Pecco Bagnaia’s blunt Portugal MotoGP sprint reaction: ‘I simply lacked speed’

Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia says he “simply lacked speed from the start” of Saturday’s sprint at the MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix, as he limped home to eighth from fourth on the grid.

The double world champion’s sprint form has been mixed across the 2025 campaign, but it has been especially inconsistent of late.

In the last six sprints, Pecco Bagnaia won twice, but failed to score in two others, and was pipped on the line to eighth on Saturday at the Portuguese Grand Prix.

A strong qualifying saw Bagnaia put his factory Ducati fourth on the grid, but he instantly faded out of podium contention, as Gresini’s Alex Marquez narrowly held off KTM’s Pedro Acosta for victory.

Bagnaia admits he wasn’t fast at any stage of the sprint, and struggled with tyre preservation across the 12-lap contest.

“I simply lacked speed right from the start,” he told Sky Italy.

“I wasn't able to make the most of the grip at the start and finish, and I lacked a bit of acceleration out of the corners, which meant I couldn't be incisive.

“I also wore out the rear tire a lot, and by the end, I was struggling so much so that they wiped me out at the finish line.

“In any case, I wasn't able to be competitive; we missed FP2 this morning to try and fix the set-up.

“We're working for tomorrow, and today's race helped us do something for tomorrow.”

Saturday morning’s FP2 was rendered largely useless for the field, as the track was still damp in places from overnight rain.

Bagnaia’s sprint result means he is now 10 points behind Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi in the battle for third in the standings, after the latter was third in the short race.

Despite his struggles on Saturday, Bagnaia is confident Ducati can find a fix for his current grip issues and has his sights set on the podium in the grand prix.

“We only tried the medium in FP1 in conditions where the grip wasn't fantastic,” he added.

“But we're still doing what we can, we're definitely trying to improve the grip.

“I think we'll be able to make a step forward, that's the important thing. Let's see if we can fight for the podium tomorrow.”