Francesco Bagnaia kicked off the Asian leg of the MotoGP season in the best way possible, putting his disastrous showing in the San Marino Grand Prix a fortnight ago behind him.
The factory Ducati rider was the fastest in the opening free practice session at Motegi on Friday, leading the way by around a tenth from 2024 champion Jorge Martin and current team-mate Marc Marquez.
He slipped to seventh place in the hour-long practice, but was only 0.346s off the ultimate pace in an ultra-competitive session, while his gap to third-placed Marquez was just two tenths of a second, as Marco Bezzecchi took the top spot for Aprilia and KTM occupied second place courtesy of Pedro Acosta.
Considering he was almost six tenths down at the start of the San Marino GP weekend, and had finished outside the top 20 in Friday practice in Barcelona, this marks a massive turnaround for the two-time champion.
“It was a good Friday,” he remarked. “We cannot hide the performance of this morning, I was super happy with everything.
“With the hard front, I was struggling a bit because it was dropping quite a lot, so I was a bit scared already that the hard was dropping. But then in the afternoon with the medium tyre I was feeling a bit better.
“We just lost 15 minutes in the first part of the session for some issues we had, but apart from that, I was riding in a smooth way, quite confident. I was trying different things, because finally I can brake very hard, so I was always trying a bit more and maybe I was exaggerating a bit.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
“The only mistake I think I did today was the second lap of the time attack, where I went wrong in corner seven and I lost a bit. But it’s nothing that bad, so I’m quite confident and happy.”
Bagnaia’s slump in form in recent months had even forced Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna to admit in Misano that the Borgo Panigale marque was losing patience in its most successful rider.
But the way the Italian hit the ground running in the Japanese Grand Prix has instilled a lot of confidence in his bosses.
“For sure, I really think so [he is back],” Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi said after FP1. “Now we found the way, he can be in the positions he deserves.”
Bagnaia’s improved form can be traced back to the Misano test, where he made a genuine step forward with the GP25.
While the 28-year-old has had other opportunities to work on the bike in 2025, this was the first in-season session where something genuinely clicked for him.
“Thailand, it was honestly a useless test for me, I was very slow and I never had the chance to test like anything,” he admitted. “Then it was the Jerez test, then in Aragon it was a bit better, but the first true test was the one in Misano, so I was able to test different things.”
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Interestingly, Ducati did not bring new developments for Bagnaia to try in Misano, but merely some parts that he hadn’t got a chance to evaluate properly earlier in the year.
“We tested different things in Misano, different things that we already had, but we never had the chance to really try this season, so I was just feeling a bit better,” he explained.
“And Misano is a track with a lot of grip, so the difference [between different parts] was a bit lower. On this track, the grip is good, but not as desired, so it’s good.”
Asked if he is now using the same parts as Marquez now, Bagnaia only said: “Not everything.”
Ducati also believes the Misano test was crucial in helping Bagnaia find a fix to his long-running issues in 2025.
“Testing the bike for one long day like in Misano, it helped us to find solutions and to test solutions – something that you cannot do during the race weekend,” said Tardozzi. “As our opponents grow up, because they have more testing days than us, just one day gave us the opportunity to think about the right [way forward].”
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Bagnaia was also able to count on the experience of fellow two-time MotoGP champion Casey Stoner in the Misano test, as the Australian provided him with an outsider’s perspective on both his riding style and the GP25’s behaviour.
With a growing belief that Bagnaia’s troubles stem from a lack of confidence within him, rather than any mechanical problems with the bike, the debrief with Stoner was seen as important in helping him unlock the missing performance.
However, Tardozzi didn’t want to downplay Bagnaia’s own contribution, saying: “He talked with Pecco, but I guess the way belongs more to Gigi and Pecco.”
While Bagnaia’s pace in Friday practice was encouraging, the real test will come in the sprint race on Saturday, which has long been his weakest point.
The Italian felt he had made a genuine breakthrough in the Aragon test and again following a set-up change in the Hungarian Grand Prix, only for the improvements to turn out to be a false dawn.
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