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VR46 team director Alessio Salucci reveals Francesco Bagnaia experimented on Morbidelli's bike for Grand Prix Japan
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Published 03/10/2025 at 10:22 GMT+1
VR46 team director Alessio Salucci has potentially shed more light on the changes that Ducati Lenovo made for their rider Francesco Bagnaia at Grand Prix Japan. Bagnaia had long been dissatisfied with the bike setup for the 2025 season, and Salucci has suggested that elements of the 2024 bike may have been employed last weekend, when Bagnaia was quickest in qualifying and both races.
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VR46 team director Alessio Salucci has revealed that Ducati Lenovo's Francesco Bagnaia was given Franco Morbidell’s GP24 bike ahead of his double win at Grand Prix Japan.
Bagnaia was dominant in qualifying, the Sprint race and the full-length race as he put in arguably his best performance of the season.
The two-time world champion had struggled in 2025 with the set-up of his bike with the factory team, and sat third in the world championship standings, well off his rival, Marc Marquez.
Marquez became champion last weekend with a second-place finish, such was the advantage he held going into the race, and while most of the focus was on his comeback triumph after years of struggling with injury and form, attention soon turned to Bagnaia’s performance.
Should the Italian finish strongly this season, then there will be huge interest in the 2026 campaign given that Ducati Lenovo might boast the two best riders in the sport, though there are plenty of other contenders who could yet come to the fore.
There have been reports that Bagnaia’s success with the 2025 bike has led to him looking to return to the 2024 set-up, and there is speculation that much of that old bike was brought back for the Italian, with the current season’s engine.
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Speaking to reporter Jack Appleyard, Salucci gave some insight into what could have inspired the success of Bagnaia last weekend.
He said on Friday: "Ducati asked something to our team. We are a family, Ducati family, VR46 family. And we tried to help him a little bit on Monday in Misano. But after the [Motegi] race, I don't know nothing. We have our bike in our box and Ducati, I don't know, gave [Pecco Bagnaia] another one."
He added: "Yeah. Pecco tried… on Monday at Misano, tried our bike, Morbidelli’s bike. But after Monday, the bike came back in our box. And after that, I don’t know."
Asked on Thursday, Bagnaia gave his own summary to Crash.net, explaining: "The thing is that in the Misano test we decided to try different things, that also in the past gave to me more confidence and performance.
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"So, I’m not confirming what you are saying, but I confirm that the feeling that I felt back in the Misano test was arriving from some items that we were using in the past."
"Because maybe we could’ve done [the changes] earlier, after one or two Grands Prix."
Bagnaia will have the chance to show more of his improved form over the weekend, live on TNT Sports and discovery+, with Grand Prix Indonesia taking place as one of the last five races of the season.
After Indonesia, the campaign will move on to Australia, Malaysia and Portugal, before concluding in Spain at Valencia.
Stream every race of the 2025 MotoGP season live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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