Kevin Schwantz admits he was wrong about Francesco Bagnaia after ‘horrible’ MotoGP downturn

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Francesco Bagnaia arrives at the Portuguese Grand Prix trying to hold onto third place in the championship. He’s now out of contention for a top-two spot.

After Alex Marquez sealed the runner-up position, Bagnaia is on for his lowest finish since 2020, his second year in the sport. He converted a surprise pole position into a Sprint victory in Malaysia but then retired from the race due to a puncture.

While the Sunday retirement wasn’t his fault, it was a weekend that epitomised his season. Bagnaia has been trapped in a cycle of false dawns and new lows.

Burned by that experience, he’s now adopted a more neutral state of mind. After winning the Sprint last time out, Bagnaia said he and Ducati were still ‘in trouble’, aware that he needs a consistent run of strong results before he can say he’s truly back.

Kevin Schwantz thought Francesco Bagnaia was back after Americas GP

Bagnaia was comfortably beaten by new teammate Marc Marquez in the first two rounds, as well as the Austin Sprint. He also trailed Gresini rider Alex.

But in Austin, Marquez crashed out from the lead and Bagnaia took a dominant victory. Kevin Schwantz thought that performance would launch his season.

As it turned out, Bagnaia followed it up with a worrying P8 in the Qatar Sprint, and suffered his first scoreless weekend of the season in France soon after. He’s had four of those in total, including what Schwantz called a ‘horrible’ Indonesian GP.

“When I saw him in Austin, he and Marc raced, Marc made a mistake and he won, I felt like Pecco was making the turn and getting better,” the American legend said. “But it’s just been too inconsistent.

“Looking at him over the past four seasons, he hasn’t had that inconsistency. I think maybe he’s been a little distracted by what his teammate’s been able to do on the bike.

“I think Pecco needs to just focus on what got him two or three world championships in MotoGP already – hard work, consistent laps and getting a bike that he’s comfortable with.

“What the other guy likes, what Marc’s using in the other garage is irrelevant. You have to do what’s best for you. Maybe he likes something you don’t like.

“Japan, he won, the next weekend, he was horrible again. We know the bikes are better than that, we know Pecco’s better than that, but they’re just not working together.”

Look at Marc Marquez on the Honda – Kevin Schwantz’s advice to Pecco Bagnaia

While Schwantz thinks that Bagnaia has been distracted by Marquez, he acknowledges that it’s ‘hard not to pay attention’ to what the world champion has done.

But Marquez harmed Honda’s development by covering up the bike’s flaws, so Bagnaia should be wary of trying to follow the same path. As Schwantz says, the #93 ‘can do things on a machine’ that most of his rivals can’t.

“To be in a box with somebody that’s in the top three or top five every practice session, and you’re real inconsistent, I’m sure it’s hard not to pay attention to what’s going on on the other side,” Schwantz said.

“I still think Pecco just needs to focus on what he wants, what he likes and what he needs out of that motorcycle. We’ve seen Marc on the Honda, and when he got off the Honda, nobody else could ride it.

“Marc likes things, and Marc can do things on a machine that maybe most people can’t, and Pecco just needs to go with what Pecco knows.”

Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali thinks P3 would be ‘great’ for Bagnaia and rejects the idea that the Italian’s performances have been ‘unacceptable’ this season.