‘High-level whispers’ in MotoGP paddock claim that Ducati have breached regulations with Pecco Bagnaia

Add as preferred source on Google

Ducati have been evasive with the media when asked about Francesco Bagnaia’s sudden improvement in Japan. And one paddock rumour may explain why.

Bagnaia hadn’t scored a point in a Sprint race since the summer break, but then he converted pole position at Motegi in dominant fashion. He also cruised to victory in the main Grand Prix, his first win on pure pace all season, after five races without a podium.

VR46 boss Uccio Salucci has since revealed that Bagnaia tested a GP24, the motorcycle on which he won 11 Grands Prix last year and narrowly missed out on the title, on the Monday after Misano. Ducati had initially taken a ‘vow of silence’ on that test.

Bagnaia deflected questions in his debrief on Friday, pointing journalists towards Luigi Dall’Igna instead. He claimed he was ‘parroting what people are telling me to say’.

Francesco Bagnaia may have used Ducati GP24 to win in Japan

After finishing last in the Mandalika Sprint, 13 seconds adrift of the nearest bike, Bagnaia demanded an explanation from Ducati for what he called an ‘unacceptable’ and ‘strange’ situation.

Now, journalist Mat Oxley, who’s on the scene, says there are ‘high-level whispers’ that Bagnaia raced a GP24 at Motegi (he initially said Misano but later corrected himself).

When asked to clarify, Oxley said ‘the accusation is that he rode a whole GP24’, including last year’s engine. This would appear to be a breach of the regulations, with the 2025 engine homologated at the start of the year.

It must be stressed that this is only an unconfirmed rumour at this stage. But as Oxley points out, ‘Ducati’s silence isn’t helping their cause in this matter’.

Ducati’s major milestone at Indonesian Grand Prix completely overshadowed

A technician who works with Ducati indicated that Bagnaia was using the 2024 fork last weekend. It was thought that he was riding a hybrid bike with as many of last year’s parts as possible.

MotoGP reporter Jack Appelyard suspects that Bagnaia gave Ducati an ‘ultimatum’ in a lengthy meeting after a scoreless weekend at Misano. This led him to use Franco Morbidelli’s bike the following day and confirm that he was still quick on better-suited machinery.

Ducati sealed the teams’ title on Saturday, with Gresini no longer able to catch them. But the ongoing drama around Bagnaia has rather overshadowed that achievement.