Francesco Bagnaia left the 2026 opening pre-season test at Sepang a happy man as the Ducati ace managed to improve on one of the issues he noticed after a disastrous 2025.
Last year, the 29-year-old ended on a sour note as he dropped to fifth in the Knights’ standings. Bagnaya He has finished in the top two of the championship in the last four seasons and won the championship in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Bagnaya admitted that in 2025 “he could have done more”. After looking back at the problems he had last year, to adapt to the Ducati GP25. Those problems now look set to cost him his place in the Bologna firing squad. Ducati is set to sign KTM’s Pedro Acosta..
Ducati’s attempt to sign Acosta after his contract with KTM ends looks likely to be sorted before Bagnaia gets a chance to avenge his fight with last year. The native of Turin may have already solved one of the problems that plagued him in the 2025 season.
Francesco Bagnaia is ‘more than relieved’ to improve his one-lap pace at the Sepang test.
Bagnaia completed the first pre-season test of 2026 MotoGP season I feel “beyond relief” in Sepang earlier this month. Ducati Racing believes he can “push a little harder” with the GP25 than with the GP26, because he has more confidence in how the front end responds.
Read more: Everything you need to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to seed number
But above all, the biggest positive for Bagnaya from the Sepang test was improving his single-lap pace. While Bagnaya scored pole for the 2025 Malaysian Grand Prix in Sebang Last October and won the Sprint race, often struggling to find speed in one flight lap.
Bagnaia said, through the verses Motorsport.com: “It’s not that I didn’t have a bad feeling with the GP25, let’s just say I had a love-hate relationship, but only for a few races.
“Having had a lot of problems in the middle of the championship, we only had negative phases, including a few crashes, but overall last season was very good in my opinion.
“This bike allows me to push a bit, at least at first glance. This test was important to improve my one-lap speed, and I think we did well. More than a relief, I feel like I’m in the right place at the right time.”
Peko Bagnaya qualified in 2025 with an average of P8.1 in the last seven rounds.
Bagnaia has taken just three pole positions in 2025 overall, although his Ducati team-mate Marc Marquez has taken eight. Bagnaia also secured pole position for the 2025 Czech Grand Prix after Marquez crashed out in Q2 at Brno, the Spaniard having a faster lap than him.
Ducati had to wait until the 17th round in Japan to see the Bagnaia get on the productivity pole last year. Motegi marked his first qualifying spot for Bagnaia in 2025, taking victory at the third round in the US after Marquez crashed out of the lead at COTA.
Despite bagging poles in Japan and Malaysia, he averaged just P8.1 over the final seven rounds of the 2025 season. The Italian had disappointing qualifying trips in Indonesia and Valencia, bowing out in Q1 for P16 on the grid for both races.
Bagnaia will be extremely loathe to repeat his apology at the end of the 2025 season at the 2026 finale, so he will leave the first pre-season test of 2026 in Sepang and encourage Bagnaia with an improved feel for the front end of the Ducati GP26.
