Francesco Bagnaia admits he was ‘scared’ after one thing he experienced at the Japanese Grand Prix

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Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia found his “confidence” during practice for the 2025 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix, tempting Davide Tardozzi to declare “Pecco is back”.

Team manager Tardozzi stated during the first practice session at Motegi on Friday that he is “sure” that Bagnaia is finally in a position to stage a comeback. The 28-year-old has endured a year he will be desperate to forget, but he offered some hope throughout Friday’s running.

Bagnaia set the pace during the opening practice session for the Japanese GP, as the clocks rolled back as the Italian posted a 1:44.857 to pip his 2023 and 2024 title rival Jorge Martin by 0.093 seconds. Bagnaia fell to P7 in the pre-qualifying practice session, with a 1:43.539.

Tardozzi feels Ducati have found a way for Bagnaia to rediscover his speed, with reports now emerging that the Bologna Bullets have fitted the swingarm and front fork used on the GP24 on his GP25. Ducati’s fork was one of Bagnaia’s main issues adapting to the GP25 this year.

Francesco Bagnaia felt ‘scared’ using Michelin’s hard front tyre during practice at Motegi

Bagnaia heads into the race weekend at Motegi with just 237 points compared to the 512 of his Ducati teammate, Marc Marquez. Also, the Japanese GP is the earliest that Marquez can win the 2025 MotoGP title, having even taken 11 Grand Prix wins to Bagnaia’s one this term.

READ MORE: Everything to know about the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi

Such has been his plight this season that Bagnaia told Marquez in Barcelona that “I’m losing more and more confidence” each time that the Turin native rides the GP25. But Bagnaia has found confidence at Motegi, even though he felt “scared” using the hard front Michelin tyre.

Bagnaia said, via Motorsport.com: “You have to keep your feet on the ground. It was a good Friday, we can’t hide the performance this morning. I was super happy with everything.

“With the hard front tyre, I was struggling a bit because it was degrading quite a lot. So, I was a bit scared. But then in the afternoon, with the medium, I felt a bit better. I rode without any problems, with quite a bit of confidence [and] trying different things.”

Pecco Bagnaia topped an FP1 session for the first time in 2025 at the Japanese Grand Prix

Bagnaia will hope his strong pace in practice for the Japanese GP on Friday continues come qualifying, as well as through the Sprint Race and Grand Prix. His table-topping FP1 lap time was even the first time this term that Bagnaia has led the first practice session at any round.

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

Ducati have seen Marquez top the FP1 timesheets for 11 of the 17 Grand Prix weekends so far this year since joining the Borgo Panigale brand. Yet Bagnaia had to settle for second, at best, only in Austria before he set the pace in FP1 at Motegi while Marquez only ranked P3.

Marquez had to take more risk during pre-qualifying practice for the Japanese GP than the 32-year-old ideally wanted to, as well, to claim an automatic Q2 place. He was down in just P17 with a little over two minutes left, while Bagnaia was P4 until a flurry of late lap times.