BAGNAIA SAYS HE STRUGGLES TO STOP THE DUCATI AFTER SILVERSTONE PRACTICE CRASH

Francesco Bagnaia’s British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone began with a familiar struggle in practice, leaving the Ducati Lenovo Team rider outside the qualifying places that would take him into Q2. After a summer break that included arm pump surgery, Bagnaia returned to action but could manage only 13th in Friday practice, with his session ending after a crash at Turn 6 on his second flying lap.

Bagnaia said the incident itself was not a major problem physically, describing it as “a normal lose-the-front” and adding: “I’m okay.” He explained that it happened during a time-attack attempt, but the root cause was his difficulty stopping the bike. “I’m struggling a lot to stop the bike and I just tried to brake harder and I lost it,” he said after practice.

He also pointed to what he believed was happening with the machine at the moment of the crash. According to Bagnaia, the front-end vibration seen on TV was linked to instability, with the rear tyre pushing him into the corner. “A lot,” he said when asked about the vibration. “The bike is not stopping, or the rear is in the air or the rear is pushing. We need to find a balance and it’s quite difficult, but it is what it is.”

Bagnaia acknowledged the challenge of finding the right setup, noting that other riders on the same Ducati were quicker. “Other riders with the same bike are faster, so I will try to see the data of the others and see if we can make something to improve,” he said.

The weekend’s results underlined how tight the field was for Ducati. Alongside Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli and Fermin Aldeguer’s replacement Iker Lecuona were also unable to reach Q2, with all three missing out on the top 10 on Friday afternoon.

In the same session, Marc Marquez provided a brighter note for Ducati by going second-fastest in sixth place, ahead of Alex Marquez and behind Fabio Di Giannantonio in third. Bagnaia, however, admitted after the session that he is not close to the front yet, saying he is “far from the podium” at the moment.