He must help us to help him

Ducati boss Davide Tardozzi has emphasised that Francesco Bagnaia must take greater responsibility in turning his current MotoGP campaign around, making it clear that “he has to help us to help him”.

Tardozzi made that comment after Bagnaia reached another low point in practice for the Catalan Grand Prix on Friday, finishing 23rd and 21st in the two sessions.

The double world champion’s woes then continued into qualifying, as Bagnaia is down in a starting position of 21st for the weekend’s races. 

He hasn’t finished on the podium since the German Grand Prix at the beginning of July, while his team-mate Marc Marquez has won seven races on the trot and is now on the verge of winning his seventh title.

“This is not Pecco’s standard, it is the standard of the last few races,” Tardozzi told Sky Italy. “Beyond the 23rd position, which also surprises me – and it bothers me to even look at the standings – I always try to see the glass half full.

“As much as we can help him, he must also help us to help him. We need him to focus more on overcoming the difficulties, which are there, so we need him to think more about the rider he is and how good he is.”

Asked to explain his comments in a separate TV interview, Tardozzi explained that while it’s Ducati’s responsibility to give him the best possible bike, Bagnaia must also learn to overcome the limitations of the GP25.

“I mean that there are moments where the riders have to ride over the problems, and that’s the moment,” he said on MotoGP’s official English feed.

“I think that Pecco is able to do it. He showed this several times in the past years. So, I guess that at this moment he needs to help us to help him.”

The contrasting form of Bagnaia and other Ducati riders has led to speculation that the 28-year-old’s slump cannot be entirely due to technical issues.

With Marquez enjoying an incredible run on the other side of the garage, and Alex Marquez also beating him consistently on a year-old Gresini Ducati, it has been suggested that confidence issues could also be preventing Bagnaia from showing his true potential.

When asked if Bagnaia’s struggles were as much down to his mindset as to the bike itself, Tardozzi said: “No, I don’t know. I think that if Pecco is not performing, for sure, there is something on the technical side that doesn’t work. 

“That’s obvious because we trust him as a top rider and that means that there is something that we haven’t found yet to let him perform in the proper way. 

“But we’ll see. We are still working, we are still trusting him, and we have to work.”

Additional reporting by Gerald Dirnbeck and Matteo Nugnes