TARDOZZI DISPUTES BAGNAIA’S ARAGON STRUGGLE EXPLANATION AS DUCATI SETUP WORRIES GROW

Francesco Bagnaia’s struggles at the 2026 Aragon Grand Prix have sparked a direct disagreement inside Ducati, with team manager Davide Tardozzi challenging the reigning champion’s explanation for why he has been unable to find his usual pace.

Bagnaia had enjoyed a strong run earlier in the year, stacking podiums with four consecutive third places in Barcelona, Mugello, Hungary and Czechia, and he also won the Sprint Race at Brno. However, his form has dropped sharply since then, with recent setbacks including a DNF at Assen and a crash at Silverstone. Heading into Aragon, the situation looked set to worsen again: Bagnaia is expected to have to fight through Q1 at MotorLand Aragon, after struggling in both practice and timed sessions.

In Thursday’s build-up, Bagnaia said he is “struggling to push” because of his recent arm surgery. The Turin rider had an endoscopic fasciotomy on his right forearm during the summer break, an issue he had previously kept private. His position was that the physical problem is still affecting his ability to ride at full intensity.

Tardozzi, though, does not agree that the root cause is an injury-related limitation. Speaking to TNT Sports 2, he said: “No, no, I don’t think that is a matter of arm pump or something like that.” In his view, the problem is not Bagnaia’s arm but the bike’s behaviour and the setup direction. Tardozzi explained that what Bagnaia is missing is the feeling he wants from the Ducati Desmosedici GP26, pointing to a day where the rear “often lifted under braking.” He added: “It was a technical issue, [that] means that the set-up was not really what he enjoyed. And we know that Pecco, when he is not happy about the set-up, is struggling a bit, and he’s not pushing 100%.”

The session results supported the sense that Bagnaia was not fully connected with the machine. During FP1 at Aragon, Marc Marquez set the pace, while Bagnaia could only manage P20 in the opening session, losing 1.875 seconds. In timed practice, his best lap left him in P13, behind Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi, who topped pre-qualifying practice with a 1:45.455 and posted a new all-time lap record.

With the qualifying picture already under pressure, Bagnaia’s immediate task is to use data from other riders to improve his chances of reaching Q2. The report noted that he will be studying the information Marc Marquez produced across the two practice sessions, along with data from Gresini’s Alex Marquez and VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio, in the hope of at least getting through Q1.

Bagnaia’s difficulty in qualifying has been a theme at Aragon so far: he was the only Ducati rider to fail to secure a place in Q2 during the timed practice session. Even riders returning from injury were able to lock in automatic Q2 spots, including Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer and VR46’s Franco Morbidelli.

Within Ducati, the other GP26s looked closer to the front. Alex Marquez led the way among Ducati riders in pre-qualifying practice on Friday, finishing second with a +0.010s gap to Bezzecchi. Marc Marquez was third, 0.038 seconds down, and the report highlighted that he did not use new tyres to chase a late quick time. Di Giannantonio was fourth on his GP26, a further 0.299 seconds back, ahead of Aldeguer, who was +0.440s off the pace.

Morbidelli’s best time left him ninth, 0.763 seconds behind, but the report also noted he had improved by 0.269 seconds compared with Bagnaia’s time.

As Aragon qualifying approaches, the key question for Ducati is whether Bagnaia’s next step comes from medical recovery alone—or from a technical reset that delivers the ride feel Tardozzi believes he is currently missing.