The key skill where Pecco Bagnaia is now “one of the worst” in MotoGP

Pecco Bagnaia admits his difficulties with Ducati’s 2025 MotoGP bike have reached the point where he is now “one of the worst” on the grid at defending his position.

Bagnaia’s issues with the GP25 are well-documented, with the two-time world champion having already given up hope of fighting his new teammate Marc Marquez for the title this year.

In particular, the Italian has found it hard to slow down the bike and enter the corners the way he would like to.

Bagnaia believes this braking weakness is making it increasingly easy for other riders to pass him and demote him further down the pack, when he previously took pride in successfully holding off his rivals.

"I've been complaining about braking and corner entry problems for a while now, since Thailand,” the factory Ducati rider told Sky Italia.

“I've always been very difficult to overtake, or at least anyone who's tried to overtake me has always gone wide, but now the situation has reversed. I'm one of the worst, everyone overtakes me in braking, I can't brake hard.

“When I try to brake hard, either someone closes in on me from the straight or I go wide, so I really struggle in that part.

“It's hard to understand because when I try to brake hard as I'd like, there's no way to stop the bike, and when I brake more gently for the distance, I struggle to turn in. So it's a very difficult limbo to manage."

When Marquez is now virtually out of sight, Bagnaia has made it clear that he wants to continue his record of finishing inside the top two in the championship dating back to 2021.

While Gresini’s Alex Marquez sits 48 points clear in second place during the summer break, Bagnaia still has 10 weekends remaining to close the gap to the Spaniard.

While the 2025 season hasn’t gone his way so far, Bagnaia said the onus is on him and Ducati to find a solution for their troubles and put on a better show in the latter half of the campaign.

“Ultimately, we know the project, even though I feel like I don't know it that well this year,” said Bagnaia, who has scored just one win so far in 2025.

“But ultimately, it's in our hands. We're trying everything, and nothing's helping us improve that area, so I really think the DNA of this bike isn't 100% suited to my request up front.

“But we have to persevere; the approach and the goal have changed a bit during this first part of the season.

“We started out to win the championship, but right now, we have to be realistic; it's difficult to think about fighting against Marc in this condition, or even for the title.

“So we have to start from another point, try to catch up with Alex, who is the rider in front of me, then improve and improve until the end to try to be ready for next year."