DALL’IGNA FINDS A POSITIVE SIGN IN BAGNAIA’S TOUGH MOTEGI WEEKEND

Francesco Bagnaia’s eighth place at the Japanese Grand Prix was a stark contrast to his commanding Motegi victory a year earlier. In 2025, the Ducati rider took pole, won the race and set its fastest lap. This time, he started 13th and finished more than 20 seconds behind factory teammate Marc Marquez, who won from second on the grid.

Bagnaia’s weekend had already unravelled on Saturday: he failed to advance from Q1 for the fifth time this season, then retired from the Sprint after damaging his rear tyre. He recovered somewhat in Sunday’s race, but could not match the pace of the riders ahead. Trackhouse pair Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura, along with KTM’s Pedro Acosta, finished between 3.4 and 5.5 seconds in front of him after battling over the positions.

Ducati general manager Luigi Dall’Igna acknowledged that the result was modest, especially compared with Bagnaia’s performance at Motegi last year. But he also found reason for encouragement in the two-time champion’s response to a difficult weekend. Writing on LinkedIn, Dall’Igna said Marquez was “effectively the only Ducati to cross the finish line in the leading positions,” with Bagnaia the team’s next finisher. He added that, after a tough start, Bagnaia “managed to bring it home in eighth place” and showed the “intrinsic and sheer grit of the champion he is.”

Bagnaia’s progress was aided by incidents and penalties elsewhere in the field. Gresini’s Alex Marquez, riding the same Ducati GP26, had to serve a double long-lap penalty after Sprint collisions with Acosta and Fabio Di Giannantonio, then crashed out of Sunday’s race. LCR Honda’s Diogo Moreira also retired, while Johann Zarco had a double long-lap penalty. Those setbacks opened the way for Bagnaia to move up from the midfield, though he remained unable to close on Marquez or the riders contesting the places ahead.

After the race, Bagnaia said Ducati’s data indicated that Alex Marquez had been faster than him at Motegi, despite the Gresini rider’s penalties and eventual crash. For Dall’Igna, the weekend’s headline was therefore mixed: a result far below Bagnaia’s 2025 heights, but a Sunday recovery that demonstrated resilience.