How Francesco Bagnaia can win the 2022 MotoGP title at the Malaysian GP

Ducati rider Bagnaia stands on the precipice of an historic first world championship coming into this weekend’s penultimate round of the season, as he aims to become the first rider to have overturned a 91-point deficit and brush aside five DNFs to win the title.

Bagnaia has won six times so far this season, five of those coming after he crashed out of June’s German GP – the incident which left him trailing Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo by 91 points.

Finishing third last weekend at the Australian Grand Prix, Bagnaia now leads reigning world champion Quartararo by 14 points after the Frenchman crashed out of the Phillip Island race.

Four riders are mathematically in with a chance of winning the title still this season, with Bagnaia 14 points clear of Quartararo, 27 points ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and 42 ahead of Gresini Ducati’s Enea Bastianini.

How can the 2022 MotoGP title be won at the Malaysian GP?

• If Bagnaia wins and Quartararo is fourth or lower, Bagnaia is the world champion regardless of where Espargaro and Bastianini finish.
• If Bagnaia is second and Quartararo is seventh or lower, Bagnaia is the world champion regardless of where Espargaro and Bastianini finish.
• If Bagnaia is third and Quartararo is 11th or lower, Bagnaia is the world championship if Espargaro is not first or second.
• If Bagnaia is fourth and Quartararo is 15th or lower, Bagnaia is the world champion if Espargaro is not on the podium.
• If Bagnaia is fifth and Quartararo does not score, Bagnaia is the world champion if Espargaro is not on the podium.
• If Bagnaia is sixth or lower, he will not be world champion regardless of where Quartararo finishes. Espargaro must be fourth or higher to keep his title hopes alive.
• If Bagnaia finishes ninth down to 13th, Bastianini must win to keep his title hopes alive
• If Bagnaia finishes 14th or lower, Bastianini must finish first or second to keep his title hopes alive

When was the last time a Ducati rider won the MotoGP title?

A Ducati rider last won the MotoGP world championship in 2007, when Casey Stoner won the first of his two series titles.

It remains to this date Ducati’s only title in MotoGP since it joined as a manufacturer in 2003.

When was the last time an Italian rider won the MotoGP title?

An Italian rider has not won the MotoGP world championship since Valentino Rossi tallied up his seventh premier class success in 2009…