Bagnaia Says Ducati Skipped Hard-Tire Test, Then Paid at Motegi
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 4, 2026
Bagnaia missed test
Bagnaia said Ducati paid for skipping a Friday test of the hard rear tire at Motegi, where Michelin arrived with three rear options because the circuit had no prior data from new asphalt. The hard tire started the weekend as a backup, but Bagnaia said the team made a mistake by not trying it sooner. He said he was the only rider at Ducati pushing for the hard tire Saturday evening, even after the crew had spent the weekend working on the bike’s electronics and setup. The decision looked costly at first, then the picture shifted in Sunday warm-up. Bagnaia said the hard tire worked better than the other choices, and after that session every rider chose the hard rear tire for the Japanese Grand Prix. Michelin also moved in that direction after blistering from the Sprint left the soft tire unusable, making the hard option the clear race choice. For Bagnaia, the sequence turned a simple tire call into another reminder that he and Ducati had started from behind all weekend. He said the team should have made the switch earlier and that the missed test left them chasing answers.
Michelin hard tire
Bagnaia said rear-grip problems kept him from matching the fastest riders all weekend, and he said the tire never gave him the feel he needed under acceleration or braking. The rear slipped when he picked up the throttle, then gave away more time when he tried to slow the bike. He said the tire overheated during the Sprint and later developed vibration and chunking, two problems that turned the race into a fight for control rather than pace. The tread on his rear tire was visibly torn apart by the end of the run. Bagnaia said he felt strong vibrations around lap 6 and changed his riding style to use more rear brake. He eventually retired for safety. The Sprint made the hard-tire debate even more important because it showed how quickly the soft option had broken down. Michelin’s call for the grand prix matched what the riders saw in warm-up, but Bagnaia said the deeper problem was never only the tire. His GP26 still lacked rear grip, and the changes Ducati tried through electronics and setup did not solve it. By the end of the weekend, he said there was no more improvement to find.
Marquez wins Motegi
Marc Marquez won the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi without the tire trouble that hurt Bagnaia, and the gap at the finish showed how costly the weekend had been for the Ducati rider. Bagnaia finished eighth, 20.3 seconds behind Marquez, and said the tire change did not fix the issues that had followed him all weekend. The result fit the shape of the event. Michelin’s hard rear tire became the race choice after the Sprint exposed the soft tire’s weakness, but Bagnaia’s main problem stayed the same, rear grip. He could not carry speed the way the front-runners did, and every run on the bike seemed to confirm it. Marquez, meanwhile, stayed clear of the damage that had torn through Bagnaia’s tire in the Sprint and kept his pace intact in the grand prix. For Bagnaia, the finish left a blunt conclusion. The weekend had started with a missed tire test, moved through a punishing Sprint and ended with a result that reflected the same lack of rear-end support. The switch to the hard tire improved the plan, but it did not change the outcome.
