Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati suffered their worst race of the 2025 MotoGP campaign at Mandalika a few weeks ago and are looking to bounce back at Phillip Island.
They’ll have to do so without recently crowned MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, though, who is set to miss at least the next two races while he recovers from a shoulder injury. His replacement is Michele Pirro, who is the team’s test rider.
On a positive note, it means that the team will be familiar with their replacement. VR46 also struggled in Indonesia, while Gresini managed to put two bikes on the podium. Ducati will be aware that improvement is needed, otherwise, they’ll be losing momentum at a bad time approaching the end of the campaign.
Marquez is a difficult teammate due to how strong he is on the GP25, which might make Francesco Bagnaia’s life a little easier over the coming weeks. Bagnaia’s rivals know his biggest problem, but the level of professionalism within the paddock is high, and they don’t overshare information about others.
READ MORE: What ‘all’ MotoGP manufacturers are now saying about Francesco Bagnaia’s future amid Ducati woes
Luigi Dall’Igna told Pablo Nieto that Ducati don’t have an ‘answer’ for their recent struggles
Bagnaia has faced a Ducati curse in 2025, and it’s believed that his ride height device has caused him a lot of issues. He has struggled particularly under braking, and in Indonesia, he crashed out of the Grand Prix while trundling around in last place.
Both Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli failed to show much pace either, finishing eighth and ninth at the end of an attritional race. Worryingly, now Ducati’s Luigi Dall’Igna has admitted that the manufacturer doesn’t have an ‘answer’ for their lack of pace in Mandalika.
“I think maybe because Pecco has had a lot of problems from day one, he didn’t have a feeling with the bike. Marc, if we look back, it’s been one of the tracks where he has never won, and he has never been a very competitive rider [in Indonesia].
“That’s not to say that he wouldn’t have been at this track, but it’s true that it has also cost him more than usual, having a lot of falls, where we saw that he had quite a few falls, and we started very well on Friday.
“On Saturday, we suddenly started to have a lot of problems that seemed like we had changed the bike, but it’s difficult to analyse why, I mean, it’s really complicated and, even, Gigi, Ricardo, on this one, well, eh, no, they didn’t really have an answer.”
READ MORE: Luigi Dall’Igna’s plan for Ducati’s 2026 MotoGP bike proves Francesco Bagnaia was right all along
What has happened to VR46’s form during the 2025 MotoGP season?
After scoring three podiums in their first four Grands Prix, VR46 have failed to maintain the promise they delivered early in the campaign.
In fact, they have now gone nine events without scoring a top-three finish on a satellite Ducati bike, which has proven itself to be quite handy.
Di Giannantonio knows where he must improve, having struggled to maintain his position in the championship on a GP25 this year.
Only Marquez appears to have been able to conquer the machine properly, which poses some interesting questions about its future.
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