MotoGP, things between Pecco Bagnaia and Ducati are ending very badly: 'I feel humiliated

A disastrous home GP so far for the three-time world champion, disheartened by his inability to ride his Desmosedici the way he wants: there don’t seem to be solutions at the moment.

Not even in Misano Adriatico are we seeing a competitive Francesco Bagnaia. Friday’s practice was a write-off and it was already clear the weekend would be difficult, but in Saturday morning’s FP2 there seemed to be a step forward. However, that eighth place proved to be an illusion, as in Qualifying the Ducati Lenovo MotoGP rider failed to make it through Q1, and in the Sprint he got no better than thirteenth (he had started fourteenth).

In Qualifying he showed all his frustration by pounding his fists on his Desmosedici GP26, with which he managed to complete only one good lap. On the following attempts he ran wide or nearly crashed. Anger and frustration are normal. In the sprint race he gave everything to fight back, but didn’t succeed, confirming the deep crisis he’s going through.

Pecco’s spirits are very low, and it couldn’t be otherwise after two awful days like those in Misano Adriatico, a continuation of what he had already experienced in the previous GPs: "Honestly, I feel very frustrated," reports Motosan, "and also humiliated by what I feel on the bike and by what is happening. In the morning I felt a bit better, but in qualifying I put on a new soft rear tire and it had exactly the same grip as the used one. It was very strange. It’s incredibly easy to notice the huge difference in handling between my bike and the other Ducatis, but neither I nor the team have answers as to why this is happening."

Bagnaia was used to having things under control in his best years with the Ducati team, while over the last two years with the Desmosedici GP25 and GP26 everything has changed: "Right now, things are happening that I can’t control. In the last three Grands Prix the bike has been doing very strange things. If you don’t notice the difference between a new tire and a used one, it means the problem is huge. On corner entry it feels like the clutch is pulled in, with no engine braking at all, and the bike can’t work like that."

You can’t say that the three-time world champion and his team aren’t working hard to find solutions, but they just aren’t finding them. They’re trying everything, even taking cues from what Marc Marquez and the other Ducati riders are doing, but nothing seems to work. Pecco’s morale is on the floor, and it’s truly a shame that his adventure in red is going through such a negative period. There is a real risk we won’t see major improvements before the end of the season.

The move to Aprilia could bring his smile back, but that’s still a way off. There are several races left in this 2026 MotoGP championship, and Bagnaia will have to find a way to bring his Ducati stint to a respectable close before starting the new chapter with the Noale-based team.

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