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2022 MotoGP World Championship
2022 Valencian Community Grand Prix
Circuit Ricardo Tormo
Cheste, Spain
Sunday, 6 November 2022
Ducati Lenovo Team's Francesco Bagnaia just needs to finish 13th or higher in the
Valencian Community Grand Prix on Sunday, November 6 to be crowned world champion for 2022.
The Italian claimed his seventh victory of the season in the Malaysian Grand Prix to go 23 points clear of Monster Energy Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo in the riders' standings with one race remaining in the calendar.
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Bagnaia was denied his maiden premium-class title in Sepang after Quartararo secured P3 to ensure the championship would go down to the wire.
After making a slow start, the 25-year-old has been in phenomenal form during the second half of the year, finishing on the podium in eight of last nine rounds.
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Bagnaia trailed Quartararo by 91 points ahead of his first of four straight victories in the Dutch Tourist Trophy and Ducati Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti has hit out at the "haters" on social media criticising their rider of late.
"Quartararo has also suffered the pressure, so much so that he took a few weeks off from social media. It can bother a rider a lot that there are detractors whatever he does, but you have to understand that this is today's world and you also need to learn how to not care," Ciabatti told the GPOne website.
"If we look at the races [Bagnaia] won, the laps in the lead - all those who speak out on principle, because they prefer other riders or because they see the figure of Valentino in Pecco, they are simply haters, but they can be very bad.
"If you fail to detach from these unjustified comments which come from social networks and social media, you risk being hurt.
"Pecco's numbers are unmistakable, only those who are incompetent or in bad faith can cast doubts about them and we are not interested in these people."
2022 Malaysian Grand Prix results
Winner: Francesco Bagnaia - Ducati Lenovo Team
Second Place: Enea Bastianini - Gresini Racing
Third Place: Fabio Quartararo - Monster Energy Yamaha
Plus entry into the end-of-season draw
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