Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia says he was struggling so much at points during the 2025 MotoGP season that he couldn’t even “recognise himself”.
Bagnaia endured some of the toughest moments of his career this year, as he failed to gel with the bike with which team-mate Marc Marquez was winning race after race on the other side of the garage.
His performances deteriorated further after the summer break, with 21st place in qualifying at Barcelona and a non-score in the San Marino Grand Prix prompting Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna to say he is losing patience with him.
But after finally finding a breakthrough at the Misano test, as Casey Stoner joined him in the garage and Ducati incorporated several GP24 parts on his MotoGP bike, Bagnaia completed a double win in the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position to mark his return to the front.
While happy to achieve his second grand prix win of 2025, the three-time world champion admitted that it was hard to accept that as a rider who had achieved so much that he could struggle so profoundly.
“I have to say that this season I’ve asked myself a lot of questions,” he said. “There was a moment when I didn’t recognise myself. I was 21st in qualifying and having bad races. I couldn’t believe it.
“I had such a strong team-mate, and if you’re weak, that’s going to affect you a lot. I’ve only learned that this year. Even though he wasn’t the fastest, he often won, and only champions can do that.”
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Much like in Saturday’s sprint, Bagnaia led the race from pole position and disappeared into the distance, giving his rivals no chance to mount an attack in the opening laps.
However, there were concerned faces in the Ducati garage in the second half of the race, as smoke repeatedly started billowing out of his factory bike.
Ultimately, it made no difference to the end result, as Bagnaia took the chequered flag with a four-second margin over Marquez to lead a 1-2 for Ducati.
“I don’t know what happened, it could be the same thing that happened to [Fabio] Diggia [Di Giannantonio] two years ago in Valencia,” he said.
“I didn’t notice anything, except that in the last three or four laps I felt like I was lacking a little power, but if they had penalised me for that today, it would have been the most upsetting thing in my life.
“We’ve had a perfect weekend. I’m happy, but on the other hand, I’m angry [that the breakthrough came so late].
He added: “It was fantastic to be able to do [the double] again. I hadn’t done it since Barcelona last year. I got off to a good start and controlled the whole race, just as I like to do.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: Toshifumi Kitamura / AFP via Getty Images
“I wanted to push and just have fun on the bike. That hadn’t happened since last year, and I didn’t manage it until the Misano test.”
Bagnaia also congratulated Marquez, who wrapped up his ninth world championship – and seventh premier class title – with a podium finish in Motegi.
“There aren’t many words to describe Marc’s season and his last six years. He has been through what no one else has with injuries and bad times, and he has had admirable mental strength,” said the Italian.
“I would have liked to fight with him. He has been perfect all season except for two or three races. He has been incredible. I want to congratulate Marc, his family, [his partner] Gemma, and his team, who are always with him.”
He added: “Next year I’ll have another opportunity to continue learning and try to make it difficult for him.
“Today Marc had the excuse of closing the world championship, but in the next races we’ll see if we can start fighting.”
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