Sylvain Guintoli: “The Pecco story has been hard to watch” - Exclusive

Sylvain Guintoli admits it was hard to watch Francesco Bagnaia’s struggles during the 2025 MotoGP season.

Guintoli - a former MotoGP rider and WorldSBK champion, who fought for the EWC crown this year - followed the dramatic highs and lows of the factory Ducati rider’s season closely as part of his punditry role at TNT Sports.

Bagnaia struggled for front-end feeling on the GP25 for much of the season, later compounded by some violent shaking on corner exit.

But when the Desmosedici suddenly handled to his liking at Motegi, the Italian swept to a double victory, only to be back to square one at many of the following rounds.

Bagnaia’s season ended with an erratic sequence of three wins, ten non-scores and an eighth place, dropping him from third to fifth in the final standings.

“The Pecco story this year has been hard to watch, actually, for me,” Guintoli told Crash.net. “You can see that obviously he's been really struggling, and been down with it as well. 

So that was not nice to see because Pecco is a fantastic rider.”

Guintoli, who also spent six years as Suzuki’s factory test rider and later helped develop MotoGP tyres for Michelin, explained why Bagnaia’s front-end confidence issues were so damaging.

“Front-end feel is everything, especially with the current spec of MotoGP bikes,” he said. 

“You must be able to have that feel and stop the bike efficiently - without disturbing the load to the front in corner entry.

“Then you can be smooth, carry the corner speed and so on. It's all linked together.

“Some riders are more affected than others [by front feeling]. Some adapt and find ways around it, and some need to be 100% happy with that feedback.”

"You can feel it in your wrists"

Guintoli added that the sensation arrives through the wrists, as a rider feels the tyre deforming and sliding on corner entry.

“It comes through your wrists,” he said. “It's a weird feeling. You can feel the front tyre moving. Especially with a MotoGP, you can feel the front tyre squashing and deforming underneath as you try to brake in.

“Even when you're straight [braking upright], you can feel that. Then, as you trail-brake into the corner, you can really feel it in your wrists. And you must be in full control of that because you're on the limit. 

"Everything needs to be super smooth for you to get the best out of the package. It's easier said than done! And Pecco is not shy, even when he's struggling, to go for it and sometimes push over the limit.

“Front-end feel can be mental as well, as in, it can get to your head. But the reality is that - except for Motegi - he's been confronted by some sort of recurrent problem. The same problem was always there”

Despite Bagnaia’s repeated struggles, Guintoli expects a resurgence in 2026.

“I think he's going to come back, and I've said he's going to have to hit rock bottom before coming back. But the episode in Motegi was kind of strange! He couldn't do anything wrong and dominated.”

Guintoli is preparing to run the 2026 London Marathon, wearing his racing leathers, in memory of his son Luca.

To support Guintoli in raising funds for children’s cancer charity PASIC, visit: https://2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/sylvain-guintoli