MotoGP, Sportrik Media - Francesco Bagnaia of the Ducati Lenovo Team narrowly secured a place in Q2 during Practice at the 2026 United States MotoGP in COTA after encountering technical issues with his bike.
The two-time world champion was outside the top ten in the closing stages before delivering a 2m01.371s lap to climb to eighth, securing direct entry into Q2. He finished 0.444s behind team-mate Marc Marquez, who topped the session.
Bagnaia revealed that a technical limitation on his Desmosedici GP26 affected his time attack runs, forcing him to abort his initial attempts and compromising his ability to push at maximum pace during the decisive phase.
“If I had stayed outside of the top ten, I would have made a mess, a disaster, in the garage.”
He later clarified that the issue was minor and expected to be resolved ahead of Saturday’s sessions.
“We had a small technical limitation, but we’ll fix it. There won’t be any problems for tomorrow.”
“I had to abort the first two time attacks, and afterwards, when I restarted, I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted.”
Despite the setback, Bagnaia assessed the day as broadly positive, particularly in terms of race pace and tyre management on used rubber at the physically demanding COTA circuit.
“It was still important to get into the top ten, and we did that.”
“With used tyres, I was able to be fast and consistent. Here it’s never easy because it’s physically tough, but we worked as best we could.”
Bagnaia has endured a challenging start to the 2026 season, collecting just 10 points from the opening two rounds despite encouraging pre-season performance from the GP26 package.
However, the Italian remains confident that the bike and team approach will allow him to compete at the front as the weekend progresses.
“In my opinion, the bike is working well. It worked well in Brazil too, but after that there were some limitations.”
“The way we are working gives us a better chance to fight at the front, and I think this will be the first time we can stay there.”
With technical issues expected to be resolved, Bagnaia heads into qualifying and the Sprint with a focus on execution and consistency. The COTA weekend now represents a key opportunity to reset his campaign before the championship battle intensifies in the upcoming rounds.
Read Also
Starting grid for MotoGP Sprint COTA 2026 led by Fabio Di Giannantonio, with Bezzecchi and Acosta on the front row.
Full schedule of MotoGP United States 2026 at COTA in US local time, plus official viewing options and key championship context.
Fabio Di Giannantonio claims MotoGP COTA 2026 pole with lap record, ahead of Marco Bezzecchi and Pedro Acosta.
Continue with Google
Discussion (0)
Join the Discussion!
Sign in easily to start commenting, replying, and interacting with other readers.
Latest Comments
No comments yet. Be the first!