Francesco Bagnaia says he is riding "very defensive" to avoid crashing at the Misano MotoGP as his confidence crisis continues. The Italian's 2026 season is increasingly resembling his troubled 2025 campaign, with fleeting glimpses of his old self but a persistent lack of confidence.
At Misano, a circuit where he first stood on the podium in the premier class in 2020 and won in 2021 and 2022, Bagnaia found himself 18th in FP1 and 19th in Practice on Friday. The struggles show no sign of abating.
"The team is working hard to figure out the problem but it seems impossible to understand why," Bagnaia said after Practice. "It's extremely clear on the data the difference between me and all the other Ducatis, because I'm braking much harder than the rest but the bike is not accelerating."
The Ducati Lenovo rider added that he is paying close attention to throttle application, yet he is accelerating less than his rivals. "It's very strange the way my bike is working and the team is really not understanding why. We are in a very difficult situation."
Bagnaia admitted that pushing harder leads to immediate crash risk. "I'm riding the bike in a very defensive way because as soon as I try to do a little bit more I crash," he said. "So, honestly, crashing all the corners is not the way I want to figure out the situation. For me today I was close to crash seven times in the Practice and that was very slow. Even in the slow laps I was almost crashing so this is strange and we need to understand why."
Since last year, Bagnaia has often compared himself to Alex Marquez, whose riding style he feels is most similar. At Misano, Bagnaia noted that Marquez, who finished third-fastest in Practice, can stop the bike much more efficiently.
"He's the one that makes more difference on that because he's the one that is using less pressure but he decelerates a lot," Bagnaia explained. "I'm using like the double but the bike is not stopping, so very difficult."
The difficulties also affect his team. "Right now it's also difficult for them," he said. "What I asked is 'try to think out of what we already tested', because from the start of the season the problems were always the same. The thing is that in the last three GPs it was much worse so maybe we are losing something around and it's hiding quite well."
With the crisis deepening, Bagnaia and Ducati Lenovo must find answers quickly to salvage their 2026 season. Misano, which should have been a turning point, serves as a stark reminder of how far he is from his best.
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