Is Bagnaia back? Pecco faces 'big two weeks' after emerging from 'doldrums' at Grand Prix Aragon

Two-time world champion Pecco Bagnaia made a miraculous recovery from a terrible Sprint race to claim third place and a step on the podium at Grand Prix Aragon. Neil Hodgson told TNT Sports that the Italian now has a "big two weeks" to build on his progress ahead of his home race at Mugello, while Michael Laverty called it a "massive turnaround." Bagnaia said his performance came as a relief.

Francesco Bagnaia’s third-place finish at Grand Prix Aragon was "all positive" and the Italian now faces a "big two weeks" to turn around his season, says Neil Hodgson.

The two-time world champion recovered from a poor recent run to charge into third from the second row in the opening lap and comfortably hold onto a podium spot.

Bagnaia arrived in Spain low on confidence after finishing 16th at Le Mans, retiring at Silverstone and slumping to 12th place in Saturday’s Sprint race in Aragon.

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But a remarkable turnaround in fortunes had the TNT Sports team of Hodgson and Michael Laverty feeling upbeat about the future, particularly with a day of testing coming up on Monday and Bagnaia’s favoured home race at Mugello next on the calendar.

"It was all positive, especially the opening laps. (He was) aggressive, he actually looked relaxed and wasn’t riding tight as we say, using his body more than ever," Hodgson said.

"Almost all the way back to Jerez, he has been completely lost. But positive steps.

Highlights: Marquez completes perfect weekend with flawless GP Aragon victory

Video credit: TNT Sports

"When you go to a track like Mugello, where he genuinely knows every bump in that track, he knows how a bike should react. What that means is after the test tomorrow, when he goes there in that first practice session, he will know exactly where he is at.

"This is the biggest two weeks of the season for Bagnaia. Is he going to go forward to challenge Alex Marquez?

"He is going to have to start beating Marc every weekend. He’s nearly 100 points behind (93). I think the Championship is gone for him, but he needs to be second in the world. It’s a big two weeks coming up."  

The Marquez brothers again stole the show on Sunday, with Marc claiming a seventh victory on his home circuit and Alex coming second to wild celebrations from the crowd.

The Spanish siblings now have a strong grip on the top two spots in the Championship standings, with Marc leading on 233 points and Alex on 201 points.

Bagnaia sits 93 points behind Marc Marquez, in third on 140 points, but appeared to have rediscovered some feel on his Ducati in Spain.

Euphoric scenes in Aragon as Marquez brothers dance with jubilant crowd

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"A massive turnaround overnight. The confidence, you could hear in his voice how much it meant to him, because he has been in the doldrums," Laverty said.

"He said yesterday (Sprint race) was the toughest day of his career, not just this season. It’s really promising to see him back on form again. We don’t like to see a world champion struggling and floundering.

"He’s got some feeling back today, whatever the small change was, the fact that they have got the test tomorrow, that timing is perfect for him. We want to see him in there challenging Marc and Alex each week, so it’s not just a foregone conclusion."

Bagnaia - 'I was missing something'

Bagnaia himself admitted that it was a relief to finish the weekend on the podium for fifth time in eight races this season.

"Yeah, a lot (of a relief). Not just for me, also for my team, because we were struggling to understand what was happening during the races," the Italian told TNT Sports.

"Apart from the races, I was always quite competitive, in the practice and qualifying sessions, so it was strange to have this kind of feeling.

"I was just trying to be competitive everywhere, but I was missing something. So I’m happy about today, happy for the team and we just need to continue like this, understanding the situation and trying to improve every time.

Bagnaia relieved by return to podium - 'We were struggling to understand what was happening'

Video credit: TNT Sports

"It is important to make improvements and not go back like we did in the last two GPs. This is a good starting point and from now on we need to continue believing in the process."

Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi revealed in an interview with TNT Sports that the engineers had struck on a solution overnight.

The improvement was notable, with Bagnaia taking third place after starting fourth on the grid 24 hours after after plummeting to 12th from the same position.

"We had a long discussion with the engineers and with Pecco. We talked a lot after the Sprint race, which was honestly a disaster," he said.

"Finally, the engineers had a good idea last night and we put on the bike… don’t ask me what!

"We put it on the bike this morning and it seemed to work from the first lap, and we finally gave him back some confidence. Tomorrow will be very, very important to make the next step, to try to win and get everybody at Mugello for Pecco."

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