DUCATI HAS TESTED RADICAL FIXES AS BAGNAIA STRUGGLES

Ducati has explored an unusually wide range of set-up changes in an effort to help Francesco Bagnaia rediscover his form, according to former MotoGP crew chief Ramon Forcada. The two-time world champion’s main complaint has been a lack of rear grip, a problem not reported by other Ducati riders.

Bagnaia began the 2026 season more strongly, collecting several podiums before the summer break. Since racing resumed in early August, however, he has crashed in three of the last four events and finished seventh at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Japanese Grand Prix also comes more than a year after his most recent grand prix victory.

Forcada, speaking on the Duralvita podcast, said Ducati had tested solutions that might seem illogical, including large brake discs used the previous year. “They’ve tested everything, even things that seem irrational, things where you’d say, ‘That’s never going to work,’ but they test them anyway,” he said.

He added that the team had tried “absolutely everything possible”, but experimentation can sometimes make performance worse. Forcada described the difficulty for engineers when a rider says the bike is not working: even if technicians believe a requested change will not help, they still have to let the rider try it. “That’s a tough spot to be in,” he said.

Bagnaia’s search for a solution was also in focus at the San Marino Grand Prix, when DAZN footage showed him speaking with fellow Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio. Di Giannantonio suggested trying a basic set-up, and Bagnaia replied: “They won’t let me”. Bagnaia later said the exchange had been taken out of context and criticised DAZN for broadcasting it.