Bagnaia reached Q2, finished 10th on Friday at Mandalika
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 9, 2026
Bagnaia’s Friday pace
Francesco Bagnaia reached Q2 directly on Friday at Mandalika and took the last direct spot, his first straight-through move into the second qualifying session since Assen. He finished the day with the 10th-fastest time, a result that reflected a mixed opening day more than one clean run. Bagnaia briefly moved inside the top 10 in FP1 before slipping back to 13th by the end of the session. His best lap in FP1 was 1:31.127, and he was the slowest Ducati rider in the session. That placed him in a familiar but still uncomfortable position, chasing better pace early while trying to limit the damage of the problems that have followed him through recent rounds. The result mattered because it stopped a run of six Fridays without reaching Q2, a stretch that had also included non-finishes at Silverstone, Aragon and Misano and lower finishes at Spielberg and Motegi. At Mandalika, he at least found enough speed to move straight through, even if the gap to the sharp end stayed visible. He also described a near-crash at Turn 3 and reacted angrily after that moment, a reminder that the day asked more questions than it answered. Even so, the direct Q2 place gave him a better starting point than he had carried into several previous Fridays, and it gave Ducati a clearer read on where he stood before the weekend pushed into the next stage.
Bagnaia’s bike trouble
Bagnaia said a minor problem he could not discuss forced him to switch bikes during runs, and he tied that issue to two front-end lockups. That left him managing a day built around constant adjustments rather than a settled rhythm. He said he was still dealing with front-end issues in Indonesia and had to alternate between two bikes with different setups, which kept him from stringing together the kind of steady runs that build confidence. The interruptions mattered because the laps themselves never came in a smooth block, and Bagnaia said the disrupted flow made it harder to measure his true pace against the field. He also said he lost time in sectors 2 and 4 because of grip issues, another sign that the problem went beyond one isolated corner or one brief mistake. The front of the bike kept asking too much of him, and the response from the machine kept changing from one run to the next. That made the near-crash at Turn 3 more telling, since it fit the larger pattern of a rider having to save the day while still searching for a workable balance. Bagnaia’s comments pointed to a day that was part repair job and part test session, with the main work focused on keeping the bike under control long enough to gather useful data. The 10th-fastest time showed some progress, but the route to that lap stayed messy and interrupted.
Bagnaia’s Saturday outlook
Bagnaia said Ducati’s changes from Motegi were helping him under braking and into corner entry, and he pointed to something he understood at the Japanese Grand Prix as part of that step forward. He said that improvement helped him complete more consecutive laps and build confidence, which gave Friday a more useful edge even with the remaining problems. The gains did not erase the gaps that still held him back. Bagnaia said Aprilia was still too far ahead for him to chase, and he said beating the Aprilias would be difficult because of their pace, especially in Sector 3. That left him with a realistic target rather than an inflated one. He said a top-8 finish was realistic, and he believed small changes to the bike and to his riding could make a difference. He also expected Saturday to be better, which fit the tone of a rider who saw enough in the day to believe the weekend could still move in the right direction. Davide Tardozzi backed that view, saying he was “pretty happy” with Bagnaia’s early pace in Friday practice and that it was encouraging to see him near the front after a difficult year. The praise did not turn Friday into a breakthrough, but it did confirm that Ducati saw signs worth building on. Bagnaia left the day with a direct Q2 place, a clearer picture of the braking improvements from Motegi and a realistic sense of where the ceiling sat, at least for now.
