Victory or crisis – for Francesco Bagnaia, there is hardly anything in between in 2025 – Ducati continues to search for causes – And Marco Bezzecchi is lurking in third place in the World Championship
The last two MotoGP race weekends will decide third place in the World Championship. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) is five points ahead of Francesco Bagnaia. The Ducati rider recently retired from the podium in Malaysia with a puncture.
Nevertheless, Bagnaia has experienced mixed results in recent weeks. It was a shift from total dominance in Japan to disastrous races in Indonesia and Australia, to Malaysia, where he was back at the front and won the sprint. “I can’t understand it, and ‘Pecco’ probably finds it difficult to understand himself,” says ServusTV expert Stefan Bradl. “Everything is either great or terrible. When things aren’t going well, you can see how listless he is on the bike.“
”And then he shows again what an incredibly good racer he is.“ There are always tracks that suit you more or less. ”But such extreme fluctuations in performance, especially for a two-time world champion, are rare,“ says Bradl. ”Even Ducati can’t explain it.”
Even at the start of the penultimate race weekend of the season, the perplexity is still palpable. “To be honest,” says Bagnaia on Thursday in Portimao, “if someone can explain to me one day what happened in Motegi, I’ll give them a reward.”
“Because for the first time this season, I felt like I was back in 2024. I could do whatever I wanted with my bike, and the result was clear: track record, victory in both races, faster than last year. It was incredible to have that feeling again.”
“And then came the return to reality in Indonesia, perhaps my worst weekend ever in MotoGP—in terms of feeling, in terms of results, because of the crash. It was probably one of the strangest crashes of my career.”
“After that, things continued more or less similarly at Phillip Island. The bike was almost uncontrollable in certain situations. Fortunately, we found something in the race that helped me. I started far back, was able to catch up, and might have finished in the top 7.“
”Considering the rest of the weekend, that would have been a good result. In Sepang, things went quite well at first, then I made mistakes and missed Q2. But getting through Q1 to Q2 helped me, and in the end I got pole position and the sprint win.“
”The race at Sepang was more important because I was able to adapt better to the bike there. Fortunately, we found a better setup that helped me. Even if my feeling wasn’t perfect, I was fast enough to fight for the win.”
Despite retiring due to a puncture, Bagnaia was confident at the end of the Sepang weekend because he had been competitive up to that point. The question is whether this was the actual turning point in his rollercoaster ride.
“I don’t know, but I hope so. Sepang is a great test track, unlike Qatar, Thailand, or Misano. What works there usually works reasonably well everywhere. So I’m hoping for that.“
”The grip here [in Portimao] is quite good, the rear tire degradation isn’t so bad. That could suit us.” Bagnaia has already won the Grand Prix twice and the Sprint once in Portimao. Last year, he collided with Marc Marquez, causing both of them to crash.
How important is third place in the world championship?
Is it important for Bagnaia to defend third place in the world championship against Bezzecchi? “Yes, I think so. Third is better than fourth, of course. But I’m not here to finish third. It’s positive, but not satisfactory.“
”It’s the best result I can achieve this season, and therefore my short-term goal. But only for this year. Next year, I want to fight for the title. I want to finish the season fighting, not like now.”
And how important would third place in the world championship be for Bezzecchi? “It’s important for me, of course,” says the Aprilia rider. “For a long time, it wasn’t a goal for me. Even now, I’m not obsessed with it, but there are only two races left, and we’re right in the thick of it.”
“We’re close together, ‘Pecco’, Pedro, and me. So why not believe in it? Of course, it will be difficult because ‘Pecco’ is strong, Pedro is strong, but I’m also pretty strong. Hopefully, I can fight for this result.”
Pedro Acosta is 31 points behind and therefore also has a mathematical chance of finishing third in the World Championship. A maximum of 74 points can still be collected in Portimao and Valencia.