After overturning a 91-point deficit, the Ducati star now has a chance to claim the title in Malaysia
It was an unexpectedly shaky start to the 2022 campaign for one of the pre-season title favourites. One point from the opening two races, four DNFs before the summer break and at one point, 91 points adrift of the World Championship summit. Now though, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) leads the title race by 14 points heading to the penultimate round of the season in Malaysia.
Flip the coin over and it’s a different story for Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™). The reigning MotoGP™ World Champion had bagged dominant victories in Portugal, Catalunya and Germany, and looked on course to make it two titles in two years. Pecco himself admitted after his German GP DNF that “at the moment, I’m not very positive. It will be almost impossible, but we’ll try.” It was at that stage he sat 91 points back from Quartararo.
A week on from the disappointment of crashing out at the Sachsenring, the Dutch TT looked like it could be another tricky weekend vs Quartararo for Pecco. The former won at The Cathedral in 2021. And it’s a track that suits Yamaha’s YZR-M1 down to a tee. However, a first mistake of the season saw Quartararo notch up a blank before the summer break, as Pecco held his nerve to keep Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) at bay for a much-needed victory. 66 points was the deficit post-Assen – a healthier number, but still a tough task.
Silverstone signalled the beginning of the second half of the season, with Quartararo having to deal with a Long Lap penalty in the race for the incident with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) back in Assen. Ultimately, this cost the Yamaha star a shot at the win as Pecco went on to claim an unexpected 25-point haul. Then, a week later at the Red Bull Ring, the Italian claimed a third win on the spin – another five points chalked off his deficit, as Quartararo picked up a classy second place.
Could Pecco make it four victories in a row? The answer was yes. The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli provided the perfect ribbon of asphalt for Pecco to win again, but he was made to sweat by future teammate Enea…