Marco Bezzecchi
Former MotoGP star Andrea Dovizioso has questioned whether Francesco Bagnaia is truly giving his all at Ducati ahead of his move to the factory Aprilia team for the 2027 MotoGP season.
Despite it being the worst-kept secret inside the MotoGP paddock for the entirety of the current term, Ducati confirmed that Francesco Bagnaia would be departing from their factory MotoGP team and replaced by KTM’s Pedro Acosta.
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In turn, Bagnaia would be heading to Noale to partner with close friend and fellow VR46 Academy rider Marco Bezzecchi. The switch comes after an 18-month period that has been littered with issues and clashes for Bagnaia at Ducati.
While the two-time world champion has been in the best form of those 18 months in recent weeks, ex-Ducati star Andrea Dovizioso can’t help but think he may not be giving it his all with a move to supposedly greener pastures on the horizon.
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Andrea Dovizioso tells Francesco Bagnaia to ‘dig a bit deeper’ as he questions Ducati ace’s motivation
Speaking via his own YouTube channel alongside MotoGP journalists Cosimo Curatola and Giovanni Zamagni, Dovizioso is under the belief that Bagnaia simply isn’t able to record the same calibre of results as his stablemates due to the Italian properly believing in himself.
After Curatola began by voicing his opinion that “Bagnaia can’t wait to get away”, the 15-time MotoGP Grand Prix winner replied, “Exactly, that’s right.”
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Dovizioso then added, “He’s calm; he’s got a calm demeanour,” before continuing with, “It’s not a question of holding back a bit and not pushing himself. It’s a question of explaining it.
“He’s less motivated, so to achieve certain results, something has to come from within that makes him dig a bit deeper. You really have to believe in that. That’s what these riders here are missing.”
Bagnaia has come under fire at Ducati by the team’s top brass, who aren’t too keen on his overly zealous criticisms of their MotoGP bike. While the Italian has found difficulties atop it over the last couple of years, his stablemates, namely Marc Marquez, have continued to excel.
The Turin-born rider currently sits in P8 in the riders’ standings, 47 points adrift of Marquez despite the Spaniard’s absence from two rounds of racing through injury. If he has any hopes of a fairytale ending to his time at Ducati, now is definitely the time to dig a little deeper.
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