Francesco Bagnaia's 2025 MotoGP season is a perplexing enigma, leaving even the rider himself scratching his head. How could such a dominant performance at Motegi be followed by a return to the struggles that plagued him throughout the year?
Bagnaia's journey to Motegi was marked by a string of disappointments. He arrived at the Japanese circuit after five races without a podium finish, including a home race at Misano where he failed to score any points. Then, a glimmer of hope emerged. During a test day, a GP24 machine was made available to the struggling double MotoGP champion.
At Motegi, Bagnaia's corner entry issues seemed to vanish. He secured pole position with a new lap record and led every lap of both the Sprint and the Grand Prix. The result? A stunning double victory. But here's where it gets controversial... Just a week later, Bagnaia plummeted to 16th on the grid in Mandalika and failed to score any points, a pattern repeated at Phillip Island.
While Sepang brought a return to form with pole position and a Sprint win, Bagnaia wouldn't grace the podium again in 2025, with a puncture in the Malaysian Grand Prix and three non-scoring finishes in the final four races. Bagnaia himself admitted, "Honestly, if someone one day can explain to me what happened in Motegi, I will reward them." He described the feeling at Motegi as a return to his 2024 form, where he could do what he wanted with his bike.
He contrasted this with the subsequent races, particularly Indonesia, where he experienced one of the worst weekends of his MotoGP career, including a crash he described as one of the strangest of his career. He noted that the bike was quite uncontrollable in some situations in Phillip Island.
While Bagnaia's Sepang Sprint win was by a larger margin than in Motegi, the feeling was vastly different. He felt the best on his bike in Japan, more similar to the feeling he had the previous year. He acknowledged that adapting to a package that dominated the season in the hands of his teammate, Marc Marquez, was a personal weakness.
And this is the part most people miss... Rather than improving as the season progressed, Bagnaia's performance deteriorated from Austria onwards, with Motegi and Sepang as isolated exceptions. He struggled with increased movement on the bike, and despite trying different solutions, they couldn't find a consistent fix. This inconsistency made it difficult for the team to address the issues. Bagnaia ultimately slipped from third to fifth in the final MotoGP standings.
What do you think was the key to Bagnaia's performance at Motegi? Was it a breakthrough with the bike setup, or something else entirely? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
