Francesco Bagnaia has revealed that he has been unable to solve the rear tire grip problem on his Ducati since the first race of the season. Despite achieving four consecutive Sunday podium finishes and a sprint victory in the last two months, the 29-year-old Italian, a three-time world champion, rated his season at Sachsenring on a scale of 5.5.
40 points lost and a 65-point lead in the championship.
Bagnaia said that three technical problems during the 2026 season cost him a total of 40 points. Entering the summer break in eighth place overall, the Italian is 65 points behind leader Jorge Martin. Speaking at Sachsenring, he said: “I’m not happy going into the summer break, because I know how good and bad the results I’ve achieved are; that bothers me.” When asked about his season assessment, he replied: “5.5. We’re making a lot of progress, but we still haven’t solved the problem we’ve had since the first race, namely rear grip. There’s no rear tire; I can’t use the rear tire in turns and when accelerating.”.
Gresini's Alex Marquez solution offers hope for Bagnaia.
Bagnaia recalled that the same problem had been seen with Gresini team rider Alex Marquez and that it had been resolved before Jerez. “Alex [Marquez] was the only rider at Ducati who had the same problems I had. He was struggling with the same issues before Jerez; then they solved them,’ said Bagnaia, adding that he hoped the factory team would follow a similar path. ”I really hope this summer break helps the team understand what they need to do. Maybe by following the same path we can figure out how to do it,“ he added.
The underlying technical aspect of the problem is also noteworthy: Ducati riders put excessive load on the rear tire to compensate for the front weakness of the motorcycle; this makes the rear tire more prone to wear and tear.
Right forearm surgery and Silverstone schedule
Bagnaia underwent surgery on his right forearm in July. He stated that he plans to be ready for the next race weekend, which starts on August 8th at Silverstone. The 2026 season will be the Italian's last year with Ducati; Aprilia announced last month that Bagnaia will race for the factory team alongside Marco Bezzecchi in 2027.