Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati star Francesco Bagnaia has regularly endured a miserable time throughout the 2025 MotoGP season, but he can still finish the year in the top three of the standings.
The 28-year-old has gone from fighting for the title in each of the past four terms to fighting to finish the year among the top three. Bagnaia won the title in 2022 and ‘23, and he ranked second by 26 points to Fabio Quartararo in 2021 and later by 10 points to Jorge Marin in ‘24.
Yet Bagnaia is currently only fourth with two rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season remaining, with Aprilia rival Marco Bezzecchi now edging the Ducati ace by five points with 291 playing 286. Gresini racer Alex Marquez has secured second in the standings and boasts 413 points.
Marc Marquez lifted the 2025 title with five rounds to spare, having left the Japanese Grand Prix leading the standings with 541 points while Bagnaia sat third on 274. Despite Marquez’s season-ending shoulder injury, he also still has 259 more points than Bagnaia’s 286 so far.
Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali thinks Francesco Bagnaia finishing third in the 2025 standings would be ‘great’
While Bagnaia won the Motegi Sprint and Japanese GP in round 17/22 and he also later won the Sepang Sprint in round 22, the Italian did not finish in four of the past five Grands Prix. A puncture forced Bagnaia to retire in the Malaysian Grand Prix from third place last time out.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number
The Malaysian GP marked the latest sorry Sunday for the two-time MotoGP champion amid a miserable term. But given Bagnaia’s problems adapting to Ducati’s 2025 bike, CEO Claudio Domenicali thinks third in the standings would not only be “acceptable” but a “great” result.
“Well, I think that third place is totally acceptable, and is still an extremely important result,” Domenicali told Sky Italia.
“If you think that in such a difficult championship, being able to take home the third step of the podium is certainly a great result. I think there is every chance of being able to.”
Pecco Bagnaia is unlikely to share Claudio Domenicali’s stance on potentially finishing third in the MotoGP standings
Bagnaia is unlikely to share Domenicali’s belief that third place in the riders’ standings would mark a “great result”, despite his struggles aboard the Desmosedici GP25 this year. The Turin native fought for the title over the past four terms, but was nowhere near the fight this year.
Marquez proved the GP25’s ultimate potential after replacing Enea Bastianini in the factory Ducati team this term. The 32-year-old won 11 of the 18 Grands Prix that he entered, along with 14 Sprint Races, and took eight poles before being sidelined through injury in October.
Through the same 18-round run, Bagnaia only boasted two Grand Prix wins, one Sprint win and two pole positions. Gresini ace Alex Marquez on a year-old Desmosedici GP24 has also overshadowed Bagnaia this year, which will make fighting for third place harder to swallow.
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
