Pecco Bagnaia lost for words at what his data revealed after Austrian MotoGP
Pecco Bagnaia admits nightmare reality check from his data at Austrian MotoGP
A despondent Pecco Bagnaia was given a brutal dose of reality when looking at his data after the Austrian MotoGP.
The beleaguered factory Ducati rider could only finish eighth at the Red Bull Ring while watching teammate Marc Marquez rack up a sixth sprint and grand prix double in a row.
Bagnaia did avoid the starting grid spin in the grand prix on Sunday that ruined his sprint race 24 hours earlier.
He was even able to out-brake Marquez and hold his rival at an arms length in the early stages of the grand prix.
But Pecco Bagnaia sunk back as the race went on, a far cry from the impressive pace he displayed in Friday practice.
Looking at his data after the race provided even more bad news.
“I don’t know, honestly, what happened,” he told TNT Sports.
“I started well, I started better, but I was slower than the guys in front of me.
“I’ve checked my data from last year, the race distance time. Last year I was 12 seconds faster and could have won the race.
“It’s really strange, my feeling now. It is also difficult to explain.
“I am not consistent in sessions. In one session I am the fastest with fantastic pace, then I do the race and I am super slow, and I finish eighth. It is very strange.
“A bit in everything. I don’t understand, honestly.”
‘Ducati believe in Pecco Bagnaia’
Ducati have not lost faith in their struggling rider who won back-to-back MotoGP titles in 2022 and 2023, and only missed out on a third on the final day of 2024.
“What makes it tougher is that we went on a break, on holiday, he tried a full re-set,” Michael Laverty told TNT Sports.
“To bring back old memories, reignite something, convince himself.
“But he looks at the data and sees that he was faster before.
“The good thing is that Davide Tardozzi and the guys believe in him. They are working to give him back his feeling. They aren’t just saying ‘Marc Marquez can ride it, you need to work at it!’
“He needs to focus on the next nine races and go ‘this is a test’.
“He still has another year of contract as Marquez’s teammate which nobody seems to want!
“We all believe in Pecco, he is a quality rider.”
Sylvain Guintoli said: “It’s a disaster. It almost feels cruel because, on Friday, everything pointed to a good weekend. He qualified well on Saturday.
“For the races, it’s like he’s just off. He says that he loses a bit everywhere, which makes him vulnerable to attacks.
“He gets beaten up a bit when the grip goes away.
“It’s tough to take. What positives do you take? Fabio di Giannantonio struggled as well with the 2025 package.”
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James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
