Pecco Bagnaia and the curse of 1

For the 2023 season, Francesco Bagnaia has therefore chosen to defend his world crown by wearing the number 1 of World Champion. A privilege that he is the first to accept since Casey Stoner in 2012! In addition to his dazzling career, Stoner is an exception in the history of MotoGP since he wore the number 1 on two machines of different brands, Ducati in 2008 and Honda in 2012.

In MotoGP, more than in any other discipline, riders have a particular attachment to their racing number, 63 in the case of Bagnaia. Beyond immediate identification, this number often reflects the story of a first victory, pays tribute to a legendary driver or simply serves as a lucky charm. It is also the opportunity to develop a range of derivative products with no annual expiration in a discipline where fans like more than anything to identify with their champion.

Although 9 times World Champion, including 7 times in the premier category, Valentino Rossi is a perfect example since he always refused to wear the number 1, preferring to keep the 46 that he had inherited from his father. This number was officially retired when his retirement was announced in homage to the Italian champion, but sales of blue and yellow tunics flocked with the 46 are not likely to dry up since we now find it on the cars driven by "he Dottore”! Jorge Lorenzo had chosen to wear the 1 in 2011, the year following his first title, but in 2103 after obtaining his second coronation he had decided to keep his usual number 99... Without any more success since he had again failed to retain his crown.

Two titles but only one year with No. 1 for Lorenzo © MotoGP

La Formula 1 has recently followed this path while in American disciplines such as NASCAR (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and the Indycar, the race numbers are the property of the Teams.

The decision 🔥 #1 #ForzaDucati #DucatiLenovoTeam pic.twitter.com/4FEAbrPgug

- Ducati Corse (@ducaticorse) January 23, 2023

In recent seasons, the predecessors of Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Márquez, Joan Mir and fabio quartararo, had chosen to keep their favorite numbers. For the first time in 11 years, there will be a No. 1 on the MotoGP grid. This attachment of drivers to their number explains why Bagnaia will be only the 9th driver in three decades to wear a number 1 which has not necessarily brought luck to his predecessors... We have to go back to 1998 to see a competitor succeed in keeping his title on a motorcycle adorned with the 1, it was Mick Doohan.

Mick Doohan has worn number 5 1 times, with success! © MotoGP

Since then, everyone who made such a choice has been dismissed the following season. So will Francesco Bagnaia put an end to this curse on the handlebars of his ducati Desmosedici number 1?

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