Ducati boss ‘always trusted’ Pecco Bagnaia to deliver Brno MotoGP pole

Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi says he ‘always trusted’ Pecco Bagnaia to deliver the kind of performance he did to take pole at the 2025 MotoGP Czech Grand Prix.

The double world champion has not had an easy 2025 campaign, with just one grand prix victory to his credit and a deficit of 147 points in the standings coming into this weekend’s Brno event.

After missing the Q2 cut on Friday at the Czech Grand Prix due to what he labelled an error in strategy from Ducati, Bagnaia was able to pass through the first 15-minute segment of qualifying on Saturday as the pacesetter.

But he still didn’t look comfortable on his GP25 at stages in Q1 ahead of the pole shootout session.

In Q2, he was bottom of the pile after his first run but rallied to take provisional pole with a 1m52.303s with just under five minutes remaining.

Bagnaia’s first pole of 2025 was safeguarded at the end of Q2 when team-mate Marc Marquez crashed at the penultimate corner while on a lap good enough to take top spot away from the Italian.

When asked if he expected this result after Bagnaia’s apparent struggles in Q1, Tardozzi told motogp.com: “Yeah, because I always trust Pecco and maybe there was something was wrong because I think it was not the problem of the rider.

“I think it’s a shame for Marc, but we are happy for Pecco because he suffered a lot of problems in the last few races but now I think it will be a different race here in Brno.”

Bagnaia says the extra 15 minutes of dry running in Q1 proved valuable for him as it allowed him to understand how better to push on the grippy new asphalt.

He also praised his team for tweaks made to his Ducati through both sessions that improved his feeling.

“Luckily I had this 15 minutes before in qualifying, but I understood the way to push more on the track for time attack that is different compared to riding,” he said.

“So, I’m very happy. I want to say thanks to my team.

“They did a fantastic job when I stopped in that moment and we just did a little adjustment that helped a lot, and then in Q2 another one.

“So, I’m happy. We understood better the way to follow for this afternoon. This afternoon will be tricky for the tyres, but let’s see.”