Ducati’s otherwise dominant train of riders have started to struggle with their bikes during the 2025 MotoGP season, apart from one man, who sits on top of the pile.
Marc Marquez has been in inspired form and is in the driving seat to secure a record seventh MotoGP title this season, beating Valentino Rossi’s mark to become the oldest ever premier class champion.
Ducati’s development of the GP25 has taken a turn for the worse, and the British Grand Prix recently highlighted their struggles. Especially in cold conditions, their bike becomes tricky to handle and keep on the track.
Francesco Bagnaia has been told he’s ‘doomed’ against Marquez just a third of the way into the campaign, such has been the extent of his struggles this year. He crashed out in Silverstone after looking like he was riding on an ice rink.
Ducati may not be able to fix Bagnaia’s ‘miserable’ problem and it might effectively write his season off now. His issues lie deep within the GP25’s design, and it’s something that cannot really be changed until the winter. His hopes of a third title this year are all but gone.
Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio ‘struggle’ more with braking compared to Marc Marquez
Even Valentino Rossi might be eating his words about Bagnaia after seeing how much he has struggled in recent races. He didn’t think that his fellow countryman had any weaknesses to pick on last year, as he earned 11 race victories and still finished second in the standings.
He’s not the only rider struggling on the GP25 this year, though, with Fabio Di Giannantonio having struggled to find much speed on the machine for VR46 either.
According to Sky Sport Italia, via Diario AS, VR46 boss Uccio Salucci has identified one reason why Di Giannantonio and Bagnaia have struggled more than Marquez.
“Marquez makes it work well, so we and Pecco have to be able to do the same,” he said.
“Marquez is very good at feeling the tyre, and in that braking phase when the fork drops, Fabio and Pecco struggle because they can’t find confidence.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio rubbishes one rumour he’s heard about Marc Marquez and Ducati
It’s fascinating that the moment Marquez joined Ducati, the bike started to perform as though it had been built with his preferences in mind.
Of course, that is not the case, especially after he struggled at Silverstone recently too, but he is in a better position than anyone else to win the title now.
Di Giannantonio rubbished rumours about Marquez and Ducati, insisting that his bike is exactly the same as the ones run by the factory team.
Those on the GP24 have actually looked more settled a lot of the time, including Di Giannantonio’s teammate Franco Morbidelli, and Marquez’s brother Alex.
It says a lot about Ducati’s bike development over the last year, and suggests that maybe they have taken a wrong turn somewhere.
