MotoGP News: Francesco Bagnaia Praises 2025 GP25 Ducati Bike

Saajan Jogia | Nov 21, 2024

Apr 15, 2023; Austin, TX, USA; Luca Marini (10) of Italy and Mooney VR46 Racing Team and Francesco Bagnaia (1) of Italy and Ducati Lenovo Team finish the Qualifying of the MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas on April 15, 2023, at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images / Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia has praised the 2025 GP25 MotoGP bike, describing it as a huge step up from the GP24 of the current season with a "very strong engine." The Italian rider took part in the post-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Tuesday and set a lap of 1:39.398, which placed him third on the timesheet below Alex Marquez and Fabio Quartararo.

The 2023 champion tested the prototype GP25 machine and the GP24 over a length of 56 laps. A third version of the bike, which was a mix of the two iterations was also tested. Bagnaia's new teammate for the next season, Marc Marquez was also present for the test and both riders gave similar feedback about the bike.

Based on inputs from both riders, Ducati will now work on fine-tuning the prototype over the winter break. The updated machine will then undergo further testing during the 2025 pre-season test in Malaysia, where both riders will have the opportunity to assess the improvements. Despite the 2025 bike demanding an improvement in one area, Bagnaia praised it, saying it is a "huge" leap from the current bike. He said:

“We tested many things today and the GP25 is a good base to start developing and improving [upon].

“Our engineers and the team will work a lot this winter because we need to improve the base we tested.

“Luckily me and Marc [Marquez] had the same feeling about the bike and this is very important to go in the same direction on the development. This is great.

“Already the difference between '24 and '25 is quite huge and I think we will not have a big step for Malaysia [test in February] because the step [forward] was already here.

“But we need to arrange it a bit [in terms of getting everything right]. Also, we need to adapt the set-up of the new bike a bit.”

Pointing out the area where the GP24 does better than the GP25, he added:

“In terms of handling, the GP24 is still better on the braking.

“I improved a lot this year with the '24 [bike] in terms of braking. We will have to search to go in the same direction [with the GP25]. 

“But the '25 has a very good stability in terms of fast corners and I like it, and also with used tyres. This is good. And the engine is very strong and fast. 

“Normally we start at this [early] point with the new bike, we also need some work to do. But the starting base is quite good and I'm happy about it.”