Pecco Bagnaia reveals Ducati GP25 “details changed this morning”

A podium finish for Francesco Bagnaia felt “like a victory” in the Aragon MotoGP after the Italian had struggled for confidence in recent rounds.

Bagnaia’s Aragon podium was his first since the Spanish MotoGP at the end of April, since when he had scored only four points for his sixth-place finish in the Silverstone Sprint.

A 12th place in the Aragon Sprint on Saturday marked a clear low-point for the Ducati Lenovo Team rider, but he was able to rebound on Sunday and get back on the rostrum.

“I feel like a victory today,” Francesco Bagnaia said on MotoGP.com’s After the Flag show following the race in Aragon.

“It’s a third place that is fantastic right now; not just for me but also for the team because they are working super-hard trying to understand my situation.

“But it’s also difficult for them.

“For example, this morning, we just decided to change little details, and it made a huge difference for me because I was able to brake harder without having locking.

“Until yesterday [Saturday], I was using all my force to decelerate the bike but the bike wouldn’t decelerate and I was locking everywhere.

“Today we just changed something on the disc and from the start of the day [Warm Up] I was able to brake harder when I needed, brake less when I felt that the front was locking, so it was a huge step for me and it was a little detail that has given to me a bit more confidence that has helped me to me to be competitive lap-by-lap.”

The difference from Saturday to Sunday was so big that Bagnaia wondered if something had not been working as it should in the Sprint,

“Honestly, maybe yesterday something didn’t work because arriving there was really strange and I was on the ground everywhere,” he said.

“I was losing the front, understeering everywhere, and it was quite difficult for me to be competitive yesterday – I tried, but the front was locking in every corner so it was tough.

“Today, from this morning, I was feeling much better, maybe the disc has helped, but maybe not just the disc.

“I was able to force the entry of the corners and the feeling was that the tyre was there, not that I was losing it, so it was a huge relief for me.”

Later, in the post-race press conference, Bagnaia gave more detail on his brake change for Sunday.

“We just changed the disc of the bike and it’s something that we never did in the past and it’s something that we were not thinking about because normally it’s always the same,” he said.

“It was a huge step and it helped me to be able to brake less and reduce the speed more.

“Until yesterday I was the one with more pressure on the brake and less deceleration, so it was a bit strange and this morning it was better already with changing just this.”

He added: “We just decided to upgrade the disc, to just move to a bigger one and I feel a bit better.”

With Mugello and Assen, two circuits where Bagnaia has won each of the past three Grands Prix, coming up next on the calendar, the result in Aragon is well-timed, perhaps, but Bagnaia said he isn’t sure that the progress he made on Sunday at MotorLand will be the “solution” to the problems he has been having.

“I don’t think it’s the solution of my feeling,” he said, “but it’s something that has helped.

“Luckily, tomorrow we have a test, it’s true that the grip tomorrow will be incredible so the pace will be super-fast.

“It’s important to find some solution or to try another step, just to believe in a victory at home because Mugello is a track where I was always super-competitive and I just want to arrive there and at least fight for it, not like this weekend that I finished on the podium but I never had the chance to win.

“So, I would like to have at least a chance.”