TARDОZZI ENCOURAGED BY BAGNAIA’S EARLY INDONESIAN GP PACE

Davide Tardozzi welcomed Francesco Bagnaia’s early pace at Mandalika, even though the Ducati rider ended Friday’s opening practice well down the order. The team manager said the signs were encouraging compared with Bagnaia’s difficult Indonesian Grand Prix last year, while stressing that the Italian has not shown his full ability consistently in 2026.

Bagnaia was among the top 10 with 17 minutes remaining in FP1, but slipped to 13th by the end of the 45-minute session. His best lap was 1:31.127, making him the slowest Ducati rider. A near-crash at Turn 3 added to a frustrating session: Bagnaia avoided going down, then gestured towards the corner and struck the windscreen of his GP26.

“We are pretty happy, considering last year’s race,” Tardozzi told TNT Sports 2. “We are pretty happy to have Pecco with the top guys in the top 10.” He added: “We know that his potential is very high, and it’s a shame that he’s not [been] showing in the last couple of races, or all this year, what his real potential is.”

The contrast with 2025 was stark. Bagnaia was 17th in both FP1 and practice at Mandalika last year, missed out on Q2, finished last in the Sprint and crashed while running at the back of Sunday’s Grand Prix. This time, his initial speed offered a more promising start, though his late-session drop left Ducati hoping he can build on it.

The Indonesian circuit was not expected to be an easy fit for Ducati, with Michelin bringing a heat-resistant rear tyre for the high temperatures forecast. Marc Marquez showed stronger results in FP1, taking second behind Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, who set the fastest time of 1:30.132. Marquez was 0.237 seconds behind, while championship leader Jorge Martin placed third, 0.266 seconds off his Aprilia teammate.

Bagnaia arrived after finishing seventh in Austria and eighth in Japan; those were his only classified results across the previous five Grands Prix. He is eighth in the 2026 standings, and Ducati will be keen for him to turn the encouraging early pace into a stronger weekend rather than repeat last year’s Mandalika struggles.