Francesco Bagnaia is going through one of the most delicate periods of his MotoGP career. His difficulties with Ducati, the words caught during the off-air conversation with Fabio Di Giannantonio at Misano and an extremely complicated Friday at the Red Bull Ring have once again put Pecco under the spotlight. But this time, the question is not only about what is happening inside the Ducati garage. Where is VR46 around Bagnaia?
It is a question, not an accusation. And that is precisely why it deserves to be asked. Bagnaia grew up within the VR46 Riders Academy, the project built around Valentino Rossi that has helped guide a generation of Italian riders towards the highest level of motorcycle racing. Pecco represents one of its greatest sporting achievements: Moto2 World Champion and then a two-time MotoGP World Champion, eventually becoming the leading figure of the factory Ducati team.
For years, VR46 has projected the image of an extremely close group. Training together at the Ranch, travelling, friendship, advice, technical discussions and the feeling of belonging to something that went far beyond a simple professional relationship. That is exactly why the relative public silence surrounding Bagnaia’s current difficulties has become increasingly noticeable.
This does not necessarily mean that Pecco has been abandoned. We do not know what happens during private phone calls, training sessions or conversations between Bagnaia, Valentino Rossi and the other members of the Academy. It is entirely possible that the support remains strong away from the cameras. But the MotoGP paddock also has a public dimension, and from that perspective Pecco currently appears much more exposed than he did in the past.
One of the moments that intensified this perception was the conversation captured at Misano between Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio. Pecco described extremely negative sensations under braking, using the image of a motorcycle that felt as though he were braking “with the clutch pulled in”. Di Giannantonio suggested an apparently simple direction: trying a more conventional configuration, closer to the base setup used on his Ducati. Bagnaia’s response — “they don’t let me” — inevitably became the centre of the discussion.
Pecco subsequently clarified the context of his words and reiterated the work and support he has been receiving from Ducati. There is therefore no solid basis to claim that the Borgo Panigale manufacturer is deliberately preventing its rider from finding a solution. However, that brief exchange revealed something significant: a Bagnaia searching for answers and another rider from the VR46 environment willing to discuss the sensations and behaviour of the bike with him.
This is where the real question begins. When a rider goes through such a prolonged technical crisis, the problem is no longer confined to the tenths of a second lost on the track. Every statement is analysed, every expression in front of the cameras becomes part of the debate and every disappointing result generates new questions. Bagnaia finds himself precisely in this situation.
Yet publicly, there has been little sign of a major mobilisation of the VR46 environment around him. This does not prove that there has been any breakdown in their relationship, and it would be wrong to claim otherwise. But it does create a different perception compared with the traditional image of the Academy. When everything is working, belonging to a group means sharing training sessions, victories and celebrations. During the difficult periods, however, people inevitably begin to look at the strength of those relationships from a different perspective.
There is also one name that cannot be ignored: Valentino Rossi. A public statement from the nine-time World Champion about Bagnaia’s situation would inevitably carry enormous weight throughout the paddock. That does not mean Rossi would need to take a position against Ducati, because there is currently no evidence that would justify such a confrontation. Even a technical or personal interpretation of the difficulties being experienced by a rider he has known for many years would attract enormous attention.
The fact that this support has not taken a particularly visible public form inevitably leaves room for questions. It could be a deliberate decision to protect Pecco by avoiding even greater media pressure. There could be a desire not to interfere with the relationship between Bagnaia and Ducati. Or, quite simply, the support could be taking place entirely behind the scenes. All of these possibilities are plausible, but none of them should be presented as established fact.
It is also important to consider how much MotoGP has changed around Bagnaia. Riders who grew up within the VR46 environment now compete for different teams and manufacturers and have their own sporting interests. On the track there is no extended VR46 team: every rider has to deliver results for himself, his team and his manufacturer. The Academy itself cannot automatically be interpreted as a political bloc expected to intervene whenever one of its riders encounters difficulties.
And yet Bagnaia is not just another rider in the history of the project. He is the man who took the VR46 development path all the way to the MotoGP World Championship. That is why, when he goes through such an obvious period of difficulty, the absence of a strong public voice from the environment that accompanied his development inevitably becomes more noticeable.
Friday at the Red Bull Ring added another chapter to the story. While Pedro Acosta put KTM at the top and Marc Marquez, Jorge Martin and the other leading riders secured their places in Q2, Bagnaia finished deep in the standings and was forced to go through Q1. At a circuit where Pecco has produced some of the finest performances of his career, seeing the number 63 Ducati so far down the order makes it increasingly difficult to describe everything as simply one bad day.
The problem now appears to have become a continuous search for the feeling he has lost. Bagnaia is trying to understand the motorcycle. Ducati is searching for solutions. The engineers are analysing the data. Pecco continues to stress that everyone is working to solve the situation. Yet the results continue to paint a complicated picture.
So, is Bagnaia really alone? Perhaps the more accurate question is different: why does he appear so alone from the outside?
That distinction is crucial. Pecco could be receiving daily support from Rossi and the other members of VR46 without any of it becoming public. But the image perceived from outside the garage is inevitably different from the one seen during the years of great victories.
The Bagnaia of his strongest seasons appeared to be surrounded by a perfectly synchronised structure: Ducati, the Academy, friends, technicians and results all moving in the same direction. Today that image appears more fragmented. Ducati has to solve the problems with the motorcycle, VR46 has its own riders and sporting interests, the other members of the Academy are fighting their own battles, and Bagnaia remains at the centre of the Ducati garage searching for something that once seemed natural: confidence in the bike, stability under braking and the feeling required to ride the way he knows he can.
Perhaps VR46’s support is still there and simply remains away from the cameras. Perhaps the group has consciously decided not to interfere. But as the difficulties continue and Bagnaia keeps searching for a way back to his best, the public silence of the environment that accompanied him all the way to the top is inevitably becoming louder.
And if Pecco eventually finds his way out of this crisis, understanding how he managed to do it could tell us much more than a simple story about engineering and motorcycle racing. It could reveal how important it can be, even for a multiple World Champion, to know that there is still a group around him when suddenly the motorcycle stops doing what he has always known how to ask of it.
Fabio Averna – AISportNews