Francesco Bagnaia returned to the MotoGP podium at the 2025 Aragon Grand Prix, as the Ducati rider reaped the rewards from a last-gasp change to his GP25’s front brake.
The 28-year-old had fallen even further from the championship-leading benchmark that his Ducati teammate Marc Marquez set in recent rounds after Bagnaia failed to score a point in the French or British Grands Prix. He also failed to get a point in the Sprint Race at Le Mans.
Bagnaia even endured another sorry Saturday at the Aragon GP, as the 28-year-old fell from fourth on the grid to 12th place. He also fell into P13 while Marquez won the Aragon Sprint from pole position. Yet a small tweak to the Italian’s front brake then made a big difference.
Ducati chief Cristian Gabarrini likens Francesco Bagnaia’s brake change to Jorge Lorenzo’s engine padding
Ducati changed Bagnaia’s front brake for the Aragon GP in their bid to improve his feel when cornering and to avoid lockups. The Borgo Panigale squad replaced the 340mm discs which Brembo suggests with 355mm discs, which are generally only used at heavy-braking tracks.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number
According to Marca, Bagnaia was even the only rider on the entire Aragon GP grid to run the 355mm front brake discs after a ‘crisis meeting’ at MotorLand following the Turin-born ace’s bleak Sprint. Cristian Gabarrini, Ducati’s technical chief, led his ‘desperate’ disc change, too.
Now, Gabarrini is optimistic that Bagnaia can build on returning to the podium with his P3 in the Aragon GP like Jorge Lorenzo went from struggling to winning races in the 2018 MotoGP season. The Spaniard turned a corner massively after Ducati added padding to his fuel tank.
“Sometimes it takes a small thing to make a click,” Gabarrini said, via quotes by Marca. “I always use the example of Jorge Lorenzo with the tank. The rider feels more comfortable, rides more naturally, and gets the most out of his performance.”
Pecco Bagnaia can take inspiration from Jorge Lorenzo’s turnaround at Ducati in 2018
Ducati added padding to Lorenzo’s fuel tank after he started the 2018 season without a top-10 Grand Prix finish through the first four rounds. But the change made a huge difference, as the 38-year-old took P6 in the French GP before winning the Italian and Catalan Grands Prix.
Lorenzo even scored pole position for the Catalan Grand Prix, the British Grand Prix, the San Marino Grand Prix and the Aragon GP after Ducati added the padding to allow the Spaniard to better utilise his legs. Lorenzo also sealed his 47th and last win at the Austrian Grand Prix.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Ducati from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy
Those results were ultimately not enough to prevent Ducati from replacing Lorenzo after the 2018 season. But Lorenzo can now act as a source of inspiration for the current Ducati rider, as Bagnaia has only won the Americas Grand Prix in 2025 after Marquez crashed in the lead.
Bagnaia also now trails Marquez by 93 points in the riders’ championship after the Spaniard won the Aragon GP on Sunday. But Davide Tardozzi warns Bagnaia to focus on Alex Marquez first before he can hunt Marc down, with the Gresini rider also 61 points better off this year.
