Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia is in disarray once again after missing out on the podium at the Italian Grand Prix. His three-win streak at Mugello petered out in morale-sapping fashion.
This was supposed to be the weekend that launched Bagnaia’s season, even if he’d already lost too much ground to Marc Marquez in the title race. He felt he’d made a breakthrough in his third-place finish at Aragon.
The optimism was strengthened when he battled the Spaniard for pole position and earned his best start of the season in P2. He dropped to third in the Sprint, but jostled with the Marquez brothers in a gripping start to Sunday’s race.
It was the sight MotoGP fans had been craving all year – Ducati’s two world champions going wheel-to-wheel. Unfortunately, Bagnaia lost front tyre grip and fell away rather dramatically.
He eventually crossed the line in fourth place after falling behind VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio. He’s now 110 points adrift in the championship, and 70 behind the younger Marquez brother on the Gresini.
Marc Marquez is reassuring struggling Francesco Bagnaia
In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi made it clear that Bagnaia retains the ‘unconditional support’ of his team. He delivered the championship in 2022 and 2023.
Ducati still don’t seem to understand why they’re not seeing the best version of Bagnaia. But Tardozzi says their faith in the Italian has not wavered.
He’s even received unlikely reassurance from the other side of the garage, which celebrated a fifth win of the year on Sunday.
“They accuse me personally of abandoning Bagnaia,” he seethed. “Here: Pecco has the unconditional support of Ducati. Unfortunately there is something that is not allowing him to perform as usual, but we have total confidence in him.
- READ MORE: Jorge Lorenzo hints that Francesco Bagnaia is now suffering the same problem he did at Ducati
“And not only out of gratitude for what he has done for the development of our bike and for the victories, but because we know he will recover. I am 100% convinced that he will compete in the races with Marc.”
Asked how Marquez ‘is trying to help’ Bagnaia, Tardozzi replied: “By supporting him. By making him understand how much we believe in him and what he means to Ducati.”
The 66-year-old added: “He doesn’t give up. Not just on the track, but in his head. There are riders who need reassurance, not him. He knows he’s still going strong.”
Davide Tardozzi responds to criticism of Ducati celebrations
Tardozzi was also asked whether Ducati’s ecstatic celebrations after each Marquez victory are compounding Bagnaia’s misery. But he doesn’t want to do rider #93 a disservice.
He also pointed out that he was by Bagnaia’s side within ‘five minutes’ of the podium ceremony. The 2019 debutant has only finished in the top three in one of the last four Grands Prix, or two of the last eight races, including Sprints.
“It’s a rule of mine and Ducati’s, which I remind everyone before the season even starts: if one of the two riders is on the podium, the first thing you do is go and celebrate with him, because it’s right,” he said.
“Then if the other one doesn’t do well, you quickly go and do everything possible. On Sunday at Mugello, five minutes after the podium, you didn’t see me anymore. I was at Pecco’s.”
While he looked like the fastest rider on track at the outset, Marquez felt Bagnaia simply ‘lacked speed’ over the full distance. He had talked him up as the favourite heading into the weekend.
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
