Francesco Bagnaia “living a nightmare” after latest MotoGP disaster

After a promising Friday at Misano, Francesco Bagnaia was back to struggling on Saturday in the San Marino MotoGP Sprint and back to having no answers to his problems.

Bagnaia was fourth-fastest in Practice on Friday and was confident that he had left time on the table due to a mistake at turn 10.

But on Saturday he qualified only eighth, something he took the blame for, and slipped to 13th in the Sprint, which he was bemused by.

“[Qualifying] was my fault,” Francesco Bagnaia admitted, speaking after the Sprint in Misano.

“In qualifying I missed two-tenths around the track. I didn’t do a fantastic lap but the bike was able to finish in the front row. 

“But I didn’t, I did some mistakes during the lap. 

“But the pace, this morning, was to fight for the podium. No more, no less.”

About his slump to 13th, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider said: “I would like to have the answer. But, you can believe me, I haven’t [got] any answer. 

“I was struggling from the third corner. 

“I’m living a nightmare and I just want to raise my head up just to see some light. 

“Today also, it’s quite strange. 

“I just would like to finish the interviews as soon as possible to go back to the garage and speak with the team to understand something.”

On Friday, Bagnaia was pleased with the way he could stop the bike, but this was not the case on Saturday.

“Braking, entry, stopping, everything,” he said when asked what the bike didn’t do well on Saturday.

“As soon as I started, I struggled from the first braking, turn four, and, from that moment, I was trying to stop, trying to lean. The front was going everywhere. 

“So [we just have to] analyse the things and understand what happened.”

His trend of Friday was that he was not making changes on the bike, and instead focusing on himself. He explained that this was also true on Saturday, and that he will not make changes on Sunday, either, when he hopes for a “normal race”.

“Today also I didn’t change anything,” he said.

“Tomorrow I think we will not change anything because the bike was working well until qualifying. Just the Sprint was strange.

“I really hope that tomorrow will be a normal race without anything wrong. I would like just to enjoy.”

Finally, Bagnaia reinforced his faith in both himself and his team to get out of the difficult moment they’ve been falling into since the beginning of the 2025 MotoGP season.

“My effort is huge, but my head is strong,” he said.

“So, I will not lose my faith in my potential, in my team, so I will continue working, pushing; they are continuing working, and one day we will arrive back. I hope it will be soon.”