Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia has asserted that Ducati’s GP24 prototype would still be able to win races in 2026 ‘without any problems’, despite it being a two-year-old bike.
Francesco Bagnaia’s woes from last year’s campaign have seemingly followed him through into the current term, which has left the two-time MotoGP world champion scratching his head over the reasons for his recent regression.
Since its sheer dominance in 2024, the GP24 has been widely regarded as one of the best prototypes to compete in the premier class, and Bagnaia looked like a fish out of water upon his move to the GP25 last year.
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#63 endured a difficult campaign with the bike. While Ducati counterpart Marc Marquez steamrolled the competition, Bagnaia struggled to score podiums on a consistent basis.
He returned to full form at last year’s edition of the Japanese Grand Prix, producing a perfect weekend that saw him secure pole position and victory in the Sprint race and Grand Prix.
It later came to light that Bagnaia was using older-spec parts, and his form regressed yet again for the final five rounds of the campaign.
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Francesco Bagnaia is certain that the Ducati GP24 could still win races in MotoGP
During the Italian’s media duties ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, he opened up on the struggles that he and his factory teammate have experienced so far this season.
The two-time world champion began by highlighting how Marc and Alex Marquez are now ‘in the same boat’ as him with the GP26, after both riders were locked out the front two positions in the championship standings last season.
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He said via GPOne, “Last year I was struggling quite a bit, while he was over the moon and absolutely thrilled with the bike. This year it doesn’t seem that way, and our comments are more similar.
“Even to Alex, who was very competitive last year and is now struggling a lot. Right now, we’re all pretty much in the same boat. That’s why we’re working together to improve.”
He then detailed how the 2024-spec GP24, the same bike that saw Bagnaia and Jorge Martin duke it out for the world title that year, would still be able to carry him to victory in 2026.
He added, “Last year, I was complaining about the same things as Di Giannantonio; Alex Marquez had the GP24, which is a bike that would still win today without any problems, while Marc was doing quite well, never complaining about the issues I’d had up until Indonesia.
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“Then he started having them too, before [his injury]. He was really struggling that weekend in Indonesia. This year, we all have more or less the same feeling. Di Giannantonio is doing a bit better. He’s adapted well to this bike, and the stability has helped him improve.
“As for Marc and Alex, they’re struggling more because this bike is hard to stop. It’s kind of the problem I had last year, and after a year of constantly trying, in the end, you try to put aside what you had—which was definitely better—and work with what you have.
“Anyway, we’re all working together to try to figure out what to do. We talked several times in Austin and Goiania to clearly understand what to ask Ducati while moving in the same direction, and we’re trying to do that.”
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