MotoGp, Domenicali: "From Qatar we will see a different Bagnaia"

Bologna, 24 March 2025 – An authentic Marc domination Marquez in the first two races of the season and a Pecco bagnaia in great difficulty, even with the idea of ​​switching directly to the 2024 bike for the Austin GP. Little grip at the rear, little feeling in acceleration for Bagnaia who has never been able to worry the Marquez brothers. In addition, the calendar has placed all the most difficult circuits for Pecco's characteristics and more suited to those of Marc at the start of the championship. The result is four victories for the Spaniard, also considering the Sprint Races, three third places and a fourth for Bagnaia, results that could please anyone who does not ride a Ducati, but not him who is two-time world champion and is on the best bike of the lot. And yet, the feeling has not yet been found and for this reason we are thinking of a temporary step back while waiting for updates. Even Ducati CEO Claudio Sundays he is convinced that from Qatar onwards we will see a different championship, with Bagnaia once again the protagonist.  

Domenicali: “We will see the real Bagnaia again”

2025 hasn't taken off for Pecco yet. Since the pre-season tests, the former world champion has had problems and little problems and he dragged them to the first GPs, where in fact he had difficulty in the traction and grip phase when exiting the curve. The pre-podium in Buriram, caught on camera, had seen just bagnaia, in an interview with Marquez, complaining about too much time lost in acceleration, evidence of a latent lack of feeling in the rear. The greatest difficulties came at Termas de Rio Hondo, with a long race ending 'only' in fourth place, also behind Franco's old bike Morbidely. In Austin Pecco could therefore return to Gp24 and awaits the updates from Jerez, when they will return to Europe following the Qatar GP. There, according to Sundays, a new championship will start: "The first two races were not favorable and Pecco finished the tests with problems that did not depend on him - his words to Gpone - We are not yet seeing his potential and I am convinced that we will see it in the next races, perhaps already from Austin even if it is a favorable track for Marc. From Qatar we will see a different championship". Sundays he then explained the choice to promote Marc Marquez in the official team, which has caused much discussion: "If he is with us it is because we made a careful evaluation, thinking about the overall performance that we could have achieved. Marc's performance in 2024 was an excellent reference for us". And then there is a funny curiosity. Despite so many difficulties, Pecco's start to the season bagnaia with 43 points is his best since he has been riding a factory Ducati. As reported by Motorsport.com, in 2023 Pecco started with 41 points and he did even worse last year with 37. In the two previous seasons the Sprint Races had not come into force but Bagnaia started with just one point in 2022 and with 26 points in 2021. This weekend they return to the track in Austin. Marquez starts as a big favorite. Read also - Moto GP, Acosta looks around: VR46 hypothesis?