Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia’s 2025 MotoGP season is one to forget after he struggled immensely with the GP25.
Last year’s Desmosedici was a clear regression from the GP24, despite having little to no differences. All of the riders, besides Marc Marquez, who showed his ability to ride around any problem with his bike, could not find performance.
With Bagnaia, the GP25 took away his strengths in braking and corner entry. He constantly complained about a lack of feeling on the bike, winning just two races all season.
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Bagnaia blasted the bike and Ducati on several occasions, demanding answers from the team for his lack of performance. But with Marquez performing so well on the other side of the garage, the engineers were at a loss to explain his issues.
Eventually, Bagnaia used GP24 parts towards the end of the season, which dramatically helped him as he claimed victory at Motegi. For the GP26 this year, Ducati have taken that direction with the bike.
Mat Oxley accuses Ducati of ‘lying’ about Francesco Bagnaia’s 2025 problems being down to the ride height device
At Sepang, Marquez was seen testing the 2024 aero. As journalist Mat Oxley wrote via MotorSport Magazine, Ducati have ‘mixed their wondrous GP24 with what they learned last season to create the GP26’.
Although it is not certain that the team will be using the 2024 engine, Oxley thinks it is ‘unconscionable’ that Ducati would give their riders the 2025 spec, which ‘burned down half of their factory garage’.
There was ‘nothing’ that Ducati could do to help Bagnaia, as they could not swap out his engine mid-season. He finds it, therefore, confusing that the engineers and senior figures pinned the blame on the ride height device for Bagnaia’s woes.
Oxley thinks Ducati ‘had to be lying’ about it, as they simply could have swapped the ride-height device and prevented Bagnaia from falling into a ‘pit of despair’. They also would have avoided conspiracy theories about internal friction between Bagnaia and key Ducati figures.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number
Francesco Bagnaia is improving with Ducati’s GP26
Whatever Ducati have chosen to do with the GP26, it is clear that it is more suited to Bagnaia and that he has found his feeling again.
Bagnaia ‘confirmed’ his improved braking on the new Desmosedici during the Sepang test. He feels much more comfortable entering corners, which could put him back on track.
Bagnaia’s race simulation was faster than Marquez’s in Malaysia, which will certainly give him more confidence heading into the Buriram test and the season itself.
Whether it will be enough to convince Ducati to hand him a new contract is another question. Rumours that Bagnaia could join Yamaha are gaining traction as he looks set to decide his future very soon.
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