Ducati's worst MotoGP race since 2021 explained
MotoGP

Ducati's worst MotoGP race since 2021 explained

by Valentin Khorounzhiy, Simon Patterson
6 min read

The 2025 MotoGP sprint race at Phillip Island was, by most of the logical criteria, Ducati's worst in years in the premier class.

It was the first time since the 2023 introduction of the sprint format that no Ducatis made the sprint podium, and the first Ducati-less podium of any kind in MotoGP since the 2021 British Grand Prix.

It was also hardly expected. While the Aprilia RS-GP's seemingly exponential recent gains meant it was no huge surprise it has proven the clear bike to beat at Phillip Island, the Ducati should've at least asserted itself as a clear second-best - and this has not happened.

The year before, the Ducatis - both the superior 2024 version and the badly-outdated 2023 version - were untouchable in the sprint, locking out the top six places at the finish (though it became just a 1-2-3-4-5 with a tyre pressure penalty for Fabio Di Giannantonio).

There wasn't a dramatic gap between the recorded conditions that day and this Saturday, with the same air temperature of 14°C, though much less humidity today than a year ago.

And both Di Giannantonio on the 2025 bike and Alex Marquez on the 2024 bike were actually a handful of seconds faster than sprint winner Jorge Martin had been on the GP24 the year prior.

But both had nothing for the Aprilias and couldn't get to the podium.

A major caveat, of course, is the injury absence of Marc Marquez, one of the best Phillip Island riders in history, who team-mate Pecco Bagnaia acknowledged "would be on the podium" if he were fit to ride.

But he isn't - and his five full-time peers all came up short. Here's what went on, going from the best-performing Desmosedicis to the worst:

The 'good but lacking' tier

Fabio Di Giannantonio, fifth, +5.416s
Alex Marquez, sixth, +6.109s

In the elder Marquez's absence, Di Giannantonio is the Phillip Island specialist among this group of Ducati riders - and has largely lived up to that status this weekend. His downfall has been the same as for much of the season: underperformance in qualifying.

"The first run was OK, I just made a few mistakes here and there and thought it was possible to make a 1m26s-something. But then on the second run I was risking everything and for sure things were happening - let's say - so it was not possible," he said cryptically. 

His pace in clean air was "really good" - though not winner Marco Bezzecchi good - and the impression is he probably would've been second in a race where track position wouldn't be a factor.

Meanwhile, Alex Marquez - despite shunting twice in Q2 - had put himself in position to go with the two Aprilias but just could not.

"I did a mistake, I chose the medium front tyre [instead of the hard] and it wasn't the right choice," he lamented (with Yamaha poleman Fabio Quartararo having the same regret after falling to seventh).

"I had a lot of graining and already on the second or third lap I realised that was not the right choice.

"Also we tried a different set-up in the sprint, trying to avoid the crash from the qualifying."

He thinks the Aprilias are favourites again for Sunday, despite Bezzecchi's looming double long-lap penalty, but also believes he should have "good options" as the medium rear tyre will be better for the balance - mitigating the issue of "too much rear grip pushing to the front" and creating a lot of movement over the Phillip Island bumps.

The disappointing tier

Franco Morbidelli, 15th, +18.967s
Fermin Aldeguer, DNF (crashed from 12th)

Indonesian Grand Prix winner Fermin Aldeguer entered the weekend a potential victory contender here, too - with a strong past record at the track - and did enough to at least put himself in the mix by going Q1-to-Q2 in the morning.

But he just didn't seem to have it in the sprint, which was surprisingly off-colour given his race pace had looked good during the weekend.

"The result of the sprint does not reflect all the work and the potential that we have," he said, before adding an unusual acknowledgement for a Ducati rider: "We struggled a little bit in the straight. Respect to KTM and Honda [for their straightline performance]. Lap by lap I was losing positions only in the straight. I tried to recover in the rest of the track."

Aldeguer was also struggling with a bit of pain from a big shake of the bike in Q1 - and believes that going to the medium rear on Sunday will play to his strengths.

Morbidelli, meanwhile, is just hanging on, bereft of feeling and speed on the bike seemingly from the outset.

"I'm struggling on the bumpy parts of the track. I really miss feeling and confidence with the bike. And that makes me lose a lot of time."

The 'oh no' tier

Pecco Bagnaia, 19th, +32.408s
Michele Pirro, 20th, +35.523s

OK, so test rider Michele Pirro doesn't really belong here - he would like to be faster, but is also MotoGP race rusty, having got no wildcards this season due to Ducati's 'Rank A' concession status.

He only raced at Phillip Island once in MotoGP in 2012, on the Gresini-run FTR Honda, so unsurprisingly hasn't found it easy to get into the groove.

In that context, Bagnaia finishing just three seconds ahead - after a race in which he visibly struggled to keep the line or maintain acceleration in the fast corners, the 'highlight' of his sprint being successfully divebombed by rookie Somkiat Chantra - was astonishing.

"We are on it, checking the data, understanding the things... not 'understanding the things', sorry, we are trying to understand the things," Bagnaia said. 

"Difficult because it's extremely clear from the data what is happening. The bike is shaking a lot. But we don't know why. Difficult.

"It's something that we understood is not something related to the set-up or the electronics. It's something else. And we are trying to understand what it is.

"Yesterday I was feeling a bit better, this morning I was feeling a bit better, in qualifying I started to feel something strange. And in the sprint race again I wasn't able to ride the bike. I was a passenger again. Just trying to control the shaking, many times I had to close the gas exiting from the corners, and this is strange."

What's going on

It has been suggested that Phillip Island is considerably bumpier than it had been the year prior, which Ducati appears to be struggling with more than most.

But, coming after a Mandalika weekend in which the Desmosedicis also had huge variance of performance (even if Aldeguer managed to dig out a win), it's clear there are now tracks and types of conditions where the bike just isn't the ultra-robust package that it used to be relative to all of its rivals.

"For sure, our project is a great project, but the other manufacturers are growing at the moment faster than us," said Di Giannantonio. 

"So we are in a great position where the bike is working well overall. But there are other manufacturers that are working and they are bringing more new pieces, as you can clearly see from outside. At the moment I think they are working a little better than us."

"Where the track is not stop-and-go or the grip level is not high, also many bumps, it's necessary to work to improve the situation for the future," said tester Pirro, who indicated that Ducati was now really feeling the impact of its 'Rank A' concession status.

Ducati's 'Rank A' means it cannot do wildcards, has a considerably limited tyre allocation for in-season testing relative to all of its rivals and cannot test with its race riders like Yamaha and Honda are currently allowed to.

"Ducati, we don't have concessions - and for me it's difficult to try [things] in different tracks, we don't have the tyres, and the people [watching] sometimes lose this point,” Pirro continued.

"But from the last two years the problem is - it's difficult to test different parts, or in different tracks, because we don't have the concessions. OK, in this case, the other companies, they have the concessions and maybe it's possible [for them] to try or test in a different track also the bike, it's improving.

"The people don't remember that Ducati won the last race - also in Japan, Pecco won. 

"This is sport. This is motorcycle sport. It's necessary to accept this. All people work for understanding why there is this situation. But I'm confident that in the future also this situation is learned from and improved for the future. 

"Because it's necessary sometimes to go down to come back stronger."

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