While Marc Marquez has already enjoyed two home races this season, teammate Francesco Bagnaia is about to enjoy his first at Mugello.
It couldn’t have arrived at a much better time either, after Bagnaia found a major breakthrough at the Grand Prix of Aragon.
He and his Ducati bike may have started to fuse together after finishing within three seconds of victory at the demanding Spanish circuit.
Sadly, he is now 93 points behind Marquez in the MotoGP standings, but with 14 races to go, it’s not quite completely over yet.
Bagnaia made one ‘significant’ Ducati change by swapping out his brakes, sparking a comeback in Aragon and a transformation of his confidence.
Now, after an encouraging in-season test, Bagnaia will be licking his lips at ‘new’ Ducati upgrades that may help develop the GP25 further. The momentum may be about to change.
READ MORE: What ‘sarcastic’ Francesco Bagnaia was seen doing in the Ducati garage after Aragon Grand Prix woes
Valentino Rossi told to pay Francesco Bagnaia a ‘£100k bonus’ for beating Marc Marquez at Mugello
Marquez has only been beaten by his teammate twice this season after crashing out of the Grand Prix of the Americas and the Spanish Grand Prix.
Bagnaia has been linked to Yamaha amid his struggles, but is under contract until 2026 and has no reason to leave behind the sport’s best bike.
In fact, with his newfound confidence, Mat Oxley believes that he could beat Marquez without him making a mistake for the first time this year, and that Valentino Rossi would pay him for the privilege on home turf.
“Great to see Bagnaia back. He’s going to be really keen to get back in front at Mugello. It’s his home race, he’s won there plenty of times.
“Rossi will be there. Valentino Rossi will probably give him a 100k bonus if he beats him [Marc Marquez]. I would do that.”
READ MORE: What Ducati have told Francesco Bagnaia about his future amid shock Yamaha links
What is Francesco Bagnaia’s most worrying Ducati statistic in 2025?
If Bagnaia fails to win his home race at Mugello, he will have gone six Grands Prix without a victory for Ducati.
It would be the first time since the middle of the 2021 season that he has been on such a poor run of form.
His two non-top-three finishes in the first eight races this year are more than he managed in the last two campaigns combined.
But, with Ducati ‘running out of patience’ with Bagnaia, he may have just flicked a switch at the perfect time.
