Francesco Bagnaia has expressed confusion over the stark difference in performance between his bike and other Ducati GP26 machines. The Italian rider revealed that the team has no clear explanation for the discrepancy after a disappointing weekend at Misano.
Bagnaia, a two-time MotoGP champion, struggled in front of his home crowd, lacking grip in both qualifying and the race. “When I moved to qualifying and we put on a new soft rear, I was having the same grip as the used soft. So, it was really strange,” he said after the sprint.
The disparity between Bagnaia's bike and other Ducati machines is evident. “It's extremely easy to see the difference between what my bike is doing compared to all the other Ducatis. Big, big difference, but difficult to understand why. Also, the team is without any answers,” he added. Bagnaia feels frustrated as he brakes harder but the bike doesn't decelerate as expected, and he's also cautious with the throttle due to poor traction.
Earlier in the season, Bagnaia showed signs of recovery before the summer break. However, since Silverstone, he has failed to score any points, with three consecutive DNFs. At Misano, he finished 17th in the sprint and crashed out of ninth place on lap 5 of the main race.
Bagnaia admits he has lost control of the bike, mainly due to persistent rear grip issues. “Right now, things are happening that I can't control. Dorna put a video of me entering corner 14 on a slow lap and completely losing the rear without doing anything. This is something that I can't control completely,” he explained. He compared it to previous seasons when the bike was consistent, but this year it behaves strangely, especially in the last three GPs.
When asked if he had run out of options, Bagnaia replied, “Absolutely. I'm doing the maximum. The team is doing the maximum with what we have, but something is missing. It's difficult for everybody to understand what to do.”
With his performance declining, Bagnaia's future with Ducati is uncertain. He hopes to find a solution soon to regain his best form.
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