Luigi Dall’Igna reveals how Francesco Bagnaia took inspiration from Marc Marquez for Catalan Grand Prix fightback

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After a dismal start to his race weekend in Barcelona, Francesco Bagnaia somewhat redeemed himself with a seventh-place finish in the Catalan Grand Prix after starting from 21st on the grid.

The result was a complete shift from what we had seen from him previously on the Montmelo-based circuit in 2025. After starting from the same position in Saturday’s Sprint race, the Italian rider could only muster 14th.

Bagnaia now has less than half of Marquez’s points total for the season as his factory Ducati teammate continues to impress on his way to what looks like a certain seventh MotoGP title.

Despite the struggles he has faced in the current campaign, Bagnaia asserted that he has never lacked support from Ducati.

The team have been scrambling to find a solution to the number of issues he has experienced with the GP25 so far this year, with Ducati holding ‘serious meetings’ with Bagnaia at Balaton Park to try and get to the bottom of them.

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

Ducati changed Francesco Bagnaia’s swingarm to the same one as Marc Marquez’s

The Italian rider has been unlucky in some areas throughout the season, and due to his third-place standing in the riders’ championship, Bagnaia feels like he has improved in some areas.

He rose from 21st on the grid in Sunday’s race to finish seventh, behind Ai Ogura, who registered his best Grand Prix finish since the season opener in Thailand.

Ducati chief Luigi Dall’Igna highlighted a key change to the swingarm on Bagnaia’s GP25, which improved the performance of his bike to build on his P14 finish in the Sprint.

“Like all previous Ducatis, the GP25 is a racing bike, so there are different versions because each rider can choose what he prefers, in terms of setup and also some parts and components,” Dall’Igna told journalists, via Gazzetta dello Sport.

“For example, in Sunday’s race, Pecco adopted the same swingarm already chosen by Marc Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio, improving his performance a little.”

The change in part may have aided the two-time world champion’s confidence on the bike and, in turn, improved his enjoyment of the race, which is something that Davide Tardozzi is trying to improve in Bagnaia.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Ducati from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy

Luigi Dall’Igna highlights the reasons why Ducati’s MotoGP rivals are catching up amid recent dominance

Despite securing the constructors’ championship for the sixth consecutive season at the Catalan Grand Prix, Dall’Igna is aware of the increasing possibility that a rival team could catch up to them in time for next season and mount a challenge to Ducati’s throne.

The Ducati boss listed the reasons why it is possible, telling journalists, via Gazzetta dello Sport, “There are three reasons why our rivals are improving. The first obviously has to do with their skill; they’re all working very hard and in the right direction.

“Then there’s the fact that at the start of the year, we adopted a more conservative strategy, deciding to take minimal risks given the advantage we had at the end of last season, without pushing the development accelerator too hard.

“Furthermore, the other manufacturers benefit from concessions, while we’re the only ones without them. And it’s clear that sooner or later our rivals will close in and arrive.”

Marquez shared his concerns over the improvability of the GP25 ahead of the Catalan Grand Prix. He still recognises it as the best bike on the grid, to which there is no doubt, but seeing Brad Binder set the fastest time of the pre-qualifying practice session raised some questions in the Spaniard’s mind.