Crunch time for Pecco Bagnaia at Aragon MotoGP

Pecco Bagnaia is seeking a major breakthrough at the Aragon MotoGP to readdress the balance of the championship.

Pecco Bagnaia finds himself 72 points behind championship leader Marc Marquez in the MotoGP standings after seven rounds.

He has won once this season - at the Circuit of the Americas, ironically one of Marquez's favourite spots.

But he has regularly lacked the pace of his factory Ducati teammate, and even trails Gresini's Alex Marquez.

Crucially for Bagnaia, he lacks the front end feeling with his 2025 Ducati.

He left Silverstone last time out, where he crashed from the grand prix, claiming "I cannot do miracles".

He has backing from Gigi Dall'Igna, Ducati's general manager.

Dall'Igna has called on everyone within the Italian manufacturer to do their part in helping Bagnaia.

The problems with his '25 spec Ducati started in preseason when the evolution of last year's machine was unveiled.

In 2024, the factory Ducati dominated the sport. Pramac's Jorge Martin edged Bagnaia, both using the same machine, for the championship on the final day.

Even Marc Marquez, then riding a '23 bike, could not maintain his challenge for the duration of the season.

But, upon promoting Marquez alongside Bagnaia, Ducati encountered problems with the new iteration of the bike.

First they opted against using the 2025 engine spec during preseason.

Then the front end feeling began to plague Bagnaia.

He credited Marquez for being good enough to disguise the issue through his riding.

But at Silverstone, although he extended his championship lead, Marquez noticed the same issue. The cold conditions may have been a contributing factor.

"Disaster" is how the esteemed eight-time champion referred to his feeling.

But with the European leg of the 2025 MotoGP campaign now well underway, Bagnaia must target victories. He requires a series of big results to claw back a huge deficit.

And he must do it on a bike where he is far from comfortable.

The most difficult period of the Ducati stalwart's premier class career continues at the Aragon MotoGP this weekend.