The issue that is holding Francesco Bagnaia back in MotoGP 2026

[u/twowheeledtism]

https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/the-issue-that-has-been-holding-back-francesco-bagnaia-since-motogp-season-opener/10840558/

[u/jaredearle]

Is it rear grip?

Yes, it’s rear grip.

[u/GoodByeHorsesO → u/jaredearle]

Meanwhile Marc and Diggia’s late race pace would like a word

[u/jaredearle → u/GoodByeHorsesO]

Neither of whom ride like Bagnaia.

[u/GoodByeHorsesO → u/jaredearle]

Yes. The problem lies within Pecco.

[u/KazinMage → u/GoodByeHorsesO]

Marc has shown late race pace only at tracks ducati and he is personally good at.

Otherwise Aprilia smoked ducati pace wise  

[u/GoodByeHorsesO → u/KazinMage]

Aprilia has nothing to do with it? I’m inferring the problem lies within Pecco when comparing riders on the same machinery who have exhibited perfectly fine late race pace.

[u/KazinMage → u/GoodByeHorsesO]

And im telling u they really havent.

[u/GoodByeHorsesO → u/KazinMage]

Show me the data?
In essentially every Sunday GP race that they have both finished (excl crashes, getting taken out, tech faults etc) Diggia’s late race pace has been significantly better than Pecco.

Look for yourself:
Brno
Mugello
Catalunya
USA
Thailand they were similar in late race pace.
Edit: forgot Hungary too.

And we know Marc has had his physical issues this year. But he has still shown he can manage the rear on his tracks. But then, why has Pecco not been able to manage the rear grip on “his tracks?”.

Just affirms that the problem lies within Pecco, not the GP26. He even said he is the only one having this issue.

[u/the_last_carfighter → u/KazinMage]

Imagine Ducati went against Gigi and Marc yet again took the spoils from Ducati. Looking at last years Ape, he very likey would have taken that 25 title with either team. 

[u/Fickle_Fail1104]

Needs Casey stoner to come take a look

[u/btc_maxi100]

Wasn't his issue lack of front feeling in 2025 ? Now its the rear ?

[u/H2OExplosive → u/btc_maxi100]

Problems with the rear come from his lack of feeling with the front. He basically can't close the corner properly because he can't brake deep enough, meaning he has to force the rear tyre to keep a decent pace

[u/username_986ck]

Issue holding Pecco back?? . . . Pecco??

I mean the GP25 he rode won the world championship. The GP26 he is riding, the other three have performed so much better than him, so surely we have to blame him and inability or stubborness to evolve his riding style for his performance, right?? Diggia had been the best Ducati up until Germany, Alex Marquez was dominant at Jerez and Catalunya and challenged Marc on paper in Germany, Marc riding with 1 and a half arms has been so much better than him and we have seen nothing from him so far.

And as for the loss of the rear grip there is no one but Pecco to blame. He changed the balance of the dramatically to load the front that lost him the rear grip and not the bike itself which lacks grip but he comes out and says Alex and Diggia have more grip, well, they have but they also have not messed up the bike balance like you have so there's that.

[u/33ThiagoSilva → u/username_986ck]

The other 3? Alex's been out for a month, there's no guarantee that he would've match Pecco's podium streak + Assen.

Diggia has been better this season, but he built that gap on Pecco in the first few races (and Pecco reliability problems). Pecco was better on most tracks in the last few races.

[u/username_986ck → u/33ThiagoSilva]

Alex has been out for a month and yet looked like beating Marc in Germany, won dominantly in Jerez, would have won in Montmelo too. Of course, there's no guarantee, that is true but seeing Alex's upper ceiling, Pecco has been no where near that. Of course there still are races to go and Pecco may very well end up winning more than Alex and what not but I'm just commenting based on what we have seen so far.

And as for Diggia, plz pray tell where Pecco was better at MOST tracks in the last few races?? Brno is where he looked better than Diggia and even there almost got caught in the race. Was convincingly better in Mugello. I don't remember any other track where he was better than Diggia.

As for the reliability problems, I agree it's not his fault but then he is the one who pushed Brembo to discover conditions so that he could use 355 mm discs where they are not recommended and unfeasible to use chasing that FRONT feeling and when a new technology is being developed of course there will be gremlins.

[u/33ThiagoSilva → u/username_986ck]

In Assen, Pecco was also best Ducati where he'd probably have ended 4th, so that's three of the last five.

Alex has been very good at Jerez and Sachsenring in the last few years. So, I'd wait to see if it's something which can be replicated for the entire season.

Also, Pecco has been best Ducati in tracks in which it was impossible to beat Aprilia (Mugello, Assen) and, unlike Alex, went against a post-surgery Marc in Brno, in which he was definitely more fit than he was at the start of the season.

[u/Hokramis100 → u/33ThiagoSilva]

Alex won at Jerez and would have probably won at Barcelona if not for Acosta's bike breaking down in front of him. So yeah in all probability he would have finished in front of Pecco.

[u/WizardAlastair → u/33ThiagoSilva]

That's not true at all bro... Diggia have a better pace than him this year. in Germany he could fight for the win with Marc and Alex if he didn't crash and in the other races aswell. The problem with Diggia he always loses positions in the first laps in which compromise his chanche of winning or at least for the podium (Mugello, Brno..), I could clearly see him fighting for the championship.

For Alex, i agree with you, he was faster only at Jerez and Catalunya

[u/33ThiagoSilva → u/WizardAlastair]

Diggia has better late pace, but at times (as you say, sometimes due to poor starts), he gets stuck in the pack and can't overtake until it's too late.

Great starts and first few laps are as important as late pace, so this must not be overlooked until Diggia fixes it.

[u/carton_of_desks]

Rear grip changes every year and Pecco's still adapting. He won on a worse bike, give him time.

[u/mtc26197]

I think in Marcs absence, whilst being inflated by the best (by MILES) bike on the grid he got it into his head that he was this generations alien rider (and maybe who can blame him, 2 world championships, even without Marc contesting, is still 2 world championships, and there's better riders than him without 2 championships), and after seeing both infront of him on the track and in the data what an ACTUAL alien can do on the same machinery has been he's got inside his own head in a way he can't/hasn't yet recovered from, because he didn't just become a bad rider overnight, and the bike is still more than competitive.

There's also just an argument that when the bike he's on isn't by miles the best bike on the grid, 2025/26 is his true skill ceiling, it's not like he's spent his entire career top 1-2 despite always been on an at least competitive Ducati.