Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia’s first MotoGP team principal, Francesco Guidotti, believes that the two-time premier class title-winner has now ‘learnt his lesson’ after a woeful 2025 campaign.
Not much more can be said about Francesco Bagnaia’s 2025 term with Ducati that hasn’t already been said.
The factory Ducati star had his worst season to date with the Borgo Panigale-based outfit, and Bagnaia is now looking at a potential exit from the team if he doesn’t turn things around in 2026.
However, one of the Italian rider’s earliest confidantes in the premier class believes that he has learnt his lesson from the issue-ridden campaign that saw him languish as Marc Marquez broke records on equal machinery.
- READ MORE: Ducati rider coach admits they ‘lost a battle’ with Francesco Bagnaia during the 2025 MotoGP season
Francesco Bagnaia will finish … in the MotoGP championship in 2026
Francesco Guidotti thinks first Francesco Bagnaia has now ‘learnt his lesson’ after 2025 nightmare
Former Pramac boss Francesco Guidotti was a guest on a recent episode of the ZamTube podcast and gave his thoughts on where it all went wrong for #63 in 2025.
Guidotti was an integral figure of Bagnaia’s opening few years in the premier class at the Italian satellite outfit, with the ride at Pramac serving as the 28-year-old’s precursor to the success he experienced at the factory Ducati team.
Guidotti didn’t mince his words, telling MotoGP journalist Giovanni Zamagni, “The numbers speak for themselves, he is a tough guy, certainly stubborn, as I have said many times.
“Sometimes this stubbornness has been an asset, other times a flaw, perhaps his greatest asset and greatest flaw at the same time. He is someone who never gives up, believes strongly in his own abilities and who has to learn the hard way in order to understand and learn.
“This year, he has had to learn the hard way several times. And I think he has learnt his lesson because, as he said recently, he was wrong to try to recreate the feelings of 2024.
“In a career, it’s clear that you have to face different situations and different circumstances.
“A completely new one will come in a year or a little less than a year, where he will change bikes, where tyres will change, and he will have to adapt a little faster to the new technical package.”
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Francesco Bagnaia’s quick-fix at Motegi solved his issues for all of just one race weekend
Bagnaia’s best weekend of 2025 also happened to come during the height of his bike issues.
His perfect weekend at Motegi was one of the best rides of the 2025 MotoGP campaign, but the turnaround was short-lived as he regressed back to his struggles at the following round at Mandalika.
As alluded to by Guidotti, Bagnaia reverted to parts from the GP24 in order to find a bit of confidence in the bike.
He won 11 Grands Prix atop the 2024-spec bike that year, and almost added a third world title to his tally during a closely fought championship battle with Jorge Martin.
The move may have further worn on his relationship with Luigi Dall’Igna, however. As the mastermind behind Ducati’s MotoGP operation, the engineer will have had a strong opinion on the fact that the GP25 hadn’t been quite the step up in calibre as he first thought.
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