Francesco Bagnaia confirmed for Ducati Team in MotoGP

The Ducati Team lineup for the 2021 MotoGP season has been completed, with Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia to partner Jack Miller next year.

Ducati Corse confirmed Bagnaia’s signing a one-year deal with the factory team on 30 September, ending speculation that had seen a number of riders, from Jorge Martin to Johann Zarco and even Jorge Lorenzo, linked to the factory team. 

The 23-year-old from Piedmont in Italy will secure his first full factory ride after spending the 2019 and 2020 seasons on the satellite Pramac Racing Team Ducati Desmosedici, where his best result to date has been second, achieved at this year’s San Marino and the Rimini Riviera GP.

Bagnaia made his debut in the Moto3 World Championship in 2013 and then stepped up to Moto2 in 2017, winning the World Championship in that category in 2018, before moving up to MotoGP with the Pramac Racing Team last year.

“Today I am the happiest person in the world. For me, it is a dream come true: being an official Ducati rider has always been my ambition, and I succeeded together with all of those who had always believed in me, even when things did not go well,” Bagnaia said.

“A special thank goes to Claudio Domenicali, Gigi Dall'Igna, Paolo Ciabatti and Davide Tardozzi for the trust, to the Pramac Racing Team that welcomed me as a family and to the VR46 Riders Academy that has always supported me all these years".