Pecco Bagnaia “missing my feeling” on 2025 Ducati MotoGP bike

Francesco Bagnaia says he is “missing my feeling” to ride like he wants on the 2025 Ducati MotoGP bike after finishing a distant fourth in the Argentina Grand Prix.

The double MotoGP world champion was expected to be Marc Marquez’s main title challenger in 2025, with the latter repeating throughout the winter that Bagnaia was the reference rider within the brand.

But after two rounds, Marquez has a 100% winning record and leads the championship by 16 points over Alex Marquez, while Bagnaia is 31 adrift in third having been unable to get on terms with them.

In Argentina, Bagnaia was 5.536s behind Marc Marquez in fourth at the chequered flag, marking the first time since Austin last year in a race that he has finished that he didn't make it to the podium.

“I’m not happy, but we struggled all weekend, we managed to finish in fourth place and the pace wasn’t that far from the first two guys,” he told TNT Sport.

“I was just a bit slower every lap. I lost a bit of time in the battle between me and Johann [Zarco] and Frankie [Morbidelli].

“But I think more than fourth was difficult for me today. I was struggling in some parts of the track and Frankie in front of me was doing a better job with the soft.

“So, I need to improve, I need to do a step, to find back my feeling from last year because it’s something that I’m missing.

“And when finally when I am back, I will be back to my positions.

“Fourth is not my place, even third is not my place. We are working for it and it’s the maximum ambition for me to be back in my positions.”

He added: “To find my feeling back because I’m struggling to be easily fast like I was last year, riding in my way.

“In this way, we are not riding slow. We are riding fast, but not like I want and I’m struggling to do the same as last year because every time I try I do some mistakes.

“So, we have to work and focus on it and just try to improve.”

The upcoming Americas GP at COTA has also been a difficult venue for Bagnaia in the past and a stronghold for Marc Marquez.

If he can find the set-up breakthrough he needs to be more comfortable on the GP25, Bagnaia is confident he “can fight with Marc”.

“Let’s see,” he said when asked about the Americas GP.

“It will be super important in Austin to be competitive. But the most important thing is to find my feeling back, because with my feeling I can fight with Marc.

“So, let’s work. I will work a lot at home in these days to understand something to take to the next race.

“But the main thing is to continue working like we did this weekend and continue improving.”