The MotoGP World Champion falls well short of expectations in Austin: What problems Francesco Bagnaia recognizes with the 2024 Ducati
World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) had a mixed weekend at the MotoGP in Austin (USA). The defending champion fell well short of expectations in eighth place in the sprint and also missed out on the podium in the main race. He finished fifth, a good seven seconds behind winner Maverick Vinales (Aprilia).
Ducati’s winning streak came to an end in Austin. Honda’s record from the 2014 season of twelve consecutive victories thus remains intact. Bagnaia does not yet harmonize with his 2024 Ducati. “We have to understand the situation and solve the problems, because it’s very difficult at the moment. The situation is similar to 2022, when I fell behind at the start of the season,” said the champion.
“I have confidence in my team and think that we will solve the problem. We will fight for the top again,” said a hopeful Bagnaia. The 2024 update from Ducati received consistently positive feedback from Bagnaia during winter testing. There is not much sign of this at the moment.
Chattering is a problem, but it doesn’t always occur everywhere. “It’s strange because Enea (Bastianini) had no chattering this weekend,” muses Bagnaia. “Martin was fast, but we were struggling. With three bikes it’s difficult to understand the situation properly.”
Pramac newcomer Franco Morbidelli is still working on the switch to the Ducati. The Italian missed all of this year’s tests due to injury and is therefore not yet able to give any meaningful feedback.
The fact that Bastianini was fast in Austin gives Bagnaia confidence: “Enea was super fast and was able to fight for victory without any problems. I was only able to fight for victory for six laps, after that it became difficult. “
Did Francesco Bagnaia choose the wrong tire?
But why did Bagnaia fall back? Was the soft tire the wrong choice? “In the warm-up I used the tire from the sprint race to do more laps with a used tire. I wanted to find out if a soft tire was suitable for the whole race. And I think it was the right choice. But Maverick and Pedro (Acosta) were on the medium,” muses Bagnaia.
“Enea could have fought for victory without the problems, without the mistakes,” Bagnaia is convinced. The world champion is annoyed that he was only fast at the start in Austin: “My race started well, I had a good feeling. After the sixth lap I thought I could fight for the win or the podium. But then I had a lot of chattering, a lot of vibrations on the left side and it was very difficult to control everything. “
“I also completely destroyed the tire on the right side,” said Bagnaia. “So after six or seven laps I was on the defensive, it was very difficult.”
After the first three Grand Prix weekends of the 2024 MotoGP season, Bagnaia is only in fifth position. Apart from the victory in Qatar, he has not finished on the podium in any other race
