A lollipop for Pecco Bagnaia: the little girl's gesture sweetens a bitter end to the season

"With a spoonful of sugar the medicine goes down and everything will shine brighter." These days Francesco Bagnaia is swallowing some very bitter pills. Who knows if the lollipop given to him by Summer, Jake Dixon’s daughter, will work some Mary Poppins magic.

This gesture certainly brought a big smile to his face. The final round of the season for the riders is a bit like the last day of school. It’s a celebration for everyone. For some, it’s the end of a nightmare, and that’s definitely the case for Pecco Bagnaia, who surely can’t wait to put a dramatic 2025 behind him from a purely sporting standpoint. On a personal, family level, his life is (or at least appears) very serene with his wife, his sister, and his parents always by his side. No one knows, however, what lies in his mind and in his heart, what he may have felt in these months.

In Valencia, Jake Dixon suggested to Pecco Bagnaia that they swap helmets. After eight years, the English rider will leave the MotoGP paddock to join the Superbike World Championship aboard the HRC Honda. In the garage, as usual, was his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Summer. And the little one gave Daddy Jake the lollipop she had in her hand. But no, it wasn’t for him—it was for Pecco Bagnaia, the friend he was chatting with. After giving the treat to Pecco Bagnaia, she went to get another Chupa to quietly enjoy with the team’s mechanics.

The beautiful, human face of racing. In Superbike, Dixon will meet other dads on pit lane as well. While riders with children are rather rare in the MotoGP paddock, they’re more common in the production-based series. Just think of Sam and Alex Lowes, both with kids, Alvaro Bautista, father of two girls, Jonathan Rea (two boys), Raffaele De Rosa, and others. In recent years it has become clear: fatherhood does not negatively affect sporting performance—on the contrary, it often provides important psychological balance even when on track.