Which MotoGP will Francesco Bagnaia see at Phillip Island: the Motegi version, where he set an impressive double time from pole position, or the Misano Mandalica version, where he struggled mightily on either side of that perfect weekend?
That’s the key question heading into the Australian Grand Prix. Bagnaia will be Ducati Lenovo’s only full-time rider in the Australian Grand Prix following a shoulder injury to teammate and newly crowned world champion Marc Marquez.
Having struggled all season to gain front-end confidence on corner entry, Bagnaia’s fortunes suddenly changed when he switched back to the old GP24 parts at the Misano and then Motegi tests.
However, just a week later at Mandalika, the same problem recurred on his improved bike, and it was there that he suffered his worst moment of the MotoGP season.
“We come into this race after a complicated weekend and we are working hard to understand exactly what happened at Mandalika,” Bagnaia said.
“The goal is to get back the same feeling I had on the course at Motegi.”
If the Italian can rediscover his form, and with former Phillip Island winner Marc Marquez, Jorge Martín and Maverick Vinales sidelined through injury, he could become one of the favorites to win the long-awaited first Australian Grand Prix victory.
“Philip Island is an amazing circuit that takes your breath away, especially on a high-performance bike like a MotoGP bike. It’s absolutely beautiful!” Bagnaia said of the fast, flowing seaside circuit.
“In the last few years I have always been fast and consistent here, even if there were no wins.”
Bagnaia started the final four rounds 88 points behind Alex Marquez in the race for second place in the title, with only 20 points separating him from Bezzecchi.