Pecco Bagnaia’s Ducati tyre theory after “very strange consumption”
Francesco Bagnaia feels the Ducati GP26 is relying too heavily on rear grip, causing late-race issues in MotoGP.
"Do you know what the biggest problem is? That his rear tyre drops a lot."
Those were Valentino Rossi’s words when discussing Francesco Bagnaia's struggles at last year's Hall of Fame dinner in Misano.
"During the last laps, Pecco is slower. And [in 2024] he was very strong during the last laps,” Rossi added when chatting to his former rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.
Unfortunately for double MotoGP champion Bagnaia, while his front-end feeling appears to have improved over the winter, the rear grip woes have carried over into 2026.
The issue was highlighted at COTA when Bagnaia lost a Sprint victory after being hunted down and passed on the final lap by Aprilia's Jorge Martin.
Martin was the only rider to have chosen the medium, rather than soft, rear tyre. But it was Bagnaia's decline in pace as much as Martín's tyre choice that decided the outcome.
On the penultimate lap, race leader Bagnaia was slower than not only Martín but also Pedro Acosta, Joan Mir, Enea Bastianini, Luca Marini, Raul Fernandez, Ai Ogura, Johann Zarco, Brad Binder and team-mate Marc Márquez, riding a damaged bike at the back of the field.
That trend continued despite moving to the medium rear tyre for the grand prix, with Bagnaia fading from fifth to tenth in the final laps.
"Even if I wasn't pushing, I finished the rear tyre," Bagnaia confirmed. "The last two laps I was completely on the limit, risking a crash just leaning on the right side. So it was very difficult.
"It was similar to Thailand, similar to Goiania,” he added. “The difference compared to Goiania is that I was starting in the front and did a very good Sprint race.
“But in all three [GP] races from the start of the season, I struggled a lot in the Sunday races, and I cannot push like I want.
“I just [try] to survive, and even surviving, I completely finish the rear tyre. On the last lap, Luca Marini overtook me on the outside. I wasn't able to do anything."
Bagnaia believes the GP26 is relying too much on its rear tyre to turn, eventually putting the rubber under too much stress.
"[It’s] very strange consumption from the rear, and right now I think that our bike needs to turn with the rear, because the front is pushing," he said.
"We cannot stop the bike well, the [front] is pushing quite hard, and we need to turn with the rear, and we destroy it."
By contrast, team-mate Marc Marquez has been struggling at the start of races, then been strong at the finish.
Nonetheless, Bagnaia’s rear tyre assessment echoes comments from another GP26 rider, Fabio di Giannantonio.
"Our rear is really good, it's just that we use the rear too much for doing everything," di Giannantonio said.
"I think in the last years we've done incredible races, because we were ahead of the competition with the control of the rear tyre.
“But now that the [other] guys have improved a lot the front, the control of the rear tyre is not enough.
"We need to improve a lot the braking and the entry.
“When I was behind the Aprilias and Pedro [Acosta, KTM], I just couldn't stop the bike like them."
The VR46 rider is currently leading the Ducati challenge, taking back-to-back pole positions and the factory’s only grand prix podium of the season, in Brazil.
Bagnaia heads into the opening European round, at Jerez later this month, just ninth in the world championship.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
