MotoGP: Casey Stoner hasn't revealed any secrets — Pecco Bagnaia's response

The Ducati rider is ready to return to racing, hoping to improve performance and results; he also responded to what the two-time world champion said.

The first part of the 2026 MotoGP season did not go as Francesco Bagnaia had imagined. He hoped to be more competitive with the new Ducati Desmosedici GP26, but instead found himself dealing with other issues that are holding him back. The worst is the lack of rear grip, a factor that negatively affects him both on corner entry and exit. Looking ahead to this weekend’s Grand Prix at Silverstone, his hope is that Ducati has worked well during the break to put him in a better position. Obviously, he will have to do his part.

It should be remembered that on July 16 the three-time world champion underwent surgery for compartment syndrome in his right forearm: "The operation had been planned for a while,” he told Sky Sport MotoGP, “and we chose the best moment to do it, so as to have more time for recovery. I trained a lot and arrived at Silverstone fairly ready to start again. I thought I would recover sooner, but it’s always quite a tough operation. We’ll see how it goes.”

Bagnaia found himself dealing with something that had never affected him in the past and that started bothering him from Jerez onward: "I had never had forearm problems, but this year I’ve had limitations at times. An inflammation occurred and consequently I had to undergo surgery."

Casey Stoner recently stated that from the outside it was clear that the Desmosedici GP25 was not the same as the GP24 (HERE is the link to the interview), so the criticism of Pecco for his complaints was misplaced. Let’s remember that Ducati kept saying the bikes were essentially identical, apart from small details that shouldn’t have revolutionized the riding of the Piedmontese rider, who practically from the start had problems with the front end. His strong suit suddenly vanished.

Bagnaia was asked about Stoner’s words and gave the following response: "I always read everything. Obviously, the opinion of champions like Casey is always appreciated, but it didn’t need to come from him. It was quite clear to see." The Piedmontese rider is grateful, but in the end the MotoGP legend merely confirmed what was already known.