Marco Bezzecchi
Michele Pirro is concerned that the “problems” he saw Francesco Bagnaia encounter at the 2026 Thailand Grand Prix mirror the issues that plagued his campaign in 2025.
Bagnaia produced the worst season of his time as a factory Ducati rider last year, as the two-time MotoGP champion fell from fighting for the title in each of the previous four seasons to ranking fifth. He even failed to finish six of the final seven Grands Prix in the 2025 campaign.
Such a fall from grace last year saw Bagnaia admit he did not feel “very good”, as he realised after the season concluded that he should have done more to adapt to the Ducati GP25. The 29-year-old never liked how the bike acted under braking and lacked a feel for the front end.
But pre-season testing suggested the 2026 MotoGP season may see Bagnaia return to form on the GP26. Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola suggested Ducati’s rivals could “go home” due to Bagnaia’s race pace at the Sepang test, yet that promise failed to follow him into the season.
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Michele Pirro feels there is ‘no obvious explanation’ for Francesco Bagnaia’s issues at the Thailand Grand Prix
Bagnaia failed to get out of Q1 in Buriram last Saturday, which left him fighting with one arm behind his back over the rest of the first round of the 2026 MotoGP season. The Turin native qualified P13, which he improved to P9 in the Sprint Race and P9 in the Thailand Grand Prix.
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Ducati test rider Pirro was in Buriram to replace the injured Fermin Aldeguer at Gresini, and he kept tabs on Bagnaia’s plight at the Thailand GP. Pirro feels Bagnaia’s issues were largely owing to his failure to reach Q2, but why his fellow Italian lacked speed remains a mystery.
Bagnaia’s issues on a weekend that Michelin supplied its stiffer rear tyre carcass also echoed his woes from last year. So, Pirro now hopes to help Bagnaia and Ducati understand why the Thailand GP went so wrong at a private test with Yamaha at Jerez on Wednesday, March 12.
Pirro told GPOne: “I followed the whole situation and there were some particular problems. The feeling was missing, [and] the passage to Q2 was missing. These are situations that we saw on a few occasions last year, but there is no obvious explanation.
“Also, the bike is the same as the test bike, and both in Sepang and Buriram in the early days, he judged it positively. Now, we will work in the Jerez test to understand better.”
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Yamaha will run a private test at Jerez on March 12, but Ducati test rider Pirro will also be in attendance. The test will not, however, help Ducati understand why Bagnaia could not carry his pace from pre-season into the Thailand GP if Michelin’s harder tyre casing was the issue.
Michelin only brings its heat-treated rear tyre to the races on the MotoGP calendar held in hot conditions, like Thailand and Indonesia. So, Bagnaia may bounce straight back and join the lead battle in round two of the 2026 season at the Brazilian Grand Prix on March 20-22.
But Bagnaia fears Ducati no longer have the fastest bike after seeing how well Aprilia fared at the Thailand GP, albeit with a bike that generally suits the harder tyre casing better. Four Aprilia riders finished in the top five as Marco Bezzecchi won the Thailand GP on the RS-GP.
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