A bitter Texas for Pecco Bagnaia: new rumors about his contract with Aprilia

Pecco Bagnaia finishes the Texas GP in ninth place, after the podium he secured in the MotoGP Sprint the day before. The joy denied by Jorge Martin hadn’t dampened the Piedmontese rider’s spirits, but in the long race the usual problems with the Desmosedici GP26 resurfaced.

Starting from the front row seemed like the right springboard for the two-time MotoGP champion, but just a lap after the lights went out he found himself in sixth position. "I immediately noticed on the second lap that today I didn’t have the same good feeling. To be honest, I already knew during the warm-up, when my bike felt heavy and without proper grip," Pecco Bagnaia explained at the end of the Austin GP.

In the first part of the race, the #63 managed to climb back into the leading group, setting his best lap on the seventh tour. He even caught up to Di Giannantonio, in fourth place, but soon the tires hit an insurmountable limit and performance dropped further. Marc and Alex Marquez, Enea Bastianini, Raul Fernandez and Luca Marini passed Bagnaia, while Bezzecchi won with a 14-second margin.

Pecco immediately pointed to the problem at the end of the Grand Prix at COTA. "We have a serious issue with rear tire wear. I tried everything to manage the tire properly, without causing slides. But even with this riding style, the tire was self-destructing in the final laps, and the risk of crashes was very high. On the last lap, Luca Marini passed me around the outside in the long right-hander (Turn 18)."

It was an up-and-down performance from the Italian Ducati rider, with a superb Sprint and a slump in the GP. Sunday’s ninth place was also due to various crashes by riders ahead of him. Bagnaia is now just behind Alex Marquez in the overall standings, but he remains the worst-performing Ducati rider on a factory bike.

In reality, part of Pecco Bagnaia’s focus is already on next MotoGP season, when he will step onto the Aprilia RS-GP. The Chivasso rider found himself out of Ducati’s project with Pedro Acosta’s signing and did not hesitate to ink a deal with the Noale manufacturer, even if the official announcement has been further delayed. He signed a 2+2 contract, an unusual choice but one that speaks volumes about the trust placed in the Veneto constructor (and vice versa).

The last time a rider signed a four-year deal with a factory was Marc Marquez with Honda, which he did not complete because he moved to Gresini Racing, skipping the fourth season with the Winged brand. According to what is leaking from the MotoGP paddock, Pecco Bagnaia will bring along his Ducati crew chief, Cristian Gabarrini.

Gabarrini had already left the Ducati garage, where he won the world title with Casey Stoner in 2008, to join the Australian during his two years at Repsol Honda, with whom he won the MotoGP title again in 2011. He later returned to the Red garage, where he also worked successfully with Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo.