Why is the Ducati MotoGP bike so hard to start in 2026?

VR46 MotoGP rider Franco Morbidelli says the Ducati is a hard bike to start well on because of how difficult it is “to put it in the right window”.

In recent years, the Ducati was typically one of the best-starting bikes on the grid, helped greatly by the ride height device technology it pioneered.

But that has changed this season, with a number of Ducati riders complaining of poor starts.

Pecco Bagnaia had a poor launch during the sprint, which sent him down the pack, while Franco Morbidelli’s VR46 MotoGP team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio has regularly suffered bad starts.

“Now, as soon as I start to release the clutch, releasing the clutch very slowly, it starts to wheely and it never comes back,” Bagnaia explained at Mugello.

“So, it’s difficult to change something because if I release the clutch like I want, the bike wheelies and I always go backwards at the start.

“Today, in the race, I started very slow on the clutch, but as soon as I arrive to 80% of releasing, it starts wheelying. Until I put second gear, it didn’t come back.”

Morbidelli also had a poor launch on Sunday at the Italian Grand Prix, which has also been a problem for him this season.

The VR46 rider notes that the GP24 he rode last year “was like a rocket” off the line, but that trait didn’t carry forward into the GP25 he is on, and seemingly persists on the GP26.

He explained that the Ducati now is so hard to get “everything in the right window” to make a good start.

“I think I said yesterday [Saturday] the GP24 was like a rocket, last year's bike,” Morbidelli, who was 14th in the race, said.

“This year's bike, we are getting a lot wheelie, and it was quite difficult to get off the line.

“Many things are difficult on this bike, the problem is to put it in the right window.

“If everything is in the right window, then you make rocket starts also on this bike.

“If things are on point, you can make great performances on this bike.”