Francesco Bagnaia tried a VR46 GP24

A true emotional rollercoaster for Francesco Bagnaia, the interplay between the Japanese Grand Prix and the race in Indonesia produced two diametrically opposed results. Finally victorious in Motegi, able to dominate the race during the weekend that saw his teammate Marc Márquez win the title, the Italian seemed to have finally understood something behind the handlebars of his bike.

Having struggled with the GP25 model since the start of the season, Francesco Bagnaia has indeed had a run in which the comparison with the 2025 world champion seems instructive. In this context, a quick switch to last year's model would have been made by the double Italian champion. “Ducati asked us for something” explained Alessio Salucci in Indonesia. "We are a family, a Ducati family, a VR46 family. We tried to help him a little on Monday at Misano. We had our bike in our box and Ducati gave him another one. On Monday at Misano, Pecco tried our bike. Morbidelli's bike. After Monday, the bike came back to our box."

An enchanted interlude for Bagnaia

Clearly keen to make technical changes to his bike before the Japanese Grand Prix, Francesco Bagnaia seems to have benefited from this test, albeit a quick one, to secure this new victory, which comes several months after the last one this year.

On the other hand, one can regret, if not remain in incomprehension, regarding his most recent performance, on the sidelines of the Indonesian Grand Prix. Last in the regular season, more than ten seconds behind Somkat Chantra before falling from the back of the pack, the Transalpine himself shared his incomprehension after this failure.

“This season, after the Motegi GP, I arrived here without finding the same sensations as there, he explainedI wasn't able to attack in the same way, so I struggled. We don't really have an explanation for what happened this weekend, we'll just check the data."

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Although he hasn't officially been placed on the hot seat, Francesco Bagnaia has been performing at a worrying level this season. Moreover, this recurring lack of response regarding the reasons leading to this situation raises questions. Could the Italian really be threatened in the future by Ducati? It's worth noting, however, that four factory Ducati cars will be on next year's grid. The GP26 will be ridden by Marc Márquez and Francesco Bagnaia, as well as Fabio Di Ginannantonio and Álex Márquez, the brand's new driver for the season.