LAST RACE: LOOKING AHEAD TO 2026
Last race. Last efforts. Yet another weekend crowded with unexpected events, problems, delays, contacts, fatigue…
Our Pecco, however, as always, showed his ability to stay calm, focused, and concentrated despite everything. Despite a 21st time in FP1, 14th in Practice, 16th on the grid, 14th in the Sprint, and a “DNF” in the race.
The rider from Turin managed to keep his proverbial *savoir faire* even when he was hit by Zarcò on the first lap of Sunday’s race, causing him to crash.
He kept his tone composed even though the French rider’s action prevented him from completing the final race of this unusual 2025 season. Despite the challenging year, our Suomy rider, as soon as he returned to the garage after the crash, immediately stated that his mind was already set on 2026.
There was great joy for the entire Suomy staff, instead, in Moto2, where our Iván Ortolá amazed everyone by taking third place on the podium.
SPRINT RACE
FP2 finally seemed to promise a weekend full of satisfaction and success for our Pecco thanks to an encouraging second fastest time.
However, the joy was short-lived, as things took an unfortunate turn during the Q1 time attack. The team made a serious mistake, and Pecco ran out of fuel, ending qualifying in 16th place.
In the Sprint, Pecco still managed to climb up to 13th in the early laps, before finishing 14th in a close battle.
RACE
The warm-up had not delivered the expected results, and Pecco had not managed to climb higher than 16th place, but the race finally seemed to tell a different story.
Our rider got a good start from the sixth row and climbed all the way up to 10th place.
Just 25 seconds into the race, however, came yet another stroke of bad luck for Pecco. Zarcò came in too fast, braked late, ran wide, touched Pecco, and pushed him off line, sending him into the runoff area and crashing into the gravel.
“I noticed a white lightning bolt coming my way and I managed to pick the bike up, otherwise things could have been much harder to deal with. On the first lap everyone is pretty aggressive — I had already overtaken six riders, which is normal. That braking point was a bit optimistic, but these things can happen.”
That’s how the last race of the season ended for Francesco, but our champion is already looking ahead enthusiastically to 2026…
“This morning, our performance improved and the feeling increased lap after lap. I was doing well during my second time attack of Q1, but then we ran out of fuel. These things can happen, as we all make mistakes. Starting from sixteenth position at this track is challenging. But if we look at the race pace, it was in line with Fabio’s (Quartararo), who finished seventh. It’s difficult to think of a different result if you’re not that much quicker than the guys in front of you.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – Sprint Race 14°
“Unfortunately these situations are part of our sport. It was a racing incident. It was surely positive the fact that I didn’t get hurt, as during the crash the boot hit the wheel. I felt better at the start compared to yesterday: I overtook some riders and some more straight afterwards, and recovered six positions in total. Then the incident happened. It was a really challenging season, so now I want to focus on Tuesday’s test. The goal is to make a step forward and lay the foundations upon which we’ll start working towards 2026.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – Race DNF
MOTO 2
A weekend to frame in the memory album of the Suomy team and our rider Iván Ortolá.
Even though everything looked routine from free practice just like many other weekends so far the race brought a surprise!
Our Moto2 Suomy rider seemed to be struggling at the start of this final race weekend: 22nd time in FP2, 11th in Q2.
But everything changed in Sunday’s race, when Iván began recovering positions right from the first laps, becoming the protagonist of a stunning comeback that took him all the way up to third place a position he held until the chequered flag.
Well done, Iván!
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #SuomyCrew during the weekend in Valencia.
