“I gave him the nickname ‘Pecco’ - if you confront him, first answer is no!”

Bagnaia won his first premier class title this year, clawing back at Fabio Quartararo’s 91-point lead in the MotoGP standings and finally winning at the final race to complete the biggest-ever comeback.

"He listens to everyone, but if you confront him and tell him something that is the opposite of what he thinks, the first answer will always be a no,” his sister told Speedweek. 

“But then he thinks about it calmly and understands for himself. He's very smart in that sense."

Bagnaia crashed five times in 2022 - he is the first rider to win the MotoGP title after this many DNFs.

“It was difficult after the Sachsenring,” Carola said. “The gap was big, he made a mistake and fell in an important race.

"From that moment on, we all told him: 'Stop thinking about the title, try to have fun driving and focus on improving, also with a view to the future. Improve your limit right now and then we'll see what happens.' 

“And I think that was a bit of a game changer.

"He was condemned at the beginning of the season - and he was condemned - to win at all costs, this can be a problem if things do not go as expected. 

“He had finished the 2021 season very well, so it was normal to think like that, but things turned out differently. 

 

 

 

 

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“In this situation you have two options: either you change something or you end up in a negative vortex. Pecco was very good at reversing course.

"He went his own way. He has been and always is very good at staying positive even in difficult times. 

“It would be easy to say 'I am the problem' or 'the bike is the problem'. He doesn't say it, rather he looks for a solution and is very stubborn about it. 

“And he always said that one day he would win the world championship with Ducati.”

"I've never seen him cry like that"

Carola invented the nickname ‘Pecco’ for her brother when they were children. Today she is a vital part of the Ducati team.

She said about her brother’s reaction after winning the title: "He's someone who is very calm. But the emotions were strong, I've never seen him cry like that. It was a very beautiful moment.”

Carola revealed how Pecco has struggled with social media criticism in the past: "It's part of the game, but obviously it was difficult. If you win you don't care, because there are criticisms even in that case, but they have less importance. 

“If, on the other hand, everything went wrong and you are going through a difficult time, when you go on social media and read the comments it is clear that it bothers you. 

“But then you think about it rationally and say: 'Do we know each other personally? Is this constructive criticism?’ 

“And as Pecco said: ‘What remains is the fact that we won the world title. The rest is just talk’.”