#MotoGP #PeccoBagnaia #Ducati #MarcMarquez <br /><br />The MotoGP News Update podcast has proposed an interesting theory regarding Pecco Bagnaia's struggles with the 2025 Ducati bike. Despite being the reigning champion who narrowly missed the title last year, Bagnaia has reported significant issues with the front-end feel of the new GP25 this season. This is highlighted by the fact that he is considerably behind his new teammate, Marc Marquez, who leads the championship, and also trailing Alex Marquez on a year-old Ducati. <br /><br />Peter McLaren on the Crash MotoGP podcast suggests that the departure of two other Ducati riders, Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini, over the winter might offer some insight. He points out that Bagnaia is the only rider who has directly transitioned from the GP24 to the GP25. In contrast, Marc Marquez and Fabio di Giannantonio came from the 2023 Ducati, which was known to be more challenging, making the current bike feel like an improvement for them. <br /><br />McLaren also emphasizes Marc Marquez's exceptional talent, comparing basing the Ducati setup around him to basing it around Casey Stoner previously, suggesting that their riding styles might not represent the average behavior of the bike. He notes Bagnaia's comment about Marquez being able to ride anything, echoing Jorge Lorenzo's past remarks about Stoner. <br /><br />The article highlights several questions for Ducati: why Bagnaia is lacking feeling, Di Giannantonio is also experiencing front-end issues, while the older GP24 is performing strongly, and Davide Tardozzi's confirmation that the GP25 engine is different, now revealed to be a hybrid after initially believing there was a choice between the original 2025 and the 2024 engine (which is now frozen). <br /><br />Marquez significantly strengthened his championship lead at the French MotoGP, winning the sprint race and finishing second in the main race. Bagnaia, on the other hand, had a disastrous weekend in Le Mans, crashing out of both races and scoring no points, further compounding his difficulties. <br /><br />McLaren concludes that the situation has become more complex for Bagnaia, especially after the Le Mans weekend where he seemed to acknowledge the need for him to adapt since the bike's specifications cannot be changed. He also notes that while the initial races of the season were on different circuits compared to the previous year, the issues persisted at Jerez and Le Mans, which are more comparable. Di Giannantonio's complaints about front-end feeling further support Bagnaia's concerns. The fact that all three riders on the GP24 have achieved podium finishes this year underscores the strength of the older bike, suggesting Bagnaia will be closely analyzing his past data and the data of the faster GP24 riders to understand the discrepancies.
