The #1 curse MotoGP’s world champion hopes to break in 2023
Listen to this article Though Ducati shot its bolt a day early by accidentally revealing 2022 MotoGP title winner Francesco Bagnaia would be running the #1 on its website, that fact was finally confirmed on Monday morning at the Italian marque's launch event in the Dolomites. And thus the debate over the draw of the #1 plate continues: fans either feel passionate that a world champion must carry the #1 plate, as if it were some sort of birthright or – like this writer – you don't really care either way. The #1 hasn't appeared on the front of a MotoGP bike since 2012, when Casey Stoner rode what would be his final season in the series with the number to mark his second world title. It's fitting, then, that Bagnaia – who ended Ducati's 15-year drought last season since Stoner's first world title in 2007 – picks up the mantle for 2023 on his Desmosedici. T...