Bagnaia, Razgatlioglu, Quartararo: Why MotoGP Is Becoming a Mind Game

• Following advice from Dani Pedrosa, Bagnaia finished seventh at Spielberg after crashing in three consecutive Grands Prix
• Razgatlioglu has scored 18 championship points in 15 race weekends and already considered quitting back in 2018
• Quartararo wants as few sprints in 2027 as Formula 1, which is planning ten

The 2026 MotoGP season is entering its final phase. After the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg, the overseas races are next, starting at Motegi. Three stories from the paddock revolve around the same theme: the mind. A two-time world champion is supposed to learn to stop thinking about results. A three-time Superbike champion compares his situation to a time when he almost quit. And a former MotoGP world champion speaks openly about stress, the risks at the start and the riders’ lack of a say.

What did Dani Pedrosa advise Francesco Bagnaia?

Pedrosa advised Bagnaia to stop thinking about results for now and to focus entirely on riding. In his view, that is the only way the Italian can regain the lost feeling for his Ducati.

Pedrosa won 31 races in MotoGP. Today he works as a test rider for KTM and as a pundit for Spanish broadcaster DAZN. That is where he commented on Bagnaia’s crisis after the Misano weekend. He admitted himself that his advice might sound strange, because in a world championship it is results that count in the end.

Nevertheless, he considers exactly this step necessary. “He has to focus more on riding. If you have no confidence, you can’t ride relaxed and you have no feeling for the bike,” Pedrosa said. Anyone who constantly worries about missing out on Q2, the front row or the podium judges everything else even more negatively. Pedrosa acknowledges that it is almost impossible for a Ducati factory rider to ignore results, especially with Marc Marquez winning on the bike next to him. In his view, however, it is almost the only way to find the feeling again.

How badly is the 2026 MotoGP season going for Bagnaia?

Since the summer break, Bagnaia has been in a deep crisis. He crashed in all three Grands Prix at Silverstone, Aragon and Misano and had to go through Q1 four times in a row before Spielberg.

The Italian has been struggling with a lack of rear grip all season. Before the break he was still able to fight for podiums. Since Silverstone, however, the problem has worsened, and Ducati has not yet found a solution. At Misano it also became public that there are tensions between rider and team over the setup of his GP26.

For comparison: teammate Marc Marquez won five of seven races before Spielberg and took the championship lead at Misano, level on points with Jorge Martin. Since Marquez joined the factory team in 2025, the pecking order has shifted. Before that, Bagnaia had been Ducati’s clear number one for years. He has already signed for 2027: he will then ride for Aprilia.

What changed for Bagnaia at Spielberg?

At Spielberg, Bagnaia took his first step out of the slump: seventh on the grid, sixth in the sprint and seventh in the Grand Prix. He himself attributed part of this progress to Pedrosa’s advice.

At the Red Bull Ring, too, the Ducati rider initially had to go through Q1, for the fifth time in a row. This time he made it into Q2. On Saturday morning the team had changed the setup. According to Bagnaia, it was something they had tried before, just in a different way. He was able to slow the bike down better and use the rear more to turn in.

In the sprint he chose the medium rear tyre instead of the soft, as one of only three riders. Bagnaia explained that he wanted to prepare for the longer Grand Prix on Sunday and understand the Ducati better. He made the link to Pedrosa himself: “I used what Dani Pedrosa said on DAZN last week, which is maybe I need to do more laps and understand the bike before controlling the results. And it was a good suggestion.”

That does not mean the problems are solved. Bagnaia stressed that grip is still lacking. Since all Ducati riders are struggling with the same problem, he hopes a solution can be found faster together. In the Grand Prix he then finished seventh, two places behind Marquez. After three crashes in a row, these were his first Grand Prix points since the summer break. Whether the new approach will also work at Motegi remains to be seen.

Why does Toprak Razgatlioglu think back to 2018?

His first MotoGP season reminds Razgatlioglu of his first year in the Superbike World Championship in 2018 with Kawasaki. Back then he usually only finished between ninth and twelfth and even considered giving up racing.

On the sidelines of the Austrian weekend, the Turkish rider said that back then he began to believe he simply had no potential. The turning point came at Donington Park, the sixth race weekend of the 2018 season: he finished second in race two. Towards the end of the season, he took his second podium with third place at the Villicum circuit in Argentina. “In the end, also I’m thinking to stop racing. But when I did the podium, it changed everything, and I start to believe,” Razgatlioglu said.

Today, however, his situation is different. Since then Razgatlioglu has won 78 Superbike races and three world titles, and last year was also very successful for him. That is precisely why he finds the current phase even harder. In 2018 he still wanted to prove himself, he explains. Now he arrives as a race winner and finishes in places like 15th, 18th or 12th. His best MotoGP result so far is eleventh place.

What problems does Razgatlioglu have with the Yamaha?

His biggest problem is the soft Michelin rear tyre in qualifying. Razgatlioglu says himself that he still does not understand the limit of this tyre.

The consequences show on the grid. Since the summer break, the Pramac Yamaha rider has always started from the very back: 22nd at Silverstone, 21st at Aragon, 21st at Misano and 22nd at Spielberg. Razgatlioglu describes not sitting loosely on the bike and barely feeling any feedback. When braking, he locks his arms and turns in because he believes he is already at the limit. The Yamaha then does not follow because he has not slowed down at the right point.

With the medium tyre, things usually go better in the race. His pace in the middle of the race can then match that of the best Yamaha riders. However, the new V4 Yamaha lacks top speed, which makes overtaking very difficult. Misano also showed how far behind the manufacturer is: even Fabio Quartararo crossed the line 23.2 seconds behind winner Marc Marquez.

In the first 15 race weekends, Razgatlioglu scored 18 championship points. He finished in the points seven times, his best result being eleventh at Balaton Park. He speaks openly about his motivation dropping when the lap time does not come despite all his concentration. At Spielberg, where he had his own grandstand of Turkish fans for the first time, he sought a long conversation with the team. He asked what he needed to focus on to get faster. It is about a great many small details, and it feels as if he is starting from zero again.

He has seven race weekends with 14 races left to reach his goal: a top-ten finish. 2026 is also the last season with 1000cc engines and Michelin tyres. From 2027, MotoGP will race with 850cc engines and tyres from Pirelli, which Razgatlioglu knows from the Superbike World Championship.

What is MotoGP planning for the 2027 race weekend?

From 2027, every MotoGP weekend is set to have two qualifying sessions, one for the sprint and one for the Grand Prix. Practice time is likely to be cut in return.

Until now, a single qualifying session has determined the grid for both races. In future, the sprint and the Grand Prix would have different grids. The sprint is to remain on Saturday afternoon. Exactly how the schedule will look is not yet known. It is still open, for example, whether Q1 and Q2 will remain or whether a three-stage format with Q3 will be introduced, as in Formula 1. The change coincides with the new technical regulations with which MotoGP enters a new era in 2027.

The model is Formula 1. There, on sprint weekends, sprint qualifying takes place on Friday, the sprint follows on Saturday morning and qualifying for the Grand Prix later on Saturday. Free practice is reduced to a single 60-minute session.

Why does Fabio Quartararo want fewer sprints in MotoGP?

Quartararo’s view: if MotoGP adopts the Formula 1 format, it should also adopt its number of sprints. Formula 1 is planning ten sprints across 24 races in 2027, while MotoGP has one at all 22 weekends.

Asked whether he liked the planned format for 2027, the 2021 world champion replied with a clear no. He would be fine with ten sprints, and would even accept twelve. He justifies this with the strain: the races are very intense, the stress is high, and the start is considered the most dangerous moment of a race.

Formula 1 is going the opposite way and increasing its number of sprints from six to ten. According to the series, attendance at sprint weekends is 12 percent higher than at regular weekends.

Quartararo also joined the criticism that riders have no say in such decisions. The sprints were introduced for the 2023 season without really asking the riders, and they will not be scrapped now. “We are here to ride. If they tell us to do 22 sprints, we do 22 sprints. If they tell us to do 12, we do [12]. But we are not the ones who decide what we have to do,” the Yamaha rider said. If there are two qualifying sessions in future, then they will simply ride two or even three, he said with a shrug.

How do other MotoGP riders view a second qualifying session?

Several riders are critical of a second qualifying session, mainly because of the higher risk of injury. Bagnaia, on the other hand, puts forward a proposal of his own.

Alex Marquez does not think the plans are a good idea. He expects teams to need many replacement riders, because two qualifying sessions would be extremely demanding. The aim is actually to make the weekends less strenuous. But the decisions are made by the teams, the manufacturers and the championship, without involving the riders.

Fabio Di Giannantonio speaks of a balancing act. He respects that MotoGP wants to offer spectators as much as possible, but this sometimes comes at the expense of the riders’ health. Already on Friday you have to push to the limit all day. Because the level is so high, a crash is correspondingly heavy, even if the bikes are expected to be somewhat slower in 2027. He would like more relaxed practice sessions now and then. MotoGP does not yet have a riders’ association like the GPDA in Formula 1 that could bundle such concerns.

Bagnaia suggests a different approach: the fastest lap times from the sprint should determine the grid for Sunday. Using the same qualifying for two races is a problem, as he experienced himself at Misano, where he started far back in both races. Anyone who crashes in qualifying would get a second chance this way.

What’s next in the 2026 MotoGP season?

After Spielberg, Motegi hosts the first overseas race from 2 to 4 October. Seven race weekends with 14 races remain until the end of the season.

A lot shifted in the title fight in Austria. Jorge Martin won the sprint on the Aprilia and took the championship lead back from Marc Marquez. In the Grand Prix, Pedro Acosta celebrated his first MotoGP victory, with Martin second ahead of Marco Bezzecchi. Heading into the Asian tour, Martin leads Marquez by 12 points and Bezzecchi by 42 points.

For Bagnaia, Japan will show whether the progress at the Red Bull Ring was more than a snapshot. Razgatlioglu continues to chase his first top-ten finish before a new era begins with the switch to Pirelli and 850cc engines. At the same time, the parties involved want to agree on the new weekend format for 2027. The voices from the paddock show that it is not just about technology and show, but also about the strain on the riders.

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