Francesco Bagnaia must learn from the ‘unbelievable’ thing Marc Marquez did in Barcelona after his ‘screwed’ admission

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Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia has to go through Q1 in qualifying for the fourth time in the 2025 MotoGP season after finishing practice for the Catalan Grand Prix in just P21.

The 28-year-old suffered another frustrating Friday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as Brad Binder topped the timesheet in a factory KTM one-two with Pedro Acosta. Binder set a 1:38.141 fastest lap, which Bagnaia only got within 1.029 seconds of by the end of the hour.

Bagnaia was also only quicker than Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Salvadori by just 0.016s, as well as Maverick Vinales of KTM Tech3 by 0.138s and Somkiat Chantra of LCR Honda by 0.832s on their returns from injury. It was also comfortably Bagnaia’s worst practice result this year.

Ducati had already seen Bagnaia fail to claim automatic Q2 spots in Thailand (P13), Czechia (P13) and Hungary (P14) during the 2025 MotoGP season. The Catalan GP in Barcelona now marks another sorry showing for the Italian, while teammate Marc Marquez finished fourth.

Francesco Bagnaia admits he’s ‘screwed’ braking in a ‘straight line’ on Ducati’s 2025 bike

Bagnaia also arrived in Barcelona for the Catalan GP highlighting how the two-time MotoGP champion has struggled all year with braking in a straight line on Ducati’s 2025 bike. But the Turin native saw signs of progress at the Hungarian Grand Prix last time out at Balaton Park.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number

Ducati made drastic changes to Bagnaia’s bike at Balaton Park, which improved his mood at the Hungarian GP despite finishing the Sprint in P13 and Grand Prix in P9. Yet while Bagnaia still saw positives on Thursday in Barcelona, his practice pace was absent at the Catalan GP.

Bagnaia said, via quotes by MOW: “Braking in a straight line was very similar. But I was able to stop the bike better on entry [and] when leaning, and that’s something I’ve always lacked during the season when I was behind someone.

“There, the slipstream doesn’t help you brake. And if you can’t stop, you’re screwed. That was my problem.”

Marc Marquez shows Francesco Bagnaia the way in MotoGP’s timed practice in Barcelona

Bagnaia only has to look across to the other side of the Ducati garage to see what is possible under braking on a Desmosedici GP25 during practice for the Catalan GP in Barcelona. The Italian may have laboured, but Marquez dazzled as he lapped 0.805s faster in pre-qualifying.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend

Marquez particularly impressed Sylvain Guintoli this Friday during pre-qualifying practice for the Catalan GP with how the 2025 champion-elect stopped his Ducati GP25 for Turn 10. The 32-year-old stunned Guintoli with how he attacked the sweeping left-hander late in the day.

Guintoli said on TNT Sports 2 (05/09, 14:46): “How does he stop that? Did you see the bike then? The load on the front tyre? Unbelievable. Marc is so good at that.”

Marquez was not able to break into the top three in practice on Friday evening, with Gresini rider Alex Marquez on a Ducati GP24 joining KTM’s Binder and Acosta in the top three. But the Cervera native’s session was largely spent focusing on race pace ahead of the weekend.

A strong performance at the Catalan GP can see Marc Marquez leave Barcelona with his first match point in his 2025 riders’ championship fight with Alex Marquez heading to Misano for next week’s San Marino Grand Prix. Marc only has to leave Misano 222 points ahead of Alex.

Bagnaia is nearly already mathematically ruled out of fighting Marquez for the title entering the final eight rounds. The factory Ducati riders are already separated by 227 points prior to the Barcelona Sprint Race and this Sunday’s Catalan GP, with Alex also trailing Marc by 175.