During free practice for the 2025 French Grand Prix at Le Mans, Pecco Bagnaia shone with a third place in Friday's crucial time trial, just 3 seconds behind teammate Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo. Yet despite this solid performance, the 0,184 world champion's runner-up looks tense, revealing an inner struggle to adapt to a changed Ducati Desmosedici.
Francis Bagnaia does not display triumphalism. His gaze remains serious, his tone measured. And above all, his diagnosis is uncompromising. It was a good Friday, we have taken the necessary steps. I am satisfied " he begins soberly. But the bottom of his thought arrives quickly, and he does not hide it: " what drives me crazy, It's realizing that I can't ride the current bike like I used to. Since 2020, I've been riding the Desmosedici my way, with a lot of power entering corners. It took me six Grands Prix to accept that those days are over. »
Bagnaia tHere we come to one of the most crucial technical challenges of the season: adapting to the radical nature of the GP25, a machine that seems better suited to a Marc Marquez now in full possession of his faculties. What I expected from the bike is no longer there. Now it's up to me to adapt.. This Ducati is very fast, but it requires a different approach, and I will follow that path rather than keep looking for something that no longer exists " he continues, between lucidity and determination.
Pecco Bagnaia: “ Marc Marquez showed what was possible with the new chassis »
To Pecco, the shadow of number 93 hangs over each session. Marc showed today what is possible with the new chassis. I will continue in this direction, probably to Aragon. Ducati and my team are doing a remarkable job, They support me a lot. It helps me to find that feeling of familiarity again, and if we continue to work like today, we will get there »
The message is clear : bagnaia refuses to submit. He knows that to regain control in this fratricidal duel between champions Ducati, he must reinvent his piloting, without losing sight of what he has accomplished. What would make me truly happy is to rediscover the feeling I experienced when I won 30 Grand Prix. More than anyone " he says with a hint of melancholy... but above all an intact desire. 0,184 seconds from the provisional pole, bagnaia is still in the game. And he knows: the real race starts now.
MotoGP, France J1: ranking
