Francesco Bagnaia believes Ducati has a new solution lined up for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez this weekend that could help resolve his ongoing tyre wear issues with the 2026 setup.
Bagnaia had a difficult start to the season across the opening three rounds in Thailand, Brazil and America. While he felt good about his pace during practice and qualifying, it was only during the Grands Prix that the full scope of his problems became apparent.
The 29-year-old heads into Jerez, coming off a month-long break due to the Qatar Grand Prix postponement, sitting ninth in the standings with just 25 points. He’s also only the fourth-highest-ranked Ducati rider and currently ranks last among those using the GP26.
Mick Doohan has expressed confusion over Bagnaia’s struggles this season, as he hasn’t finished higher than P9 so far. He crashed out of P11 in Brazil and followed that up with a P10 finish in America.
Tyre wear has been the main factor behind Bagnaia’s struggles this season. In Brazil, he admitted to having a tough time stopping his bike due to a lack of rear grip. It was a similar story in Texas, where he said he was just focused on finishing after ruining his tyre early on.
The break since the United States Grand Prix has given Ducati and Bagnaia time to analyse the data and work on fixes ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. He believes it’s now clear there is an issue and feels they are beginning to make sense of it.
He told Motorsport.com: “What’s clear from the data is that the bike behaves unexpectedly. The loss of grip on the rear tyre is quite significant during Sunday’s race.
“It’s strange because during the weekend, from Friday onwards, you do many laps on used tyres and can maintain a very consistent pace. And then, in the race, after eight laps, I destroy the rear tyre.
“So, it’s something that we need to understand, and I think they’ve started thinking about something different for this weekend.”
The Italian rider also mentioned that rubber laid down by Moto2 and Moto3 riders using Pirelli tyres might contribute to Ducati’s unusual tyre wear issues becoming more noticeable during Grands Prix. This season will be MotoGP’s last year using Michelin tyres.
Bagnaia explained: “For me, the only problem is Sunday’s race because everything works in a way; you can work, you can adapt, and everything seems to be going well.
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