Marco Bezzecchi
Only one man has been able to tame Ducati’s brand-new bike in MotoGP this season, and he leads the riders’ championship.
Marc Marquez has been almost untouchable for the majority of the campaign, and that’s a complete contrast to the performances of teammate Francesco Bagnaia.
Whatever Ducati did over the winter, it did not work, and it has left the Italian rider in a tough spot. He’s 126 points behind in the standings, and we’re not even halfway through the season.
With so much of the MotoGP campaign to go, you would like to think that his woes with the GP25 are curable, but it seems that everything has been tried now. Is there anything left to change other than the bike?
Luigi Dall’Igna will ‘never quit believing’ in Bagnaia despite his struggles, and backs him to return to success one day.
However, Ducati may have to remind Bagnaia of his duties after he left a press conference early following the Dutch Grand Prix. It was a sign of his frustration.
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Marquez is ‘making the difference’ over Bagnaia by knowing exactly when to speed up and take risks. Everything is well measured.
But would things be different if he were still on the GP24? That’s the bike he won an incredible 11 races on last year, and was very comfortable with.
Fabio Di Giannantonio is the only rider other than Marquez or Bagnaia on a GP25, and his recent words about something ‘missing’ may soothe Bagnaia.
“With the new tyres, I’m missing that extra, be it half a second or a whole second,” he told Motorsport-Total. “I’m quick with used tires, and when we put on new tyres, something changes, but not enough.”
“I’m missing a little. I get everywhere too far when I try to push. So we have to continue working on it and maybe better adapt the bike or the riding style to the qualifying.”
Francesco Bagnaia has been suffering with one Ducati problem for ‘years’
Bagnaia’s main issue with Ducati’s bike is a lack of confidence and feeling in the front-end. It’s an expensive thing to fix.
Therefore, waiting until winter to have a deeper dive into the differences between the GP24 and GP25 is the only option.
And if a solution can’t be found, then a return to the GP24, which has been homologated and therefore can be used, could be the last resort.
Bagnaia has faced a Ducati technical problem for ‘years’ and it all traces back to not being able to set up his bike effectively at times.
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