The third-to-last round of the MotoGP season added even more drama to an already eventful 2025 season. Crashes, victories, technical problems, statements, hidden meanings. Our rider Pecco Bagnaia, however, despite everything, has been patient, has fought, and has even won. Little — too little for him, a multiple world champion — and too little for us, who always have enormous expectations of him.
This weekend, which seemed to start off on the wrong foot with a twelfth place in free practice and a missed access to Q2, took a turn for the better: a pole position and a victory in the sprint made everyone dream. Even in the race, his bold decision to fit a medium tire seemed to promise not only a podium finish but even a shot at first place toward the end. Unfortunately, bad luck struck again — a puncture (so it seems, though doubts and suspicions remain) forced Pecco to retire in the final part of the race.
SPRINT RACE
Francesco Bagnaia, after a solid performance in free practice, finished twelfth in Practice. Like his teammate Michele Pirro — who ended up twenty-second — he had to go through Q1 but managed to take pole position.
At the end of the practice sessions, he said: “We made a small step forward and it was clear, because we stayed among the front runners in both sessions. Unfortunately, in the final minutes of Practice there was a bit of chaos, and we couldn’t improve, missing access to Q2. We need to stay calm and keep working: tomorrow’s Q1 will be important and difficult, but the goal is to continue improving both in feeling and performance. At the moment, the main problem is that I struggle to make the bike turn. There are a couple of corners where, because of this, I lose a lot of ground.”
Things finally seemed to take a turn for the better — toward the best possible result, full of smiles and satisfaction. Our Suomy Rider amazed everyone with a clean, precise, yet incredibly fast and determined riding style. A style that reminded everyone that Pecco is still here — with his head, his heart, and his talent — ready to prove it as soon as the right conditions return and he regains feeling with his Ducati GP25.
Bagnaia, who had taken pole after passing through Q1, got off to a great start, building a gap lap after lap over his rivals. A race dominated from start to finish, which brought back a smile to Pecco’s face — and a touch of enthusiasm to a spirit tested by the lack of recent success and consistency. For Pecco, this was his second win of the season in the Saturday sprint race.
RACE
Three laps. Only three laps away from a well-deserved, hard-fought, and longed-for third place. But as the saying goes, “fortune is blind, but misfortune has perfect sight.” The rear tire pressure on Pecco’s Ducati started to drop until retirement became inevitable. A pity. What else can be said? A real shame.
In a MotoGP track, it’s unusual to hear about a puncture — there are no nails, screws, or sharp objects on the asphalt — but there are carbon fragments and other debris, small pieces shed by bikes during contact and crashes. Of course, to actually hit one and puncture a tire takes a fair bit of “luck,” but by now we all understand — Pecco included — that 2025 is definitely not his *magic year*.
At the start, poleman Bagnaia got off to a strong launch. In the first of the 20 laps, the brother of his injured teammate overtook the KTM and, on the following lap, with a brave late braking move, aggressively took the lead. Acosta tried to imitate him with an overtake on Bagnaia, but the Italian immediately responded.
Our rider’s plan was clear: not to let Alex pull away too far. Still, Alex gradually built a gap of nine-tenths of a second. Pecco stayed close but couldn’t make the comeback. Around mid-race, the GP took an even clearer direction — the Gresini rider increased his pace again and escaped. Bagnaia held firm, but his lines didn’t seem as smooth as in the Sprint, and he appeared to be struggling.
Then, on lap thirteen, came the overtake that pushed him down to third place. But the worst for Pecco came just three laps from the end, when a puncture stopped his Ducati.
“This win is for the team, who work tirelessly. This season we’ve been alternating between excellent performances and very complicated moments, and all together we’re trying to find the reason behind these ups and downs. After yesterday’s difficulties in the time attack, we made some adjustments that helped me quite a bit, both in qualifying and in the Sprint. We had a small issue that limited me a little under braking, but I still managed to be incisive – and the feeling was good.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – Sprint Race 1°
“First of all, my thoughts go to Rueda and Dettwiler for what happened to them in the Moto3 race, and I keep my fingers crossed for them. When such things happen, everything else becomes less important. Today we were unlucky, as we had a flat rear tyre. This happened on lap twelve and then, little by little, the pressure kept dropping. I thought I had managed the tyre wear the wrong way, but after analysing the data, the issue was clearly there. Unfortunately, these things can happen. Overall though, it was a positive weekend despite how it ended.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – Race DNF
World Standings P. 4
Next Round:
PORTUGUESE GP
AUTODROMO INTERNACIONAL DO ALGARVE
NOVEMBER 7-9th
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #SuomyCrew during the weekend in Malaysia.
