Written by Isha Reshmi Mohan, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
Ducati rider Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia hasn’t enjoyed the sprint format quite as much, winning 11 sprint wins ever since the inception of this extra Saturday race in 2023. Having won only 27.5% of sprints, the 2023 World Champion delved into why he struggles in MotoGP sprints.
After the first Sprint of the year, where Bagnaia finished third behind the Márquez brothers, he explained what affected his performance compared to the Thai GP race in October last year. Although the Italian rider secured a podium finish, the main race played out differently, his focus more concentrated on rookie Ai Ogura behind, more than the Márquez brothers ahead.
In the season-opening sprint, his tyres wore out, while the top two riders were on softs. The Italian had planned to use hards for the main race, but after seeing today's level of degradation, he admitted he might reconsider.
Bagnaia initially opted against the softs because they tend to move too much under braking. While the Chang Circuit favors soft tires due to its numerous corners and the need for corner speed, he admitted he still struggles to go faster with them.
“There is a scientific reason”
Bagnaia began explaining his performance issues in the sprint races, revealing that the only difference from the main races was the smaller fuel tank (12 litres for the sprint, compared to 22 litres for the main race) required by regulations.
It changes the bike's dynamics, and he explained how the lower fuel affected the bike’s behaviour in the corners, making braking and corner entry all the more challenging. While the team is working on a solution, it hasn’t been implemented for Thailand, but they hope to have something in place for the next sprint race in Argentina.
This has affected him for almost two seasons, and despite various experiments, they couldn’t seem to find the solution that worked. Shortly after, VR46’s Franco Morbidelli also acknowledged the difference in fuel tanks affecting performance and expressed his preference for the race tanks over the sprint ones.
Bagnaia will take to the main race on Sunday, with the longer races playing more to his liking. The 2023 champion boasts a much stronger record in race trim, winning 45% of the races he has raced in. Despite winning 11 races in 2024, it was Bagnaia’s poor sprint record coming back to bite him, as eventual champion Jorge Martín took the title, despite winning only three Sunday races.
The one-time champion will be looking to kick off the season on a high, as MotoGP continues its season opener at the Chang International Circuit, with the 26-lap main race kicking off at 8 am GMT. It is a race you do not want to miss! Do make sure you tune in for all the action.
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