Francesco Bagnaia finally seemed to show signs of getting back to his very best MotoGP form at the Grand Prix of Aragon.
The Ducati rider finished less than three seconds from victory and pushed Alex Marquez all the way to the finish. Teammate Marc Marquez was just a few steps ahead and had too much of an advantage despite making some inroads on Sunday morning.
After a difficult Grand Prix of Aragon sprint, things weren’t expected to improve much more for Bagnaia in the main race. Somehow, he and his engineers found big gains through changing one part of his bike in the warm-up, and his confidence seemed to come flooding back thereafter.
Bagnaia’s ‘significant’ Ducati change at Aragon involved swapping his brakes to great effect. It gave him more feeling in the bike, and he was able to lean harder on his front end under braking. It’s a major development for the rest of the MotoGP championship if it’s a serious breakthrough.
Even after a dismal run of form, Davide Tardozzi backs Bagnaia for the MotoGP title fight and refuses to rule him out of the picture just yet. He thinks that he still has a big role to play in how things unfold down the line.
READ MORE: Alex Marquez’s agent explains why Ducati won’t sign him even if Francesco Bagnaia leaves
Francesco Bagnaia will be excited over ‘new’ Ducati upgrades for in-season test at Aragon
After a troubled start to the weekend, Bagnaia looked ‘sarcastic’ in the Ducati garage and perplexed by his problems. After all, he has gone from winning 11 races last year, to looking out of contention at almost every event in 2025.
Bagnaia has been linked to Yamaha, but is under contract with Ducati until the end of 2026. They’re not likely to let go of him too easily, because they know exactly what he can be capable of and how destructive he can be when he’s comfortable.
Team boss Tardozzi uttered some promising words after Aragon on Sunday ahead of the next day’s in-season test. The team are bringing changes to the bike which may help him find more speed.
“Yes, we’ll have new aerodynamics and we’ll also try other things that Pecco left aside to improve the bike,” he told the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com.
“Marc is already using some, so starting tomorrow we’ll ask Pecco to try them again to see if he improves even more.”
READ MORE: Carlo Pernat ‘won’t believe’ the ‘absurd’ rumour he’s now hearing about Francesco Bagnaia and Ducati
Why Ducati might be ‘running out of patience’ with what Francesco Bagnaia is saying about their bike
For months now, Bagnaia has complained about his inherent issues with the GP25 and how changes to the bike have not suited him over the winter.
It’s a costly procedure to fix what he blames for his downfall, so nothing can really be done until the winter when they prepare their next bike.
Before arriving in Aragon, Ducati were ‘running out of patience’ with Bagnaia and his criticisms for the GP25.
His teammate’s results suggest that it may be down to rider preference more than anything else, ramping up the pressure on Bagnaia.
