Francesco Bagnaia “completely satisfied” once more after testing new Ducati MotoGP bike in Valencia

Francesco Bagnaia ended the Valencia MotoGP check “completely satisfied” with all of the elements he examined on his manufacturing unit Ducati MotoGP bike, regardless of his outing being curtailed by a late crash.

After enduring what he described as “possibly the worst” yr of his premier class profession, Bagnaia kicked off his 2026 marketing campaign along with his first run on the brand new GP26.

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Finishing 50 laps across the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, the two-time MotoGP champion ended the day tenth on the timesheets, simply 0.358s off the tempo set by Raul Fernandez on the Trackhouse Aprilia.

Whereas hesitant to difficulty a closing verdict, given the Valencia observe just isn’t the very best indicator of a motorbike’s general efficiency, Bagnaia was optimistic concerning the new aerodynamic bundle he ran on Tuesday.

“Truthfully, I am fairly stunned… Not stunned, however completely satisfied that the issues have been going effectively,” he mentioned. “I began the day with the earlier [bike] and it labored effectively. We managed to do a great job all day. The sensation on braking [and] entry was a lot better.

“So now we’ll examine, perceive, analyse all the pieces to know the scenario. And to attempt to have this sense like a continuing. However I’m very completely satisfied concerning the issues we tried.

“I’m pleased with the brand new fairing that appears good, however we have to do extra laps as a result of this observe just isn’t excellent to place plenty of laps in. So, we’ll attempt once more sooner or later.

“[The circuit is] too tight; not very quick corners. So we have to check it higher, possibly in Malaysia. However for the remainder, completely satisfied.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Group

Picture by: Gold and Goose Pictures / LAT Photos / by way of Getty Photos

Bagnaia was the one rider to endure a crash within the Valencia check, as he hit the deck at Flip 2 within the closing hour whereas making an attempt to enhance his time of 1m29.731s.

Nevertheless, the Italian shrugged off the accident, saying: “Nothing [major], I used to be pushing. It was my probability to set the time assault. An excellent lap time with the time assault, however I exaggerated a bit at nook two and went extensive.”

Bagnaia ended up two spots behind Nicolo Bulega, who was substituting for world champion Marc Marquez on the opposite aspect of the manufacturing unit Ducati storage.

However the 26-year-old mentioned ending the day slower than a check rider wouldn’t mirror badly on him.

“I do not care what folks suppose and say,” he mentioned. “Truthfully, I feel Nicolo did an excellent day. He was working effectively and the lap time he did on this run was excellent.

“However truthfully, I used to be centered on myself. And figuring out that possibly the time assault might enhance with the time assault was unbelievable right this moment. However I did not have the prospect as a result of I crashed.”