.

Rossi, Pedrosa and Lorenzo were MotoGP's big beasts at the time of Stoner's first title - but Gabarrini says the level has increased greatly since 2007

Photo by: Andre Vor / Sutton Images

"Now, the level has risen so much that there are no longer four, but everything is so close that almost anyone can win. The differences are minimal, and to come out on top like Pecco has done is very difficult, and to come back the way he has done."

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Ex-Lorenzo crew chief Ramon Forcada offers the testimony of someone less emotionally involved than Gabarrini, but present in both chapters. Forcada has no doubt that, despite the greater autonomy available to the structures some time ago, the Ducati squad fully deserves all of the plaudits.

"In racing, you don't just depend on what you do, but on what the others do," says Forcada. "When there is a rule change, it opens the door for someone to surprise. And in that we have the technical example in the introduction of four-stroke engines. The two brands that were betting on it were Honda and Yamaha. The first got an excellent result, the second failed miserably.

"That said, whoever wins the world championship deserves it. What makes Pecco's title more valuable is how he achieved it. To arrive halfway through the season 90 points behind the leader, who, moreover, is the champion, and not let up or let go. That's the most praiseworthy thing. Doing something for the first time is always remarkable".

No one had managed to come from so far back and win the world championship as Bagnaia has done, but Stoner's achievements in a different MotoGP age will always remain in the memory as the Australian became the marque's first world champion.

Bagnaia earned plaudits for the manner of his recovery against Quartararo to claim the 2022 world championship

Photo by: Ducati Corse