Overview

• Francesco Bagnaia ended Friday practice 23rd in FP1 and 21st in FP2 at the Catalan GP, more than a second off the pace and sandwiched between test riders Aleix Espargaro and Lorenzo Savadori.
• Bagnaia said he is losing a “ridiculous” amount of time under braking at lean and in the first phase of acceleration, adding that recent small setup tweaks have not solved the problem.
• He acknowledged that a bigger solution is likely needed after a season of changes that delivered only a brief lift from a Hungary setup shift that did not translate to Barcelona.
• Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi said Bagnaia must help the team by riding over the GP25’s limitations, stressing the factory still trusts him and is working to find answers.
• The contrast inside Ducati sharpened as Marc Marquez ran third on Friday and Alex Marquez looked strong, while Bagnaia has not stood on the podium since early July and warned that even reaching Q2 would take “something important.”