“Like seeing two different bikes” - Pecco Bagnaia puzzled by Alex Marquez’s MotoGP data

After last year’s difficulties on the GP25, Pecco Bagnaia welcomed Ducati’s decision to provide a fourth factory-spec bike for Alex Marquez in MotoGP this season, due to the added data the title runner-up would provide.

Bagnaia then singled out the Gresini rider’s performances during his own recent struggles at the Sachsenring and Silverstone rounds.

“If we can understand what, mostly, Alex Marquez is doing, we can be competitive,” Bagnaia said in Germany. “Because we already saw the data, and the one that is having the most support from the bike is Alex.”

Then at Silverstone: “Luckily in the satellite team we have Alex Marquez who is doing a fantastic job, super strong, super fast, and is the one that making the difference compared to other Ducatis.”

At Aragon, Bagnaia has again battled a lack of rear grip.

“When I enter the corners, I lose the rear without doing anything,” he said on Friday. “As soon as I touch the gas… I lose it. Until the bike is completely straight, I still spin and have a lot of movement.”

After finishing 11th in the Sprint, 14 seconds behind team-mate Marc and runner-up Alex, Bagnaia said the difference between his data and Alex’s was so large it was difficult even to compare.

"We can't understand where they managed to find that improvement. It's even difficult to compare the data because there are so many differences, especially when we open the throttle,” Sky Italia quotes Bagnaia as saying. “It's like seeing two different bikes."

He added: “I still don't have a great feeling with turning the bike and getting grip at the back, and the hotter it gets, the more I feel this. We'll try to make a small step tomorrow.

"I'll never give up"

“Right now, I accept where I am and do what I can. I know very well that my potential, when I feel good with what I'm riding, is to win or be in the top three.”

The double MotoGP champion insisted he will not give up during his remaining races with Ducati before joining Aprilia in 2027.

"I'm here to go fast. I'm interested in where I'll be next year, but I'm also interested in the present. And I'm here to do my best, and I'll give it my all.

“Unfortunately, in the last two years, there have been too few opportunities to do really well, and we know very well that this bike's DNA doesn't really suit me.

“But I'll never give up; in the end, I'll always be able to do my best every weekend.

“There will be times like in Brno, Le Mans, or Mugello where I'll be further ahead, and times where, like in the last two races, we're unfortunately struggling more.

“But if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that giving up is just not something I'll do."

VR46's Fabio di Giannantonio, the other rider on a Desmosedici GP26, qualified just place ahead of Bagnaia in seventh, but then crashed on the opening lap of the Sprint.