Francesco Bagnaia has slipped 51 points off the lead in the MotoGP world championship after a scoreless weekend at Le Mans. His prospects of a third premier-class title are looking increasingly bleak.
In a moment reminiscent of his 2024 season, Bagnaia went down at the start of Saturday’s Sprint and had to retire. Having qualified P6, he was already lacking confidence.
The Italian was then hit by former teammate Enea Bastianini at the start of the wet race, and while he remounted, he couldn’t recover any points. Bagnaia trundled round at the back of the field, and even a series of crashes up the road only promoted him to 16th.
Marc Marquez has been in a different league since joining Ducati, but Bagnaia is even struggling to beat the GP24 riders. The younger Marquez brother has been ahead of him since the start of the year.
| Race | A Mar | F Bag |
| Thailand | 2nd | 3rd |
| Argentina | 2nd | 4th |
| Americas | 2nd | 1st |
| Qatar | 6th | 2nd |
| Spain | 1st | 3rd |
| France | DNF | 16th |
While he lost out to Pramac’s Jorge Martin in the title race, Bagnaia won 11 Grands Prix on last year’s Desmosedici. He’s only taken one victory so far this year, and that came after Marquez made an unforced error in Austin.
Davide Tardozzi adamant that Ducati’s 2025 MotoGP bike has improved
Speaking after the French GP, Bagnaia said Ducati’s bike didn’t feel like an ‘improvement’ on its predecessor. He isn’t getting the feedback he desires from the front of the motorcycle.
But in an interview with Speedweek, Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi strongly refuted any notion that they hadn’t made progress. The GP25 may be a ‘small evolution’, but the data proves it’s a meaningful upgrade.
In Tardozzi’s opinion, Bagnaia hasn’t yet caught up to the bike’s potential. He believes it’s partly a mental game for the 30-time MotoGP winner.
In addition, he’s lost his supreme ability on corner entry. That’s preventing him from challenging Marquez Sr, who currently looks set to win the title in dominant fashion.
“The 2025 bike is a small evolution from the 2024,” Tardozzi said. “We are confident that our new bike is better. The level this year has increased more than Pecco has improved.
“He needs to improve more, and I believe he has that potential. So far, however, he hasn’t gotten it right in his head.
“On some racetracks, he was faster than last year. We’re working hard to give him confidence in the moments he describes.
“He was always the best on the brakes and corner entry. We know the data and know where he’s fast.
“He misses that ability, and we’re working to bring it back. If we succeed, he’ll fight with Marc – we’re absolutely convinced of that.”
Francesco Bagnaia is now being shown up by a rider who hasn’t even won a race
Marquez offered his own explanation for Bagnaia’s struggles, and made a similar point to Tardozzi. He says ‘the races are faster than last year’.
Bagnaia feels like he hasn’t enjoyed the benefit of a spec change over the winter, which has left him lagging behind. The season has only just passed the 25% mark, but he doesn’t seem to be getting closer a solution even after the Jerez test.
One pundit is worried that Fermin Aldeguer will overtake Bagnaia next. Aldeguer has been outshone by Gresini teammate Alex Marquez so far, but the rookie delivered his first podium in France.
It would be particularly embarrassing for Bagnaia to slip behind a debutant on a year-old bike. But the trajectories of the two riders suggest that the gap could slowly come down.
