Pecco Bagnaia isn’t making excuses: "This was my problem

Francesco Bagnaia spent the last MotoGP season trying to regain confidence with the front end of the Ducati Desmosedici GP25. He scored a win in Austin and one in Motegi; on the other weekends, he struggled—and not a little. The engineers from the Red team tried in many ways to adapt the bike to the rider from Chivasso, but without success. The progress proved short-lived and was further compromised by persistent vibrations on corner exit.

The spark never ignited between the Ducati GP25 and Pecco Bagnaia. After three formidable seasons, he took an almost inexplicable step back. Many would blame the presence of Marc Marquez in the garage, but the VR46 Academy pupil points to other reasons. "Braking in a straight line was very similar," explained the two-time MotoGP champion. "But the biggest difference came at corner entry, [before] having the chance to stop the bike with lean angle. And that’s something I missed all season, especially when following others."

The lack of feeling on corner entry affected his last championship; in the slipstream, the sensations got worse. "When you’re following others, the slipstream doesn’t help you stop the bike," Pecco Bagnaia told Crash.net. "And if you can’t brake with the right lean angle, you’re done. That was my problem... Last year I was able to brake with a greater lean angle. I could control the sliding a lot, and I could really push in the final phase to scrub off speed."

The Piedmontese rider wasn’t the only one to encounter issues with the factory Ducati. Fabio Di Giannantonio also didn’t have an easy time with the GP25. The telemetry of the new MotoGP champion Marc Marquez isn’t a source of solutions. "The problem is that every rider works and rides differently," explained the VR46 team’s standard-bearer. In his first year on factory-spec machinery, he collected nine podiums and sixth place in the final standings, without a single win.

Looking at brand-mates and other rivals can only help up to a point. "You can copy the setup, but then riding with that setup is a whole different story," added ‘Diggia’. "If I copied Marc’s setup, I’d be last, 100%." The Roman rider didn’t ignore Bagnaia’s problems. "Sometimes it’s not his fault. Maybe they were just looking for the wrong thing. That’s all. But Pecco definitely hasn’t lost the ability to ride a bike."