Marquez and Bagnaia clash over the cause of Ducati's nightmare start to 2026 season
16:30, 04 Apr
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Andrew McLarneyMotoGP Reporter
Andrew McLarney is a MotoGP reporter for GPBlog. With four years experience as a professional writer across the sports and video game industries, his experience as a K1 Premier League competitor evolved into a fascination with all forms of combat sport and eventually motorsport — with MotoGP becoming his primary focus. On top of that he is also an avid follower of MXGP and AMA Supercross as well as F1 and GT racing.
Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia have each offered alternative reasons behind Ducati's underperformance at the start of the 2026 season after failing to secure a single podium between them in the first three rounds of the year.
Although the pair achieved some success in the sprint races so far this year, Sunday has been a different issue as Ducati have largely fallen behind the dominant Aprilias, while VR46's Fabio Di Giannantonio has largely outshone the factory duo.
It’s me, not the bike.- Marc Marquez
The issues for Bagnaia were evident in the COTA sprint race, when he couldn't keep Jorge Martin behind on the final lap despite holding a 1.7 second advantage at one stage towards the end. The rear tyre was completely shredded before Bagnaia had even completed the final lap, and therefore offered no defence against Martin's incredible overtake.
"In the last few laps, I was lacking everything." said Bagnaia after the race, "Even in the warm up, I noticed the bike was much heavier . In the first few laps, I took it easy, but in the last eight, I noticed a huge drop in tire wear. And in the last two, I almost crashed several times; the rear tires were dead. [...] I can't enter the right-hand corners because I lose the rear end. With this bike, we have to turn with the rear tire, and that destroys the tires."
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While Bagnaia's comments certainly had visible evidence to back them at the USA Grand Prix, Marc Marquez gave a slightly different perspective and instead placed the blame on himself, rather than the bike:
"It’s me, not the bike." He said, when asked about the GP26's issues, "I need to really understand how to improve the first few laps. I don’t feel comfortable on the bike. [...] It seems like I’m getting used to a position, not a natural position on the bike, and then I’m just riding along. I’m still fast, but I can’t make a difference."
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