Francesco Bagnaia believes Ducati are “getting closer” to solving their problems with a bad start after the Bologna Bullets “lost their way” when Ducati struggled last year.
Two-time MotoGP champion Bagnaya He believes. Ducati They have been on the back foot in 2026 as confusion grew between their ranks last season and the Borgo Pangale outfit must try to catch up this year. But after a difficult start, the Italian took many positives from Mugello.
Bagnaia had arguably his best run of the season at the Italian Grand Prix. at last , Bagnaia finished third at the Italian GP.Due to high rubber loss.
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Francesco Bagnaia thinks Ducati is ‘closer’ to fixing rear suspension off the grid
Despite Bagnaia’s Ducati race start this time around, the Turin native ran fourth behind team-mate Marc Marquez after starting sixth at Mugello last Sunday. Trackhouse’s Raul Ferrandez went deep in T1 and helped Bagnayan’s place in the order.
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Bagnaia points to the changes Ducati made to the bike ahead of the Italian GP, such as the electronics, to gain places off the grid. Now, the only area Bagnaia feels Ducati still needs to work on is improving the rear grip.
Ducati is “closer” to an off-the-shelf solution for the Bagnaia’s rear case, as the Bullets of Bologna make significant changes to the bike’s balance from early 2026.
Bagnaya said, go Motorsport.com: “The thing is, last year we lost our way, Ducati lost their way and this year we are trying to regain what we achieved last year.”
“So, in the last GP, we improved our start from Saturday to Sunday, and I think it will be much better in the future.
“We’re changing the balance of the bike quite a bit from how it was originally built. So we’re going step by step so it’s very demanding, and it’s not easy, but we’re doing it.
“The next step will be to add a rear handle, because right now, the only thing I’m missing is a rear handle. But that’s something we’re getting closer to.”
“I don’t think removing the devices[starters]will increase or decrease the gap between the bikes. The fact is, for now, Honda has the best starts. When you’re next to Honda at the start, you lose ground.”
“I think we lost our performance compared to last year. Last year we had really good starts but the bike was very slippery and it’s the same this year.”
“I understand why it’s not easy, but the electronics we tested at Mugello on Sunday worked better. So maybe we’ll improve our starts from now on.”
Bagnaya made a disastrous start to the season-opening Thai Grand Prix, with the 29-year-old struggling to get off the grid in P13 at Buriram in March. It was the same story at the start of the Brazilian GP, the United States GP, the Spanish GP, the French GP and the Catalan GP.
In each race, Bagnaia got off to a slow start and either lost places or was left fighting to stay in the qualifying spots. Yet at Mugello, Ducati’s changes to Bagnaia’s bike put him in touch with the leaders and created positions crucial to his result.
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