Pecco Bagnaia's "this track is known..." tease before Qatar MotoGP
Francesco Bagnaia looks to build on surprise COTA victory and take the fight to the Marquez brothers in Qatar.
Left reeling by a double Marquez onslaught in the early rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season, Francesco Bagnaia finally struck back at COTA.
After overtaking Alex Marquez on lap four, the reigning world champion looked poised to end the Gresini rider’s flawless run of second-place finishes.
But the biggest twist came midway through the grand prix when Marc Marquez crashed out of the lead after clipping a kerb.
That opened the door for Bagnaia to claim his first win of the year and close the points gap.
The big question now is whether that defeat was just a blip for Marquez or the start of a genuine momentum shift for Bagnaia, who spoke of improved corner-entry feeling in COTA.
That should become clearer this weekend in Qatar, an event where both Ducati Lenovo riders have only one previous MotoGP victory to their name.
Marquez hasn’t won at the track in over a decade, since 2014, when Bagnaia was in his second season of Moto3.
Bagnaia’s Qatar success is much more recent, coming in last year’s season opener.
“Getting back at work on the track after a win is always nice,” Bagnaia said.
“The final epilogue in Austin was fantastic and I’m also very happy because compared to the previous GP my feelings while riding were better.
“We still have a lot to do, there’s a lot of work ahead of us, but this track is known to bring out the characteristics and potential of the Desmosedici GP.”
Ducati has won the last five races in Qatar courtesy of Enea Bastianini (2022), Jorge Martin (2023 Sprint), Fabio di Giannantonio (2023 GP), Martin again (2024 Sprint) and then Bagnaia (2024 GP).
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
