Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia couldn’t wait to see the back of the 2025 MotoGP season, but has hinted at a potential return to full form in 2026 after a successful post-season test in Valencia.
The form of the factory Ducati riders was one of the biggest narratives of the recently concluded 2025 MotoGP season. As Marc Marquez dominated, Francesco Bagnaia struggled.
As a result of the downturn in results and performances, Bagnaia has had to rebuild Ducati’s trust in him as he hopes to retain his seat upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the upcoming campaign.
Having a positive outcome at the final testing session of 2025 was crucial for him to reset for the new season, where he can focus on returning to his highest level and providing MotoGP fans with the fight against Marquez that they have been waiting for.
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Francesco Bagnaia found ‘a lot of confidence’ at Ducati during MotoGP’s Valencia test
Bagnaia ended the full day of running with the tenth fastest time on the grid, just under a tenth of a second behind Ducati World Superbikes star and Marc Marquez’s replacement for the test, Nicolo Bulega.
During his post-test media duties with journalists, the obvious question that was posed to Bagnaia referred to his difficulties in finding form last season and his current sentiments on regaining form next year.
Asked if he got the answers he wanted, the Italian rider replied, via Moto.it, “It’s not a question of answers. It was definitely nice to be able to push in a more appropriate way, more like a MotoGP rider testing.
“I could push to feel things out. I was able to be very incisive in braking, very incisive on corner entry, and I was able to manage the rear tyre well, something I’ve unfortunately never managed in recent races, since the last weekend here.
“And today, in general, I was riding with a much better pace, significantly better than this weekend. So this definitely gives us a lot of confidence and peace of mind heading into the winter.
“Now I don’t want it to be a fluke, but I still think it’s a very good base to start from.”
READ MORE: Ducati will ‘force’ Marc Marquez to make a 2026 bike decision that he delegated to Francesco Bagnaia
Francesco Bagnaia thinks his work in the Valencia test will ‘definitely bear fruit next year’
From day one of the 2025 MotoGP season, Bagnaia had been on the back foot to his new teammate at the Borgo Panigale-based team and found difficulties in bridging the gap to him.
During his chat with journalists in Valencia, Bagnaia was also asked whether he’ll take a different approach to pre-season testing at the beginning of the new year, given the difficulties that stemmed from the same event last year.
“So, I honestly don’t know where the difficulty started,” Bagnaia said. “I definitely started to struggle more in Thailand, but in Malaysia, I was doing really well.
“But overall, we struggled to understand many situations. For example, the race in Japan was very difficult to understand, but positive, yes.
“Let’s just say I did a job today that will definitely bear fruit next year, and we’ll have to stay calm, try things slowly and with the right laps.”
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