Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi has dismissed suggestions that Francesco Bagnaia has dropped out of the 2026 French Grand Prix due to a problem with the bike’s brakes.
Bagnaya The two-time MotoGP champion recorded another retirement in the midst of his streak of results at Le Mans last Sunday when he crashed in P2. French GP. The 29-year-old fell in lap 3 of 16 out of 27 as he tried to catch KTM rival Pedro Acosta from behind.
It was the Italian’s third retirement after five rounds this season and his ninth in the last 12 rounds. Bagnaya has only scored P9 in Thailand and P10 in the United States in his five Grand Prix appearances so far this season.
Pecco Bagnaia has retired eighth in the last TEN MotoGP races 😲 What’s wrong?
Davide Tardozzi claims Francesco Bagnaia suffered brake problems when he crashed at Le Mans.
Marco Melandri felt that Bagnaia Ducati had tried to warn him in France. He was about to lose the front of his Desmosedici GP26 before crashing into the left section of the Dunlop chicane. The crash cost Bagnaia a chance to finish on the podium.
Read more: The best moments of Francesco Bagnaia’s MotoGP career
Speaking immediately after the French GP, Bagnaia revealed that he had crashed with the same front brake problem on his Ducati GP26 that forced him to retire from the Spanish Grand Prix at the previous round. Christmas Tardozi Bagnaya feels he “made a mistake”.
Tardozzi said Sky Sports Italy On Thursday Catalan GP“I can’t say anything but there was a problem – it wasn’t a technical issue I can say it wasn’t a technical issue.
“I think he might have left something out, that’s why, unfortunately, he made a mistake. But I don’t think we can blame him on a technical issue.”
What do you think of Francesco Bagnaia’s French GP crash with brake problems?
Bagnaia tried to bite his tongue when discussing the brake problem that forced him to retire at Jerez and crash at Le Mans. The Turin native was now convinced that it was a technical issue with the Ducati GP26 rather than himself that caused the issues, according to Tardozzi.
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The 31-time MotoGP Grand Prix winner went into a bit more detail when the issue forced him to drop out of P9 in the Spanish GP. The other GP26 drivers were still off the pace as Alex Marquez won at Jerez and Fabio Di Giannantonio secured P3.
“A little (problem),” Bagnaya said TNT Sports After the Spanish GP. “The team is working on it to understand the situation, but something can happen by accident.
“I started the race a bit uncomfortable but I managed to stay very competitive. But lap-back I got worse and had to stop… It was really hard to slow down.”
Bagnaia was the leading Ducati rider during the French GP when he crashed last Sunday, with VR46 star Di Giannantonio once again emerging as the leading Ducati rider on the P4 finish line. He didn’t want to repeat the same issues at Le Mans, but he was sure the reason was the same.
“The accident is the result of a problem,” he said. GPON. The same one I had in Jerez.
Arriving in Barcelona for this weekend’s Catalan Grand Prix, however, Bagnaia joined Tardozzi in suggesting that the accident at Le Mans was not really a GP26 problem. Bagnaia denied it was driver error, but Ducati found the real reason.
“We got it, but it was not a technical problem,” through Bagnaia As. “Everything is fine, it was more of a sensitive issue, and it won’t happen again, it wasn’t human error, but I won’t go into details.
“For the first time in a season and a half, when you’re going fast, you’re fighting for power, and you’re crashing, it’s like a ‘curse.'” I was devastated, I still am.
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